The images that passed through the conciousness of those who participated in the Vietnam War left indelible visions. Rather than giving an opinion of,the war, Komunyakaa writes with a structure designed to allow the reader to experience the images and form their own opinions. The visions, images and experiences of thevietnam War as expressed by Komunyakaa vividly displays the war through his eyes and allows one to obtain the experiences of the war without being there.The title of the book when translated means "crazy soldier." This title gives the reader an immediate sense of the mind set developed by the soldiers. In providing further insight to the soldiers point of view, Specialist 4 Arthur "Gene" Woodley, Jr. states," There was this saying: 'Yeah though Iwalk through the valley of death, I shall fear no evil, 'cause I'm the baddest mother *censored*er in the valley... 1. The first selection "Camouflaging the Chimera" first describes soldiers preparingthemselves for combat,"We tied branches to our helmets. We painted our faces & rifles.with mud from a river bank," They become nature in order to disappear, yet they are awareof their separateness from it:We wove ourselves into the terrain, content to be a hummmingbird's target .... Chameleonscrawled our spines, changing from dayto night: green to gold,gold to black. But we waitedtill the moon touched metal,The soldiers must depersonalize themselves. They must be detached."This is a book about seeing and not seeing, about not being there in order to be there. It presents the paradoxes of a psyche, of an art that is compelled to examine itself, and yet is determined to control reality in a way that makes it able to be indured."2.The Chimera as known in mythology, is a creature with the head of a goat and the body of a lion. Conceptually, it's also known as an illusion or fabrication of the mind. Both uses are functional in this poem. The physical chimera the enemy represents,...
