Analyse af 'Wood Grouse' af David Guterson

The Vietnam War was the first war in history where the mass media, intensively, covered the conduct of warfare. The media coverage, which exposed war crimes and cruelty conducted by the U.S. Army, had a great impact on the national sentiment in America. Peace demonstrations and anti-war campaigns broke out and everybody from the administration to the foot soldiers was held accountable. After the war had ended, veterans suffered from posttraumatic stress and other serious mental impairments, but it was not acknowledged in several years after the withdrawal from the war. David Guterson depicts this phenomenon in the short story “Wood Grouse on a High Overlooking Canada” from 1996, where an ex-serviceman and his brother are on an excursion in the mountains. In the following I will focus on elements such as a characterisation of Bud and Gary, the setting, the ending, and the themes.

The mountainous landscape on the border between Canada and the United States provides a setting, which, at first hand, echoes freedom. The story unfolds in a rugged and undeveloped terrain somewhere around the border between USA and Canada. The two brothers find themselves isolated from the rest of the world in spectacular nature, which typically in literature, symbolizes freedom and independence. Activities like hiking in the mountains and fishing for dinner do certainly convey an atmosphere of freedom. So in this particular fiction the setting does provide an element of liberation and freedom. “We kept crossing from country to country, back and forth, reveling in the freedom of not answering to anyone about it.” (p. 1, ll. 29-30). However, we are unable to distract ourselves with work, television, social media, hobbies, etc. in nature. Thus we are forced to stand face to face with our emotions and cope with our present feelings. This particular setting aids to reveal the emotions of our scarred war veteran, Gary. In literature nature is not only a physical element; it can also operate as an embodiment of a metaphysical unstoppable force. In “Wood Grouse on a High Promontory Overlooking Canada” Gary is struggling to cope with the senseless and incomprehensive incidents he witnessed on the battlefield. Despite his endeavours to distract his little brother from asking about his time in Vietnam, he is powerless and must face an existential crisis. The episode with the covey of wood grouse makes it clear for the reader that Gary’s life is in shambles.