Short Story: Redeployment And Bodies

Redeployment and Bodies

Redeployment and Bodies are both short stories by Phil Klay that vividly illustrates the experiences of soldiers in war and on the homefront. Redeployment tells the story about a man named Sgt. Price who tells about his experiences on the battlefield and how he tries to readjust to society in America. He struggles at the end of the story when he has to put down his dog. The narrator of bodies tells the story of how he processed dead bodies in the war. The story reveals his character development and how he tells the "what really happened" to a man at the bar. Redeployment is a war story that is melancholy because it gives a glimpse of what marines go through. Similarly, Bodies is another war story that is gloomy because

Price both went to war. However, they both had different jobs in the war and had different experiences. To start with, at the beginning of the story, one of Price 's comrades observes dogs drinking blood and he and everyone else start shooting them. Price describes the moment and explains,"We shot dogs. Not by accident. We did it on purpose, and we called it Operation Scooby. I 'm a dog person, so I thought about that a lot" (Klay 1). One can interpret this that the dogs show symbolism of innocence. The dogs weren 't attacking anybody and were minding their own business. When all the Price shot the dogs, he must have felt guilt which would linger on throughout the story. Another incident was when Price observes one of his die. Price illustrates the moment and says, "But thinking of Cheryl made me feel guilty, and I 'd think about Lance Corporal Hernandez, Corporal Smith, and Eicholtz. We were like brothers, Eicholtz and me. We were like brothers, Eicholtz and me. The two of us saved this Marine 's life one time. A few weeks later, Eicholtz is climbing over a wall. Insurgent pops out a window, shoots him in the back when he 's halfway over" (Klay 2-3). This is compelling because Price actually witnessed people being killed which is different than the narrator from Bodies where he would just process them. Although Marines are trained to shut away emotion when someone dies, one can assume that Price would take damage to himself psychologically