Question

A frame story is a literary technique in which an introductory narrative is presented for the purpose of setting the stage for a more emphasized second narrative or a set of shorter stories. Another way to think of a frame story is that it is a story within a story. In the story “Ambush,” what effect does the frame story with O’Brien’s daughter have on the overall structure and meaning of the story? How does the title relate to the multiple narratives in this story?

Answer 1

The frame story depicts the author’s daughter, Kathleen, asking whether her father had ever killed someone in war. The fact that the author struggles to answer this question, and even lies to his daughter, shows that this issue still weighs heavily on him. Thus, this frame story adds depth and weight to the central story about the battle in My Khe and the killing of a young Vietnamese soldier. The frame story illustrates that incidents from the war have resonated throughout the author’s life

Answer 2

The frame story depicts the author’s daughter, Kathleen, asking whether her father had ever killed someone in war. The fact that the author struggles to answer this question, and even lies to his daughter, shows that this issue still weighs heavily on him. Thus, this frame story adds depth and weight to the central story about the battle in My Khe and the killing of a young Vietnamese soldier. The frame story illustrates that incidents from the war have resonated throughout the author’s life.

The title has multiple meanings in this story. In the frame story, the word ambush would describe how the author feels trapped by his daughter’s questions about the war. In the battle at My Khe, the title applies to the enemy soldiers sneaking up on the author and his platoon in the night. Finally, at the end of the story, it relates to the illusion of the young man coming out of the fog, surprising the narrator as he reads the newspaper alone in a room years after the war. Thus, the author feels trapped by his memories of war. The structure of the story also solidifies this point. The fact that events from later in the author’s life surround his memories of the war reinforce this idea of being ambushed.