Desperate Measures (Ch. 21)

I was very surprised when I read that Rat Kiley shot himself in the foot. I am not surprised, however, that the war pushed him so far over the edge. Humans do not have a very high pain tolerance, and I think that only a very desperate man would go so far as to shoot himself. From personal experience, I am afraid to get shots still as a seventeen year old and I am afraid to use a needle to pull ticks out. Rat Kiley decided to shoot himself in the foot to escape from the Vietnam War which says a lot about the conditions he had been living in. For a person to shoot himself, the war must have been more terrible than the pain and the fight between his senses. Also, the decision must have been more difficult for Rat Kiley because he was a medic, someone who knew the chances of a deep infection that could potentially cost him his foot. Another scenario for Rate Kiley's situation I think is closer to the truth. I think Rat Kiley was so far gone from his senses, that he was not thinking like a human, soldier, and especially medic. I think he just wanted to be free from the suffering and from the land that was haunting his dreams. I don't think that he rationalized at all; I think he just did.