A strage metaphor about driving...

Memories have a way of coming back around. In the chapter “Speaking of Courage,” Norman Bowker spends a day driving the seven-mile loop around a lake in his hometown. The aimless, circular driving acts as a metaphor for the experience of coming home from war. For many, the haunting memories constantly reappear and aimlessness is unavoidable. Norman could not find a purpose back home. He could not stop the cycle of driving around the lake nor could he break the cycle of sleeping in, playing basketball at the Y, and drinking a six-pack every day. This reminded me of the way we complain about boredom so often in our everyday lives and yet make no effort to fix the problem. Our complacency is only intensified by our fear of change, leading to an endless loop of life. This loop feels safe for most people but for those who have experienced the vivid realness of life in a combat zone, it is terrifying. It is like getting off winding back roads and merging on to a highway that appears to have no exit. To those that have never known anything but the highway, the back roads look scary and uninviting. Which way is the better? Do we all need to go to war to know what living is truly like? Can we ever really know what the other route is like?

I know that was very dark and morbid. Don’t worry; I don’t stay up all night pondering the point of my existence. I wouldn’t trade the highway I’m on and I’m not sure the back-roaders would want my spot on the highway. Perhaps that makes life a win-win situation or maybe it makes it a lose-lose. I don’t know and maybe it doesn’t matter. Either way, The Things They Carried exposes the experience of a life I will most likely never live.