Or, The Reason Why These Slides are Purple. “Stockings” delves further into the story of Henry...
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Transcript of Or, The Reason Why These Slides are Purple. “Stockings” delves further into the story of Henry...
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.