Personal Identity

A key theme that runs throughout the novel is one of personal identity. Caputo, as well as all the other men that serve with him, must discover who they are. The novel begins with Caputo as a boy that wants desperately to prove that he is a man and he is capable of being a hero like the ones he's read in all those schoolbook fables in his small southwestern suburb. He is caught up in the energy of a nation, which is being led to fear Communism almost as much as it does becoming complacent. He hungers for adventure and danger, if nothing else, but to prove to himself that he is really living life.

This mentality is often one that many youth struggle with during their adolescent years. A feeling of invincibility is coupled with a desire to experience every tasty morsel that life has...