Connection
In the book In the Lake of the Woods by Tim O'Brien, John ran and lost the election for U.S. Senate and had previously been the lieutenant governor of Minnesota (O’Brien ). Although it would’ve benefited the opposing side (of the election for senate) to release the fact that John killed people at My Lai, the only names released to the public in actuality were those of high military rankings, of which John didn’t have, such as Lieutenant William Calley, Captain Ernest L. Medina, and Warrant Officer Hugh Thompson (PBS).
Tim O’Brien had two main reasons for inaccurately depicting John as an exposed war criminal of which both had to do with advancing the plot. First, John lost the election for state senator because of the “TV and newspapers” that gave him “a pretty firm going-over” (O'Brien 125) during the process. This helped to create the setting and further promote O’Brien’s plot as it led to John and Kathy’s move to Lake of the Woods, Minnesota where Kathy’s disappearance took place. The second reason O’Brien decided to uncover John’s secret about My Lai on the television was to give Kathy another reason to be afraid of John; hence giving more reason to why some readers’ idea that Kathy ran away could be another legitimate theory to her disappearance.
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"Lake Of The Woods, Ontario, Canada View."
Background image is by the Courtesy of Keith Levit |