Smoke bomb
When he left, Cacciato left behind him a smoke bomb the squad discovered while going after him. When the squad detonated the smoke bomb, they all threw themselves to the ground, thinking that they were going to die. The smoke bomb created a sense of disorientation among the soldiers and it is used here as a metaphor to suggest that just like the smoke bomb confused the soldiers, the war sometimes confuses the world and it creates a feeling of general unrest.
Metaphor for danger
When Berlin first found out that he had to go on the front, he knew that he was going to have to go into the jungle. The jungle was a dangerous place for everyone entering it because it was filled with enemies and the soldiers’ life was always in danger. Because of this, the jungle is used here as a metaphor for danger.
Just like Hansel and Gretel
There are many allusions made towards other pieces of literature in the novel. One such allusion is made when the soldiers look for belongings left behind by Cacciato during their search. They compare those belonging with the breadcrumbs the fictional characters Hansel and Gretel left behind in the famous German fairytale. The comparison has the purpose of highlighting the idea that just as a person would probably not be inclined to believe in a fairytale, sometimes the events taking place in a war are hard to believe.
Just like home
Another coping mechanism presented in the novel is the tendency to compare the conditions on the battlefield with the ones the soldiers may have experienced back home. For example, Berlin notes that in order to survive the rainy season in Vietnam, some of the soldiers on the battlefield compared to rain they were experiencing with the rain they may have had in their hometowns. One soldier in particular for example compared the Vietnam weather with the weather in Detroit and he argued that since the two were so similar, he had to survive Vietnam just as he survived Detroit.
Killing the innocent
After reaching the savannah, the soldiers saw one day in the distance two buffaloes and three women leading them. Almost without thinking, the soldiers opened fire on the buffaloes and they killed one of them. For many, the act was an involuntary one as they all developed the reflex of shooting first to avoid being killed. But the killing of the buffalo is also a metaphorical action since the buffalo represents innocence. Just as the soldiers killed an innocent animal, during the war, innocent people were being killed on both sides.
