Jacob Crim

Mr. Santanello

English Language Arts 3-4

December 9th, 2013

Coping with Death

Laughing at a fellow marine’s dead corpse, it may be offensive, but it’s a way of coping

with the death. “Where Have You Gone, Charming Billy” by Tim O’Brien, Private Paul Berlin

copes with his fellow marine’s death, and his own fears, by laughing. In the tale of Paul trying to

keep his sanity, Tim uses multiple rhetorical devices to show the environment, Paul’s feelings,

and how harsh wartime can be. What he is conveying throughout the short story, is that when

someone needs to cope with a traumatic experience, they should be allowed to do so.

“ ’Hey!’ a shadow whispered. ‘We're moving… Get up.’ ”, a common recurring device in

literature, personification. In the late night of their military unit traveling, the darkness is so

thick, it’s common to not be able to see a person standing within feet of vision. The marines of

Vietnam had to constantly sit through this darkness, and thus made their fears and anxiousness

grow worse and worse each night that went by. The idea of a shadow speaking is fearful, it takes

away from the normal thought and worries the victim, tricking them into thinking supernatural

is occurring, although it’s simply an ally.

To cope, marines sang songs, or went to their happy place, no matter what events may have just

occurred.

The death of Billy shocked Paul, and broke his sanity to the point he sang songs

specifically about Billy, or made jokes about how strange and awkward Billy was. “But he could

not stop giggling, the same way Billy Boy could not stop bawling that afternoon.” Imagery is

used to let the reader know that the same crying sounds and motions that were on a dying

marines face, was also on the face of one laughing at him, giving Paul a cruel impression of his

personality. Throughout the short tale, Paul constantly laughs at Billy’s death, continuing the

cruel image induced into the reader. Despite the descriptions of the surrounding landscape, or

smells, the image of Paul’s cruel face as he laughs as a way to cope is the most apparent.

“…The helicopter pulled up and Billy Boy came tumbling out, falling slowly and then

faster, and the paddy water sprayed up as if Billy Boy had just executed a long and dangerous

dive…” Wartime is constantly shrouded in a harsh, depressing tone. Having an ally’s body fly out

of a helicopter into mud is something that isn’t a rare occurrence. So after dying, marines won’t

ever have the satisfaction of knowing their body is given the respect it deserves, but may end up

in mud, or forgotten among others. They may never be buried within their own countries land,

next to their families, stressing them to stay alive, but that same stress may be the obstacle that

kills them.

If a soldier needs to cope with their stress, anxiousness, or insanity, it should not matter

how they do so, but rather if it’s effective or not. War is filled with harsh times and frightening

nights, so much so it may endanger the marine’s lives. Laughing at an ally’s corpse may be

disrespectful, but its either they live with that life or death obstacle of stress, and anxiety, or

they rid of it entirely, and live on for the both of them.