Northern Lights By Tim O'Brien
The title of my book was Northern Lights. The title of the book had very little significance to do with the plot structure of the novel. The only time that the title came into the story was when the main character, Paul, was so absorbed in his activities at the lake that he barely noticed the northern lights. I think Tim O’Brien just used it as an example of Paul’s state of mind when he was completing his goal at the lake. “He did not notice the northern lights. He did not look up. He did not see the rocketing, wavering, plummeting red in the sky. The mosquito rattled in his ear and he plunged toward Pliney’s Pond”(343). One of the major conflicts was when Paul’s brother Harvey came back from Vietnam to live with him and his wife. The other conflict was selling their house after Paul lost his job and moving somewhere that didn’t contain so many memories of his childhood. The complications that surrounded Harvey were his obsession with the bomb shelter he built for his fire and brimstone preacher father, and the other section of the complication was his drinking problem. The other complications surrounded Paul was that he lost his job and had to face the decision of whether to move or no
Minor Characters: The purpose the minor characters (Paul’s wife Grace, Harvey’s girlfriend Addie, and the crazy town mayor Jed) are to develop the main characters personality further. By the way Paul treats Grace you can tell he isn’t very interested in life or love, and by the way that Harvey treats Addie you can tell he is an arrogant and slightly ignorant person. Jed is there to lend further knowledge of the characters past. The theme of the novel was facing up to your past and getting over your old hang-ups in life. Tim O’Brien makes the observation that life is a struggle and it takes a lot of emotional strength to push your mind beyond the pain that the past can cause you. The life lesson lends to the action because without his psychological problems that were caused by his father he would have never had to deal with the bomb shelter, his brother, or his fear of the lake. The theme is definitely a confirmation of my values because I’ve had to go through losing my father and getting my mind to move past the grief stage. It’s a hard process and I believe that it takes a certain amount of strength to finally take the step out of the remorse.
Some topics in this essay:
Tim O’Brien,
Harvey Vietnam,
Pliney’s Pond,
Character Paul,
Vietnam War,
Sawmill Landing,
Grace Harvey’s,
Northern Lights,
Addie Harvey,
Minor Characters,
throughout novel,
bomb shelter,
novel paul,
northern lights,
tim o’brien,
paul lost job,
related theme,
lost woods,
paul lost,
theme theme,
minor characters,
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Approximate Word count = 1542
Approximate Pages = 6 (250 words per page double spaced)
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