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Paris
During the Vietnam War, the Vietcong dug enormous, complicated networks of tunnels underground. About a third of the way through Going After Cacciato, the soldiers stumble into one of these tunnels, and find themselves unable to escape. The tunnels have many complex symbolic meanings. They suggest, in an almost Freudian sense, the pain and evil that the soldiers have experienced in Vietnam, and are trying—without much success—to “bury.” Another possible interpretation of the tunnels hinges upon a common motif in epic stories about heroes and adventures. In many such works (the Odyssey, The Hobbit, The Empire Strikes Back, etc.), the protagonist must literally travel underground in order to confront his own weaknesses and limitations, and be reborn a stronger, more heroic figure. This, O’Brien makes clear, is precisely what doesn’t happen when Berlin and his fellow soldiers travel through the tunnels: the experience doesn’t make them any stronger or wiser. In telling his own dark “odyssey” through Eurasia, O’Brien uses tunnels to cleverly twist the motif of the epic to suggest that in Vietnam, the old notions of good and evil, heroes and villains, simply don’t apply.
Tunnels Quotes in Going After Cacciato
The Going After Cacciato quotes below all refer to the symbol of Tunnels. For each quote, you can also see the other characters and themes related to it (each theme is indicated by its own dot and icon, like this one:
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Chapter 10
Quotes
Then they were falling. Paul Berlin felt it in his stomach. A tumbling sensation. There was time to snatch for Sarkin Aung Wan's hand, squeeze tight, and then they were falling. The road was gone and they were simply falling, all of them, Oscar and Eddie and Doc, the old lieutenant, the buffalo and the cart and the old women, everything, tumbling down a hole in the road to Paris.
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Chapter 15
Quotes
Sarkin Aung Wan uncurled her legs and stood up.
"There is a way," she said.
The lieutenant kept studying his hands. The fingers trembled.
"The way in is the way out."
Li Van Hgoc laughed but the girl ignored it.
"The way in," she repeated, "is the way out. To flee Xa one must join it. To go home one must become a refugee."
"Riddles!" Li Van Hgoc spat. "Insane!"
Sarkin Aung Wan took Paul Berlin's hand. "Do you see?" she said. "You do need me."
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Tunnels Symbol Timeline in Going After Cacciato
The timeline below shows where the symbol Tunnels appears in Going After Cacciato. The colored dots and icons indicate which themes are associated with that appearance.
Chapter 4
...Sidney Martin. While he is Lieutenant, Martin alienates his soldiers by ordering them to search tunnels thoroughly before blowing them up. Martin’s commitment to this piece of military protocol led to...
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Chapter 9
...commanded his soldiers—who include Doc, Rudy, Stink, Bernie Lynn, and Frenchie Tucker—to clear out a tunnel, and Frenchie has been seriously injured while doing so, seemingly by an enemy soldier. Martin...
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...nose.” Doc gives Frenchie special painkillers and whispers that he’s “going home” because of his tunnel wound. Frenchie slowly dies, and Doc turns to Bernie Lynn. Bernie is bleeding profusely, from...
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Chapter 12
...learn how to be brave. As a child, Berlin was frightened by everything—noise, the dark, tunnels, etc. He remembers that he once nearly won the Silver Star—a military medal for valor....
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Chapter 13
The soldiers look around, Berlin still giggling. They are standing in a large network of tunnels, lighted with torches. Suspecting that there will be booby traps on the way, the soldiers...
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...Berlin’s mind then jumps to Bernie Lynn, who won the Silver Star for exploring a tunnel and dying. As Berlin thinks about Lynn, he senses that his fear is disappearing rapidly.
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...words. After the soldiers finish asking Van questions, he shows them the vast network of tunnels the Vietcong have dug. The tunnels are full of weapons, ammunition, and supplies. Van takes...
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Chapter 14
The chapter begins with the death of Frenchie Tucker. Tucker has just stepped into the tunnel, and been murdered while trying to secure the area. Sidney Martin calmly says, “Somebody’s got...
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Martin had ordered Frenchie Tucker to climb into the tunnel. At first, Tucker refused to endanger his life. Many of the other soldiers murmured their...
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Chapter 15
Van continues escorting the soldiers through the tunnels. He shows them a beautiful lounge area, and a large kitchen full of delicious-smelling food....
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After the soldiers destroy the tunnels, they return to ask Van for “his story.” Van is a young man, though he...
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...the soldiers gather around Van, they try to think of a way out of the tunnels, as clearly, Van can’t help them. Sarkin speaks up and says that there is a...
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Sarkin leads the soldiers through the tunnels. Time stretches on, and Berlin isn’t sure if the soldiers are spending hours or days...
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Chapter 16
...a deep sense of unease. The village seems calm, but the soldiers continue searching for tunnels and bunkers. They find a few tunnels, though they’re always empty. The soldiers sense that...
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...the village. Lieutenant Sidney Martin tells his troops that they’ll have to begin searching more tunnels and bunkers. Cacciato enjoys playing basketball, and seems strangely unconcerned by the uncertainty of the...
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Chapter 17
Following the events of chapter 15, Sarkin Aung Wan leads the soldiers out of the tunnels, through sewage, until they come to a ladder that leads to the streets of Mandalay....
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Chapter 22
...doesn’t place too much emphasis on routine. Whereas Martin orders single men to explore the tunnels before blowing them up, Corson orders the tunnels blown up straight away.
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Chapter 27
...The enemy forces seemed to have left. Martin and the soldiers discovered a network of tunnels, and as usual, Martin ordered his troops to explore the tunnels before bombing them out.
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Chapter 34
...Martin. Martin wants to follow standard operating procedure by sending one soldier to explore the tunnels before blowing them up. Johnson points out that this is suicidal—it guarantees that one soldier...
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As the soldiers wait for Martin to emerge—or not emerge—from the tunnel, they discuss what has just happened. Martin has written everyone’s name down (except for Cacciato),...
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While Lieutenant Sidney Martin is in the tunnel, Oscar raises his grenade. He tells everyone present to touch the grenade as a sign...
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