#6 Anaphora

"You could blame the war. You could blame the idiots who made the war. You could blame Kiowa for going to it. You could blame the rain. You could blame the river. You could blame the field, the mud, the climate. You could blame the enemy....." On pages 169 and 170 the writer adds in an anaphora. An anaphora is the repetition of a word, phrase, or clause at the beginning of two or more sentences in a row. The purpose of using this device is to help the reader understand the enforcement of the words being proclaimed. Tim O'Brien wanted the reader to fully comprehend there was no true blame. Blame is something that gets people nowhere. There are a million things in the world that people can push blame on, but it gets them nowhere. In war, soldiers and different sides blame eachother for just about everything. It was only necessary for the author to add this in to show blame can be shed anywhere.