Blog 4-RR

Flash fiction stories is a form of fiction literature that is usually 1,000 words or less. Because of the shortness of this type of fiction, every word in each story counts. In Richard Currey's "Fatal Light", this type of fiction is used throughout the book. Each chapter was very short, sometimes ending abruptly, leaving the reader to wonder what was next. Also, some of Currey's chapters did not link together; one chapter talked about a completely different subject than the next. I think that this benefits the ideas of the novel for a few reasons. First, based on what we know about the Vietnam War, we know that events that took place were full of abrupt endings. A firefight would begin, and before the soldier knew it, the jungle would be silent. This is what I think of when I think of flash fiction within a war scene. It also benefits the ideas of "Fatal Light" because it seems that Currey is trying to convey a different idea other than the story (or stories) itself. The shortness and sometimes random nature of his chapters showed what the war was like to the soldiers. Though their life often seemed monotonous, full of the same duties as each day went on, they never knew what was going to happen next. Their time in the war was unorganized and chaotic, much like the chapters of the book. Also, there were many instances in the book where events took place that could have been explained in depth, much like one of Tim O'Brien's chapters of battles. However, Currey chose to keep these chapters short, only offering a glimmer of the whole picture. I believe that this represents a soldier's experience during the war. For example, in chapter 10, the platoon was told by intelligence that NVA may be moving closer to their direction. Then, the only other description of this event was that there was a sound and a description of what it may have been. We have no other knowledge of how this ended, if there was a firefight, if anyone died, or if it was a false alarm. The anticipation it leaves the reader mimics the anticipation that a soldier would have felt that that very moment.