Metaphor

"I was down there with him, inside him. I was part of the night. I was the land itself - everything, everywhere - the fireflies and paddies, the moon, the midnight rustlings, the cool phosphorescent shimmer of evil - I was atrocity - I was jungle fire, jungle drums - I was the blind stare in the eyes of all those poor, dead ex-pals of mine - all the pale young corpses, Lee Strunk and Kiowa and Curt Lemon - I was the beast on their lips - I was Nam - the horror, the war" (page 209).

Throughout this passage, O' Brien makes numerous metaphors. He compares himself to various people, places, and things. He is not actually stating that he was these things; he is simply making a comparison. He does this to show how the war has become a part of him and how he has become a part of the war. He has spent so long there that he feels connected to it all. He feels connected to the land, the fighting, and the dead. After everything O' Brien has been through, he believes everything is now a part of him. Therefore, he states "I was..." to show this connection because it emphasizes how the war became a significant part of who he was.