Writing+Style

Author Writing style- Billy T.

from page 70: "They were just goofing. There was a noise, I suppose which must have been the detonator, so I glanced behind me and watched Lemon step form the shade into bright sunlight. His face was suddenly brown and shining. A handsome kid really, Sharp gray eyes, lean and narrow-waisted, and when he died it was almost beautiful, the way the sunlight came around him and lifted him up and sucked him high into a tree full of moss and vines and white blossoms." O'brien uses an extremely descriptive writing style, elaborating upon even the most minor of details. Doing so, he helps the reading to visualize the scene as if it were unfolding before their eyes. He makes even the most gruesome scenes flow perfectly, going in depth into each and every perspective of the battlefield. In a sense, he makes many passages such as this, described in an almost beautiful manner, its hard to believe that such description of scenery can be found in a book of war.

Author Writing style- Dyla n R.  from page 65: "And then in October Lee Strunk stepped on a rigged mortar round. It took off his right leg at the knee. He managed a funny little half step, like a hop, then he tilted sideways and dropped. "oh, damn," he said. For a while he kept on saying it, "Damn oh damn," as if he'd stubbed a toe. Then he panicked. He tried to get up and run, but there was nothing left to run on. He fell hard. The stump on his right leg was twitching. There were slivers of bone, and the blood came in quick spurts like water from a pump." Here, the author uses, brutal, and gory adjectives to give you a feel of the tragedy, and the brutality experienced in many situations alike. yet at the same time, he almost makes the scene seem comical, and relieving. while still emphasizing the pain and gruesome things he experiences, and had seen while on his tour.