O'Brien relies on symbolism Joseph Conrad created in Heart of Darkness to connect the landscape of Vietnam to the landscape of immorality that Mary Anne succumbs to and "O'Brien" resists. Mary Anne becomes a part of what O'Brien/"O'Brien" most vehemently opposes and what O'Brien/"O'Brien" most fears: the struggle between the light and dark forces of human nature and the predominance of the darker forces. Just as the character of Mary Anne echoes Conrad's character, Kurtz, "O'Brien" is a cousin to Conrad's character, Marlow. Like Marlow, O'Brien struggles against his imagination and the fantastic cultural stories that feed it, in "O'Brien's" case, the stories of World War II he learned from movies and stories of his father's generation. Ultimately, O'Brien shields himself from a fate similar to Mary Anne's through the way he employs stories, just as he did during the summer when he worked at the meatpacking plant, by forcing him to look at the struggle between dark and light within himself.
Connect with CliffsNotes
