Setting

Physical setting

The main events in the short story “Ambush” by Tim O’Brien take place during the Vietnam War (1955-1975), in the ambush site outside a Vietnamese village called My Khe, shortly before dawn (l. 23-24).

The narrator mentions that it is foggy, which echoes the uncertainty and doubt in his own mind, as well as the sensation of unreality that the narrator feels when he sees the young Vietnamese man, which lasts until he throws the grenade. It is also uncomfortably hot, with the mosquitoes attacking the narrator, to such an extent that he debates waking up Kiowa and asking for repellant (ll. 25-26). This adds to the narrator’s discomfort and the general atmosphere of mounting tension. At some point, “very gradually, in tiny slivers, dawn began to break through the fog” (ll. 23-24), allowing the narrator to see up to 15 meters up the trail. This is suggestive of how the narrator begins to gradually gain awareness of the event and its consequences, after having reacted blindly at first.

Even though the event took place in the past, the narrat...