Quite clearly the point of view selected by Tim O'Brien to narrate this story is the third person omniscient point of view, as we can see from the way that the narrator gives us access into the minds, feelings and emotions of every single character. This point of view is suitable for this story because of the way in which it allows the author--and us as readers--to examine the mixture of complex emotions and feelings that being in a war situation evokes in his characters. At times, we are given the feelings and emotions experienced by all the soldiers, such as in the following quote:
They imagined the muzzle against flesh. So easy: squeeze the trigger and blow away a toe. They imagined it. They imagined the quick, sweet pain, then the evacuation to Japan, then a hospital with warm beds and cute geisha nurses.
Here we see how they all dreamed of a quick escape from the horrors of war that they were all facing, and how the tempting possibility of self-mutilation would get them a ticket out of the war zone.
However, at the same time, the author zooms in on the thoughts and feelings of individual characters such as Jimmy Cross. Note the way in which he responds after Lavender's death and how he thinks about Martha now that he has burnt her letters:
She signed the letters Love, but it wasn't love, and all the fine lines and technicalities did not matter. Virginity was no longer an issue. He hated her. Yes, he did. He hated her. Love, too, but it was a hard, hating kind of love.
Note here how we are given privileged access to Jimmy's feelings and the way that his shame and guilt concerning Lavender's death has changed his emotions and feelings about Martha.
Thus it is that the point of view selected seems to be eminently suitable for what O'Brien is trying to achieve in this story as he presents us with a group of soldiers and the complex bundle of emotions, feelings, hopes and dreams that they have, some of them common to all of them and some of them unique.
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