In the book In the Lake of the Woods, by Tim O'Brien, it is uncertain as to whether or not John Wade has committed the horrible crime of murdering his wife, Kathy. There is evidence throughout the book that it is possible that John has killed his wife, but there is always reasonable doubt. Although it is never proven, I believe that he is in fact guilty. Occurrences in his past have made him into an unstable and violent person who is very capable of murder. Between his childhood spent being made fun of by his father, the time he spent fighting in Vietnam, and his embarrassing election loss, John has been through a lot of mental stress in his life. "In every trick there are two carefully thought out lines – the way it looks and the way it is" (The Magician's Handbook) (page 97). John was a magician, and the murder of Kathy was his greatest trick.
             As a child, John's father was an alcoholic. John loved him very much, but his father constantly teased him and made fun of his weight. His mother knew how upset this made John, but she also realized he didn't know what alcoholism was, and still loved his father. When John was 14, his father committed suicide. The first signs of John's violent nature were shown at the funeral, when he began screaming at his father for dying, and stated his desire to kill somebody. It is very traumatic for a child to lose a parent, especially to suicide. He never received psychological help, and I believe this led to future problems for him. Another factor in John's life was his service in the Vietnam War. While fighting in Vietnam, his platoon entered a village believed to be filled with Vietcong, but it turned out it was just women, children, and old men. His fellow soldiers murder the over 300 residents of the village. John himself murdered an old man, and shot one of the other soldiers: Weatherby. He claimed it was an accident, but he was in...