Throughout the war, O'Brien portrayed him as a friend who wore his heart on his sleeve to protect his platoon comrades. However, while in Vietnam, the platoon was assigned two weeks of night duty where they would sleep during the day - if they could - and march through the night in complete darkness. As if the Vietnam War was trying to exhaust them, the soldiers became more and more fearful and anxious. The darkness seems to arouse a feeling of threat which only frightens them and activates their imagination; they imagine horrible things and enemies, and they start to panic. For example, Rat Kiley suddenly breaks and crashes into a mental wall; he explains that “the days aren't so bad, but at night the photos become crap. I start to see my own body. Pieces of myself. My own heart, my own loins… I will be dead out there in the dark and no one will find me except the insects – I can see that. » (223). Thinking about how he will die, he can no longer handle the mysterious nightlife. He doesn't know what's really going on in Vietnam – in fact, no one does – and the constant anticipation of a monster attacking is too much. As his friends look on in utter agony, they realize that Rat Kiley is "definitely not the old Rat Kiley [the nice guy they know]. His whole personality seemed unbalanced. (221). Rat Kiley wasn't acting wisely with these visions of death running endlessly through his mind. He had spoken fearfully of what might await them in the darkness, and even harmed himself by scratching his skin. Like Norman Bowker, Rat Kiley ultimately decides to shoot himself in the foot as a final act of madness to get away from Vietnam and