Abel And Tayo Themes

Abel and Tayo had developed PTSD from their experience fighting in the Second World War. While in the military, we can guess that Abel had lost many of his friends overseas. Tayo had lost his cousin Rocky during their time as prisoners of war. Rocky died in Tayo’s arms in the middle of a death march in the Philippines. Throughout each book Abel and Tayo experience flashbacks and their perception of the world sometimes altered by memories of their terrible experiences. Tayo has visions of his uncle, Joshua, dying as he kills Japanese soldiers. Tayo even acknowledges when he looks at the corpses of dead Japanese soldiers, “…The man’s skin was not much different from his own.” And, “Tayo could not pull the trigger. The fever made him shiver, and the sweat was stinging his eyes and he couldn’t see clearly; in that instant he saw Josiah standing there; the face was dark from the sun, and the eyes were squinting as though he were about to smile at Tayo.” Both Abel and Tayo have a certain disconnection from their cultures and the people around theme. In …show more content…
There are other characters that have experienced very similar things. When Abel is living in the city, he plays cards with a group of other urban Indians. Able and the other Indians bond together over their hardships. Each Indian is nostalgic and wants to regain the greatness of the “good old days.” They tell stories of their adventures and greatness but most of all, they get drunk together. Tayo and his friends are not much different. Tayo and his drinking buddies lament over the “good old days” all the same, they even tell similar stories about killing in the war and bedding beautiful white women. Our main characters also both come close to killing another member of the group. It’s strange how each of them interact because they drink with each other like they are best friends, but it is apparent that they only tolerate each other’s