Norman Bowker, one of the characters Tim O’Brien, the narrator, meets after the war visibly exemplifies everything that can go wrong with a person’s life after going through a ruthless experience such as war. How has the war inflicted a lasting impact on Norman Bowker? It eventually forces him to kill himself because he never recovered from the effects that the war had on him. Tim O’Brien is able to convey this to the audience by describing Norman Bowker’s feelings and actions during a certain period in Bowker’s life.
First of all, Norman Bowker is depicted as a shy and withdrawn person. In the chapter, “Speaking of Courage”, Tim O’Brien describes Norman Bowker driving around a lake “[following] the tar road on its seven-mile loop around the lake, then started over again, driving slowly, feeling safe inside his father’s big Chevy…”(p137). Right from the very beginning of the chapter, it is obvious that Bowker is not one to find others to talk to things about because he feels safe within the car by himself. This personal preference portrays Norman Bowker as a very introverted person who would rather be alone and deal with his own feelings than around other people. During an additional incident, “…he almost [pulls] over, just to talk [to Sally], but instead he’d [pushes] down hard on the gas pedal” (p139). Perhaps Bowker wants to talk to people yet he can never find the courage to do so because of the experiences that he encountered during the horrifying war. Those incidents rendered his ability to talk to other people because he can never find someone whom he can relate and relay his feelings to. He refuses to talk to Sally because “…there [is] really nothing he could say to her”, as they both come from different worlds, one of war and dirt and the other of peace and happiness. Bowker has no one to talk to about the war, at last transforming him into quite a reserved person.
Another of Norman Bowker’s main attributes is the survivor’s guilt and frustration...