Of the characters O'Brien revisits in a post-war story, Norman Bowker is by far the one who has the most difficult time carrying — to draw on the metaphor O'Brien presents in the novel's title — the burden of memory. It is important to note that, like the first chapter, this chapter is told by a third person narrator — the narrator "O'Brien" is largely absent from this chapter as a witness or commentator, though he comments on it in the chapter that follows. Instead, O'Brien employs a stream-of-consciousness technique that allows readers to learn the details of Kiowa's death by "overhearing" Bowker's interior dialogue.
Norman's problem is one of not having an audience to which he can address the stories of Vietnam that weigh heavily on him emotionally. O'Brien underscores Bowker's hesitation to tell others about his experiences in Vietnam, as he believes that they don't want to hear them. He imagines that his former girlfriend Sally's response would be one of horrified disapproval of the vulgarities of war, of the vulgarity of Kiowa's death in the shit field. He imagines that his father will be disinterested, thinking that he has his own World War II stories and that he would call Norman's courage and valor into question. This rejection by his father that he assumes will occur, combined with his sense that the "town seemed remote" and that "he felt invisible," contributes to the extreme alienation Norman feels.
