“Garden of Evil. Over here, man, every sin’s real fresh and original.”
-The Things They Carried, p 76
The Biblical story of the Garden of Eden is known throughout the world and by people of all religions. What people seldom realize, though, is that the tale is not about creation; it is about sin. True, the story gives an ancient explanation for the creation of the universe. Yet the chief purpose of the Garden of Eden myth is to rationalize why sin and calamity exist in the world. Sin exists because man creates it.
After the inhumane torture and slaughter of the water buffalo, it is difficult for O’Brein and the company to reflect on anything but sin. The death of his friend pushes Rat Kiley past the brink of madness into a haze of brutality, hatred, and murder. The treatment of the water buffalo can only be described as sinful; cathartic, yes—but still brutal. When Mitchell Sanders alludes to the Garden of Eden and evokes a twisted image of that mythical locale, he does so not conjure a picture of paradise, but of hell.
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