Going After Cacciato

by

Tim O’Brien

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Going After Cacciato: Chapter 28 Summary & Analysis

Summary
Analysis
Berlin thinks about what the mayor has told him. He thinks to himself that he does have a history. He grew up playing baseball and canoeing with his father. He spent summers building houses alongside his father, and drinking beer. He decided to become a soldier at the age of twenty. This, he concludes, is his history.
Berlin is a young man, and still trying to make a history for himself, but we can see that his “history” with his father is nonsense—he fashions loving memories to replace the dearth of such memories in his life. This reminds us that Berlin, first and foremost, is a storyteller. When he doesn’t like reality, he changes it.
Themes
Fantasy, Magical Realism, and Storytelling Theme Icon
Vietnam and the Chaos of War Theme Icon
Discontinuity and Trauma Theme Icon
Survival and Self-Preservation Theme Icon