The lagoon on the Batangan Peninsula represents Vietnam as a whole, contrasting the paradise it once must have been with the ravaged landscape it’s become during the Vietnam War. Alpha Company spends time in the village tucked inside the lagoon, and O’Brien finds himself imagining how beautiful the place must once have been—the lagoon represents the quaint beauty of Vietnam before foreign powers invaded. O’Brien visualizes a simple, content, romantic fishing village whose only fear would have been a pesky sea monster that terrorized wayward children or foolish fishermen. O’Brien’s idealized vision of the lagoon contrasts with its present reality (and thus Vietnam’s present state more broadly) as a war-ravaged refugee camp covered in razor wire and surrounded by landmines. The contrast between O’Brien’s vision of what the lagoon once was and observation of what it currently is symbolizes the terrible toll that the Vietnam War has wrought upon the country. When American artillery accidentally shoots the lagoon, maiming and killing dozens of villagers, O’Brien reflects that the U.S. Army is a worse monster than anything that could possible rise out of the lagoon’s waters.
The Lagoon Quotes in If I Die in a Combat Zone
Thirty-three villagers were wounded. Thirteen were killed […] Certain blood for uncertain reasons. No lagoon monster ever terrorized like this.
The Lagoon Symbol Timeline in If I Die in a Combat Zone
