There is extreme irony and significance behind O'Brien's job as a blood "Declotter" in an Armour meat-packing plant. Before his job in the meat-packing industry is mentioned, O'Brien claims that the sight of blood makes him nauseous. However, O'Brien explains his job in extreme, gruesome detail, referring to it as a "lukewarm blood-shower" (41). As a student mentioned during class, there has to be some sort of significance behind the specificity of his profession. Because of his job, O'Brien's identity as a Harvard scholar, Phi Beta Kappa, and a summa cum laude is diminished to a nameless, faceless worker in a meat-packing factory. The work is monotonous the day's end often seems unforeseeable. Furthermore, no matter how hard he scrubs, the stench of the decapitated pigs and animal carcasses lingers with him. When he receives his draft notice for the war in Vietnam, he realizes that his life is "collapsing toward slaughter" (41). Similar to his job in his hometown of Minnesota, the days in Vietnam are monotonous, the war's end is unforeseeable, and no matter how hard he scrubs, the memories and trauma due to the war stay on his mind like the stench engrained in his skin from his job as a Declotter. In Vietnam, O'Brien's identity as a Harvard scholar, Phi Beta Kappa, and a summa cum laude is diminished to a nameless, faceless soldier.
I agree with Stephanie that O'Brien's job in the meat-packing factory has some sort of significance. In particular, I like her point that O'Brien's job in the factory diminished him to a nameless worker much like the war. However, I also think that O'Brien's job in the meat-packing factory is important because it foreshadows part of O'Brien's future. Given that O'Brien had to break up blood clots in the meat, his job can be viewed as gruesome and unsettling. As a result, I think this job of his is mentioned in the novel in order to foreshadow the awful and gruesome tasks O'Brien will have to face in Vietnam.
ReplyDeleteStephanie,
ReplyDeleteI found this analysis of O'Brien's meat-packing job quite interesting, but I'm not sure if I would say that O'Brien devolved to a nameless solider. In my opinion I believe that O'Brien evolved from an ordinary citizen to a brave soldier. Although O'Brien may not agree with this because he was forced to join the Army, I don't think that his past was diminished. When an individual joins the military, he or she is still the same person at the core. That is why I think O'Brien didn't necessarily lose a part of himself when he went to Vietnam, I believe he simply changed according to his circumstances.