This book reminds me a little of “The Things They Carried”, also a book based on Vietnam. Cacciato is portrayed as a dim-witted individual, but he has a plan and is following through with it. This is something that gives all the other men hope, something lacking in all soldier stationed in Vietnam. As they chase him, they secretly cheer for him, especially Paul Berlin, the soldier who initially reported him AWOL. As much as they criticize him, they see he has courage.
In the military you are taught to follow the mission and orders given by those appointed over you. By leaving his group, Cacciato breaks the very idea of being part of a whole; he has become an individual. This is dangerous, because not only is he going off on his own, but also he is leaving his buddies vulnerable.
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I also read "The Things They Carried," but I'm also not sure of how much hope they really get, especially Oscar when he goes all psychotic at the end. Honestly, I have read the whole book but I am so confused...at the end it seemes like they really didn't make it at all, and that all of the "__to Paris" sequences were Paul Berlin having hallucinations, perhaps induced by his excessive "biles." As for the group vs. individual mentality, that is a concept in the military that has bothered me for a long time. I understand that it's important for the benefit of your company to really be unified, but at the same time, I feel like it can go too far. To give a mild example, I had a friend go through basic training 4 years ago(he is in Iraq right now), and they punished him, a LOT, because I had (unintentionally) addressed the letter wrong and had drawn on the envelope. It made me really mad; first, how was I supposed to know their rules as an ignorant civilian? Second, punishing someone for someone else's mistake is unjust and illogical. Finally, it was an envelope, for pete's sake! Anyway, sorry for ranting. It's late and I need to go to sleep!
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