STOCKINGSOr, The Reason Why These Slides

are Purple

HENRY DOBBINS“Stockings” delves further into the story of Henry Dobbins and his superstition of

wearing his girlfriend’s stockings around his neck in battle and “sometimes while he slept”.

Dobbins is convinced his stockings work

-He survives several fire fights and night ambushes while wearing them

-Dobbins survives tripping a landmine wire while wearing them

DOH! Late in the chapter Dobbins gets a

“Dear John” letter in which his girlfriend informs him that she is breaking up with him

-Dobbins claims the magic is still in the pantyhose, so he continues to wear them…

SELF-FULFILLING PROPHECY For a soldier in Vietnam, superstition is

something they perceive as “real”, something that keeps them alive

The more times that item seems to save a soldier, the more convinced that soldier is in the capabilities of that item.

The superstition becomes a sort of Religion to the soldier… It’s something that has a say in his life or death

Evidence: Dobbins hanging on to the pantyhose even after his girlfriend breaks up with him.

CHURCH

“Church” is another shorter piece that

highlights the relationship between two characters. In this case that character is

Kiowa

For over a week the men of Alpha company stay in a pagoda/church

Every day the monks who live at the monasterybring the men water andhelp them tend to their supplies

Henry Dobbins remarks that he wouldn’t mind taking part in a sermon-despite that fact that he is not religious

Kiowa confesses that even though he was raised with religion and carries a bible around with him he has no intention of becoming a preacher. He does state that he enjoys being inside churches

SO LONG AND THANKS FOR ALL THE PEACHES

After the monks clean Dobbins’ gun, he gives

them his cans of peaches. He decides that the least he can do is be nice to the Vietnamese monks.

OOOOOH, SYMBOL-Y The pagoda in this section has a very

important symbolic meaning. The physical presence of the American

troops in the Vietnamese pagoda obviously stands for the incursion of the American army into Vietnam

You could also make a case that Dobbins attempts to thank the monks by using a washing motion with his hands (the monks call him “Good Soldier Jesus”) further symbolizes Pontius Pilate’s hand washing after Jesus receives his sentence of Crucifixion.