The Dark Side of People in the Lake of Woods - Essay Example

The Dark Side of People in the Lake of Woods The Lake of the Woods is a novel narrating a story of a man referred to as John Wade and his wife called Kathleen. Wade is a politician of Minnesota. It is clear from the novel that he has just lost his party’s nomination, election to the United States senate. The reason behind his loss was that one of his opponents revealed all the facts about John. This opponent also had solid evidence of John getting involved in a mass killing that happened in the Vietnamese village of Thuan Yen also referred to as My Lai. In this massacre, John is found responsible for the deaths of two people. On the other side, Kathleen is Wade’s wife, she was always on his side. Their friendship started back when they were college mates. One day Kathleen mysteriously disappears from their rented cottage in the north of Minnesota, a mass reach of water and the wilderness that separates the United States from Canada. Among all the events in the novel, the main theme that seems to appear most is the theme of the covered side of life of the people. Many things that take place in the novel are not openly seen, and the author develops this using some characters to reveal the concealed actions of the characters. The mention of the Vietnam War is a way of demonizing the character of Wade and proving his evil ways. The opponent of Wade uses the Vietnam War to highlight the real concealed character of John, which, according to the readers is the dark side of John. The fact is that if the Vietnam War would not be mentioned, the readers would possibly not get the real character of Wade. Another event that leaves us in doubt is the disappearance of Wade’s wife. It is referred to as a mysterious happening since the author does not explain the reason for her disappearance. There is no conclusion mentioned as to whether Kathleen died, murdered by John, or they had an arrangement with her husband concerning her disappearance. When the author talks about John boiling water, then, the next thing he did was going to bed, there is a great doubt that he might have murdered his wife by pouring hot water on her when she was asleep, and put her on the sinking boat. Another doubt could be that Kathleen disappeared when her husband was still asleep. It could also be that the American soldiers caused the death or the disappearance of John’s wife. Notably, no one can really tell the reason for her death, but this event targets to show the evil character of the America’s Vietnam War effort and the Americans who were involved in the fight. Wade appears to be a rising star in politics at the beginning. The author branded him to be the governor at the age of thirty-seven. At forty, he is the United States Senate’s candidate. At forty-one, he lost his seat by a landslide. From his flashback, it is clear that the success and titles he had was gone. He compared his life with a vast mountain, which he had climbed all his life, but presently, he watches it fall down on him. Although, at the beginning, he appeared to be winning the masses, his life is that his life was turning miserably. The darkest side of his life is that he was a mover of masses in college and towns. The darkest part of John’s life, which readers do not really know is that Wade was winning by a large number, but when the newspapers exposed him that he was involved in the War of Vietnam, he lost everything he had struggled for. His personal life was also exposed, which cost him a lot. The history of his life, which the author had not mentioned is exposed although the readers have no light of it. Wade’s character has a lot to the readers. Clearly, it is shown that there are more to his life than the lost election. It is all about physical humiliation. He got so much affected to the extent of almost losing his mind. He wants to hide this feeling, but generally, he is overwhelmed. He cannot control himself for thinking aloud. His humiliation is too intense that he wants to scream out the dreadful thing –kill Jesus!- He is so much overwhelmed that he is not in the position of getting facts straight (OBrien 10). He had an urge to continue with the screaming in his mind. He sometimes feels crazy and deprived. Whenever he goes nuts, he does crazy things. He, for example, grabs a knife and cut things unstoppable. He has a feeling that everything in his life has ended. He feels the loss of pride, honor, reputation, and his belief for the future was dimmed. The people who relate with him are not aware of the torture, which he is undergoing. The father of John was alcoholic. He used to tease John when he was young because if his weight. When he died, John felt an urge to kill everyone. During his father’s funeral, he had a desire to kill even those who mourned the death. He wanted to open the casket and kill his father. What we fail to understand is the feeling, which John had during the death of his father. He denied the death of his father. He wished he could save him but then he did not know the reality had happened. It is surprising to note that John is possessive of his father yet we know that, at the time of his funeral, he wanted to kill everybody. In his childhood, John had crammed the art of magic. He used to do his practice in the basement. His father never liked his behavior and considered it as unhealthy. John was fond of isolating himself. He was such a secretive person that no one understood his behavior. He was so much a loner, who admired doing things whenever he was alone. Readers are left asking themselves how unique the character of John is. Wade showed some reluctance when his wife disappeared. Throughout the search for his wife, he never bothered to participate. This reluctance kind of behavior is what drove Kathleen’s sister to doubt Wade. His behavior led to him to be the subject of investigation. The question here is, why he did not show any interest of searching his wife. Notably, some dark side of his life that would have let us into the understanding of his behavior. The important thing is to note that, there are two different personalities found within the novel. The first personality is the life of John before politics, and life after politics. His magic seemed to be related to politics. Life before politics is better than the one after. He is frustrated and depressed with life after politics. The unrevealed side of the people is a theme that seems to have an impact on the characters’ lives of the novel The Lake of the Woods. John’s character changed after losing an election. He turned into a crazy man different from the one before politics. The author highlights the how stereotyped the Vietnam War veterans are. Later, their lives are bound to change. As exemplified by John’s life, he suffers from stress and yet before he had enjoyed life as a war veteran. Conclusively, O’Brien, the author of this novel wanted to show how the life of a person could undergo changes. He opted to use the novel “In the Lake of the Woods” to show how the dark side of a person can bring impact to one’s life. He mentioned some characters whose work is to unveil the concealed part of other characters. His work is resourceful to understanding the various factors that characterize the life of a human being. Work Cited OBrien, Tim. In the Lake of the Woods. Boston: Mariner Book, 2006. Print. Read More