“Focus on other things, try to forget about them” (206), explains Vietnam veteran John Wade. This simple tactic of forgetting horrors and trying to push away bad memories has often been employed among veterans of many wars. As a result, O'Brien integrates this simple motif of forgetfulness throughout his novel In The Lake of the Woods, and this theme connects to a larger issue in the novel: how the Vietnam War continues to affect John's life Wade after his return to the United States. States. The author makes it clear that Wade's career, marriage, and mental health are all undoubtedly influenced by his experience in Vietnam, and O'Brien thus shows that nearly every aspect of Wade's identity and life is influenced by his experience at war. Wade's involvement in the My Lai Massacre follows him throughout the rest of his life, and O'Brien presents an interesting topic to discuss, because, being a veteran himself, O'Brien is able to effectively utilize the character of John Wade to reflect the way many veterans respond to the trauma of war. Say no to plagiarism. Get a tailor-made essay on "Why Violent Video Games Shouldn't Be Banned"? Get an Original Essay O'Brien is able to make this point in his novel because he writes in such a style that his writing is not solely focused on John Wade, which allows the novel to be relevant to many veterans, not just Wade. For example, in the first chapter of Evidence, O'Brien includes a quote from the character Richard Thinbill, a Vietnam veteran; Thinbill exclaims "F***ing Flies!" (13). Thinbill mentions these flies a multitude of times in the novel, referring to the horrific swarms of flies from the My Lai massacre. It is clear that Thinbill cannot focus on anything other than flies during most of his interviews, which shows that My Lai constantly torments his mind and that he is haunted by this experience. O'Brien uses the evidence chapters to characterize Thinbill effectively throughout the novel such that he can easily be compared to John Wade, as both are obviously affected by the war, albeit in different ways. Therefore O'Brien uses Thinbill to show that veterans are affected in many different ways, and this makes it clear to the audience that the horrors of Thuan Yen have permeated aspects of many veterans' post-war lives, not just Wade's.O' Brien also demonstrates this concept through the use of the narrator. Throughout the novel, the narrator reflects on his own experience as a Vietnam veteran; in a footnote, he writes “I can understand how [John] kept things buried, how he could never face or even remember the Thuan Yen massacre” (298). This provides an example of a veteran who is equally haunted by his memories of Vietnam; he understands exactly how John feels and why John deals with his memories the way he does. The narrator's ability to empathize with John is significant because it demonstrates that Vietnam veterans can understand each other's response to the atrocities of war, as many are affected in similar ways. The narrator's position also conveys to the audience that many veterans in general suffer from post-traumatic stress, not just the soldiers present at the My Lai massacre. This makes an important point regarding the author's opinion on the Vietnam War, because it indicates that not only were the events of Thuan Yen atrocities that could follow a soldier for the rest of his life, but the entire war was. The way John Wade is characterized says little about how the war affects John's life after the war, since John hasalways showed qualities such as the desire to be loved and the need to have more control over his life. It is indeed true that John liked magic as a child because “it gave him a little authority over his own life” (208). However, as the evidence suggests, magic offers John only a small, insubstantial amount of control, but in the wake of the war, John is motivated to pursue a career that will provide him with far more power over his own life and the lives of others. It could also be argued that John's choice of political career was not the result of the war; for example, Kathy thought that John may have joined the service to gain political ground once he returned to the United States. However, the audience is told that John only goes to war to be loved, not to be a hero or for any other reason (59). It is clear from this passage in the novel that John goes to Vietnam to be assured that the people love him and are proud of him, not for political gain. O'Brien later includes a quote from Alexander and Juliette George that explains this phenomenon, and the reader learns that the way people like John "try to erase their inner pain is through high achievement and the acquisition of power" ( 194), which is exactly what John hopes to achieve by completing a tour in Vietnam. He wants to hide the pain of his father's death under the greater feeling of being loved and approved. Unfortunately for John, his Vietnam experience isn't enough for him to feel loved. If anything, his journey is detrimental to fulfilling his need, because the war damages his already fragile psyche to the point that John leaves Vietnam with just as great a need for love as when he arrived. John's inability to satisfy his need for love through his The tour then continues with his life at home, where he pursues a career in politics. While John is deleting all documents linking him to the Charlie Company, John thinks that "the trick now [is] to devise a future for himself" (269), which alludes to his use of magic in his youth. The audience knows that magic had acted as a small check on his painful life as a boy. Now John endures even greater pain resulting from his experience in Vietnam, and once again employs the tactic of using tricks to gain control over his life by erasing his past, probably so that he can enter the manipulative field of politics without repercussions resulting later from the his involvement. in the My Lai massacre. Therefore, although John exhibited some characteristics of mental and emotional instability before the war, it is evident that the war was nevertheless instrumental in Wade's important life decision to enter politics. Wade may have expressed a desire to feel loved when he was a child, but it would be wrong to say that this means that the war did not substantially influence John's career choice, and subsequently other aspects of his life. O'Brien then delves into this topic throughout the novel to demonstrate that no area of ​​veterans' lives remains untouched by their experiences in combat. Through further analysis, it is clear that the war played a similarly large role in some aspects of Wade's marriage, yet another extremely significant aspect of Wade's life. O'Brien shows that in addition to using politics as a coping mechanism, Wade tries to manage the trauma of Vietnam by burying it under his marriage. O'Brien writes "[Wade] moved determinedly across the surface of his life, dealing with a marriage and a career" (75). This not only reinforces the point that Wade's career was tied to his mental health, because Wade was ignorant of much of who he was for,.