Private First Class Paul Berlin Quotes

In the short story Where Have You Gone, Charming Bill? , by Tim O’Brien, Private First Class Paul Berlin, the main character, is constantly consumed by his fear. He is fighting in the Vietnam War and the one thing that seems to always be on his mind is his fear. He tries to be brave, for his father, but his attempts fail due to his overpowering fear that controls him. Private First Class Paul Berlin fails in trying to achieve his goal of not being afraid because of his misunderstanding of what war really is. Paul is also too young and immature to be fighting in the Vietnam War. He is very childish. He does not act like a soldier should act. The story says, “He was pretending he was a boy again, camping with his father in the midnight summer along the Des Moines” (198). He just wants to be a boy again. He is not ready to take …show more content…
It says in the text, “He pretended he was not a soldier” (198). He clearly does not want to be in the war. It is too much for him to handle. He wishes he was somewhere else. Fighting in the war obviously was not his decision. In the quote, “Then he would tell his father the story of Billy Boy Watkins. But he would never let on how frightened he had been. ‘Not so bad’ he would say instead, making his father feel proud” (199). He is terribly frightened when Billy Boy Watkins dies, but he does not want his dear father to know. It is very obvious that he is fighting in the war for his dad. He wants to be brave and prove himself. His father is most likely a war veteran, so if Paul were to become one as well it would really make Paul’s dad proud. He wants to be a hero and show he actually can be brave and courageous. He probably thinks if he tells his father how frightened he is then he will be an embarrassment. War is something he did not want to do for himself. He wants to prove himself, but this is impossible because of his overpowering