A Rumor of War
A Rumor of War is a book written by Philip Caputo. He is best known for his Winning Pulitzer Price, Rumor of War and Acts of Faith. The storyline is from the first party point of view. The story appears true and not fiction. The first person narration enables the reader to feel the closeness. The author starts by informing the reader why he was in the US Marine Corps. He fought in Vietnam for over a year. Philip Caputo summarizes his book in court. In the beginning of March 1965, the author arrived in Vietnam on duty. He proceeds to Vietnam for battle.
He turned to face their foe in Guerilla Warfare (Caputo 85). Philip Caputo is anxious to get ribbons and be baptized in fire. He was highly frustrated. He did not see the battle for a long period. The encounter with their enemy was not a favor either to him or his troops. His colleagues were injured daily, accident was a routine, enemy snipers were all over, and friendly fire was shot. Everyone gave up; they lost the courage of winning the war. The officer to enumerating death caused horror to Philip Caputo. He did not like his job at all ranging from the craziness, madness, and everything around him (Glassman 25). Philip was a line commander; he liked his team really much even though he had to accommodate with frequent patrols, ambushes, constant talk with death, and VC.
At the end of the book, Philip is in court facing murder charges against him. Misfortune happened during one village ambush. Court martial fervor keeps the reader glued to the book. Verdict placed Mr. Caputo in a reprimand. The book is both interesting and captivating (Caputo 76). It holds the attitude, frenzy operation, and the psychological nature of people in the war. The book is frightening and filled with horror: frequent deaths, fear, dying of soldiers in arms, and split of Marine Corps. The book is worth anyone’s time, especially the military fronts. It is also not welcoming to people who fear war and other cold blood death (Caputo 78). The author does not admit that his novel is a confession.
At the end of the book, he seeks forgiveness from the public for crimes and death committed out of zeal. He asked forgiveness for mortal sins and defends himself by claiming anyone in the same situation as his would act the same way. The author of the book demonstrates the theme of personal identity. Caputo together with his team needs to discover who they are. At the beginning of the book, Caputo is a mere boy who needs a strong approval of his manship and heroism, and the energy of the state to catch up with him. He is anxious of danger and adventure just to console himself of his stay (Glassman 45).
This perception is usually the one that is mostly fought against during their year. Based on his contention about the book, we give him the benefit of the doubt. When analyzing the book further, we realize the novel is barely an inversion of lieutenants in a real war and is surely not a true reflection of a fighting soldier in a real war. The allegation is that 1965 war is filled with atrocities. The book is more than just a story, it is worth reading (Caputo 124).
