Foreshadowing

As with most novels, foreshadowing plays a key role in this book. Giving the reader a taste of what's to come tantalizes them and leaves them on the edge of their seat, begging for more.

"There's the scary part. I promise you, this girl will most definitely learn (pg 97)."

Arriving in Vietnam in a blissfully ignorant daze, Mark Fossie's girlfriend Mary Anne is completely blind to the dangers of the place. Needless to say, she learns pretty quickly to not play around , but Eddie Diamond's foreshadowing words were right on the mark. O'Brien uses foreshadowing for exactly the aforementioned reasons. Reading that the young woman is going to learn from her mistake makes the reader want to read on and learn just how the author's (or one of his soldier buddy's) imaginative mind will teach the girl a lesson. This may seem sick and twisted, but it is human and an author certainly knows how to indulge our inquisitive minds.