Narrator and point of view

In the short story “The Man I Killed” by Tim O’Brien, the main character also functions as the first-person narrator. The presence of the first-person narrator is suggested from the title through the use of the personal pronoun “I". It should be noted, however, that the personal pronoun "I" is used only three times in the story, in the phrase “the man I killed” (l. 22, l. 100, l. 139). This points to how the narrator no longer has any awareness of himself, except in connection to the act he has committed, which is further proof of his guilt and the trauma it causes.

Throughout the story, the narrator does not offer details about how he feels or any insight into his thoughts. Instead, he focuses on imagining the life of the man he has killed, engaging in self-torture. The only way readers get to know that the narrator is unwell a...