Critical Approach

Question

Identify which critical approach is represented by the passage; explain your answer. If you think the author is using more than one approach, explain.

About Tim O'Brien, author of Things They Carried...

"Drafted in 1968, Tim O'Brien served in Vietnam in 1969, and in the fall of 1970 he enrolled in Harvard University's doctoral program in government. During his first year of graduate school O'Brien began writing If I Die in a Combat Zone, a memoir of his Vietnam experiences. Taking a year off from Harvard in 1973-74 to work as a general assignment reporter for the Washington Post, O'Brien also found time to write Northern Lights, his first novel. Realizing that the form of If I Die did not allow him to get at important psychological truths or to fully explore the meaning of his Vietnam experiences, and convinced that the life of the imagination is half of war--indeed, half of any kind of experience--O'Brien gave his fertile imagination free rein in Going After Cacciato, a highly inventive and skillfully crafted novel which won the National Book Award in 1978 over John Irving's celebrated The World According to Garp. Returning to the apocalyptic themes of Northern Lights, O'Brien's most recent work, The Nuclear Age, is a warning that our species will not survive if we continue to conceive of the Bomb and nuclear war as mere metaphors. We must, O'Brien's protagonist continually exhorts us, imagine the real.

A painstaking and meticulous craftsman in his own writing, O'Brien nonetheless insists that style is not the most important element of good literature."

Answer 1

Hi Sarah G,

This is a possible answer for your question.

At least four critical approaches can be identified within this passage: historical/biographical approach, Freudian/psychological approach, the archetypal/symbolic approach, and the Deconstructionist critical approach.

The historical/biographical approach is depicted in relating the author's life, Works, and history in the passage. For example, his past War horrible memories, the events during the Vietnam War. Likewise, the passage mentions the different Works (books) of the author and how some of them are distinct from the others. In this context, Going After Cacciato is portrayed in the passage as "a highly inventive and skillfully crafted novel which won the National Book Award in 1978 over John Irving's celebrated The World According to Garp".

Critics mostly agree that the psychological trauma caused by the Vietnam War and its impact on the participating soldiers is more important than Tim O'Brien life, history and his Works. Such psychological trauma is reflected in the strange actions and behaviors of the soldiers. We can, for instance, think of the soldier who pulled out his good-standing tooth due to the blame and depression he felt towards his dying friends.

The psychological approach in the passage can also be depicted in the inner conflict carried by some of O'Brien protagonists who hesitates between fleeing and accepting the War. Although he views the War as unjust, he also thinks of the shameful consequences he will be facing if he flees the War, including the guilt he will face from his family and community.

 The Archetypal/Symbolic approach is as well presented in the passage. For instance, Tim O'Brien views storytelling not simply as a memory of the War events, but also a way to bring life back to some of his protagonists. Storytelling in this sense becomes a symbol for life. An example is the protagonist in The Nuclear Age, William Cowling, who digs a hole in his backyard to burry the horrible memories of War and start a new life.

  The Deconstructionist approach is also presented in the passage. Like The Formalistic approach, the Deconstructionist critical approach also studies the text style and form. However, the Deconstructionist approach does not view style and language as reflecting reality. This is evident in the last sentence of the passage, “A painstaking and meticulous craftsman in his own writing, O'Brien nonetheless insists that style is not the most important element of good literature".