logo

Going After Cacciato

Tim O'Brien

Going After Cacciato

Tim O'Brien

  • 57-page comprehensive Study Guide
  • Chapter-by-chapter summaries and multiple sections of expert analysis
  • The ultimate resource for assignments, engaging lessons, and lively book discussions

Going After Cacciato Chapters 23-26 Summary & Analysis

Chapter 23 Summary: "Asylum on the Road to Paris"

They arrive in Delhi at noon, and Paul is excited to see the India of his imagination. They check into the Hotel Phoenix, and Lieutenant Corson falls in love with the woman riding an exercise bike behind the reception desk, who reminds Paul of his mother. Her name is Hamijolli Chand—Americans call her Jolly. She’s thrilled to see them; she tells them over drinks that night that she spent a happy two years at Johns Hopkins. She believes that TV unites Americans.

 

Jolly’s husband serves them beef and wine for dinner, but he disappears after setting it out. Beef has to be smuggled into the country, and her husband disapproves. Lieutenant Corson calls her “a brave, remarkable woman” (149). She takes an interest in all the men, complimenting them, but she takes a particular interest in the lieutenant.

 

Lieutenant Corson tells her that Korea was a regular war with respect from the enemy. But in Vietnam, there’s no respect. The real problem, he says, is that there’s “[n]o heart” (150). Jolly and the lieutenant stay up late talking, until he’s in tears, and they don’t come down for breakfast.

 

Paul sends postcards home telling his family that the war’s over and that he’s met a girl.

blurred text

Unlock this
Study Guide!

Join SuperSummary to gain instant access to all 57 pages of this Study Guide and thousands of other learning resources.
Get Started
blurred text