Theme Of Love In The Lake Of The Woods

When discussing Tim O’Brien’s novel, In the Lake of the Woods, most would regard the book as one about mystery and the struggles war veterans had during and after Vietnam. While that would not be wrong to believe, ultimately there is an underlying theme of love that drives the story being told. John Wade’s entire life is surrounded by the need, or rather obsession, to be loved. He goes through his childhood in need of his father’s love, and then continues to search for that love, as he gets older. When he meets Kathy, he obsesses over his love for her and this continues through his time in Vietnam. When he returns, they marry but their marriage is not what John truly had in mind. The theme of love makes it easier to understand the main character,

“After a traumatic experience, the human system…seems to go onto permanent alert, as if the danger might return any moment.” (O’Brien 28) John Wade met Kathy in 1966 when they were in college and it wasn’t long before he was spying on her, but instead of feeling guilty about it, he instead felt more satisfied than anything. And, even though he wanted to stop, his obsession with loving and being loved led him to continue to spy on her, and she did very little about it. Much like his obsession of love from his father, John was desperate for Kathy to love him. She even compared his need for love “like a [need for] hunger,” (O’Brien 55) which is consistant with the theme of love and it’s ability to consume people. In the O’Brien Handout, there in an interview in which he is quoted saying, “Lake of the Woods is not about Vietnam, although it has a little of Vietnam in it. Instead, it has to do with the bad things human beings will do for love.” (“Story Story Story”) Then, in the novel, the narrator states that “sometimes [John] did bad things just to be loved, and sometimes he hated himself for needing love so badly,” (O’Brien

Although on the surface, many may think that this novel is about Vietnam and Kathy Wade’s disappearance, love is the underlying theme of this novel. John’s experiences in Vietnam may not seem to relate to his life directly, but the war was a part of John’s journey for love and acceptance. As stated previously, “It was in the nature of love that John Wade went to the war… not to be… a hero or a moral man. Only for love. Only to be loved.” (O’Brien 59) Understanding the theme helps the reader analyze what the novel is really about, and it helps understand John Wade, his point of view, and the symbolism in the story. Love is what drives John to do nearly everything he does in this novel, but after finishing it, the reader is still left with the same question: What happened to Kathy and John