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Disorienting perspective of the landscape Wade exists in: tangled forests represent Wades state of mind. OBrien comments that the book is about uncertainty, and the truth in our lives is fragile and elusive: what is known can be quickly shattered. OBrien successfully draws readers into uncovering Wades shattered conscious, while simultaneously forcing us into the position of the jury piecing together evidence and stories to form an image of Wades personality and motives; what we ultimately understand as being beyond knowing. This non-linear technique captures Wades psychological reconstruction, He would remember only the steam and heat, serves to remind readers that we are experiencing a reoccurring trauma that Wade is revisiting and repressing. Symptoms of post-traumatic stress can be traced back to his childhood, beginning with the death of Wades father, Paul Wade. These stresses are re-ignited by the massacre of My Lai and the disintegration of Wades marriage and political career. During his childhood, Wade feels inadequate, rejected and humiliated: blubby little pansy. To deal with the constant teasing from his father, Wade retreats behind the mirrors in his head and employs the use of magic to provide an alternative happy environment in which to escape reality. This technique is carried into Wades adult life, as he employs the use of mirrors and magic once more during both the war in Vietnam and after the crushing defeat of his political career. It was pretending, but the pretending helped. OBrien focuses on the mystery of the human identity, demonstrated in the complexity of the setting which mirrors the difficulty of the human psyche, difficult to map/navigate. Wades father is an alcoholic mystery, Kathy and Wade do not share with eachother or understand eachother, and Wade himself is beyond knowing remaining a mystery to himself and others. Truth: If our moral foundation is linked to whether we are capable of being honest with ourselves and those around us, then how does this impact on the way we view John Wade? Power and Control: Wade, who desires so much power and control over his and others lives, is at the centre of a story which offers none of the certainties of control. Kathy is so willing to give these up, even when she is so fiercely private, fiercely independent. Nature of Evil: OBriens characters resort to violence as a result of psychological trauma, this is highlighted by the massacre at My Lai, in which readers are shown the dark and violent side to humanity. Wade watched as Weatherby shot two little girls in the face Nature of Love: Wade needs to be loved. He went to war only to be loved, and does bad things only to be loved. It is a weakness, but Wade desires the emotional security that love provides, due to the lack of love he experienced in his childhood, however the nature of his love is oppressive and destructive. Landscape and Mind: The landscape of the Lake of the Woods reflects Wades own mind, tangled forests, hard to map. John and the thought of himself as a man capable of murder living with the torment of the guilt, the loneliness of childhood and the humiliation of defeat. Kathy also is trying to escape the oppression of her marriage the guy was a walking panic button, Wades fathers alcoholism and his emotional inadequacies. Illusion: Mirrors, Magic, Fog hides the realities, Wade hides behind the mirrors in his head to create an emotional illusion of stability, while hiding from reality. Morality and Self: John Wade demonstrating a sense of moral responsibility; how much did he take responsibility for his actions or lack thereof at the massacre of Thuan Yen? Kathys morality, lying, cheating, leaving. The whereabouts of Kathy remain unknown, an insight into her moral instability of self.