Going After Cacciato by Tim O'Brien, Citizen 13660 by Mine Okubo, and The Gangster We Are Looking For by le thi diem th y represent characters who use their imaginations to escape the hardships of reality and into a place of comfort and stability. American soldier Paul Berlin often imagines his life prior to Vietnam, allowing himself to break away from the cruel reality of war, same with Mine Okubo who is placed in a Japanese-American internment camp after the bombing of Pearl Harbor. Her freedom was taken, and the only way for her to escape was through her remembrance of the past and what life was like before the camps. As for the young Vietnamese girl in The Gangster We Are All Looking For she is in search of finding her place and voice in America and in doing so uses her imagination to get away from the tough reality of her new life in an alien land. The use of a characters imagination is vital in their ability to escape from the harsh reality they currently are placed in, without it there is a tough time in placing themselves beyond current hardships. .
The imaginations of people allow them to get through situations they are not accustomed to or want to be apart of. Soldiers in Vietnam were faced with many harsh conditions and situations. They were forced to fight in thick, dark jungles against an enemy that was unidentifiable. The soldiers used their imaginations to disorient themselves from the war and into a place of comfort and stability; this was their only way to escape. One soldier in particular named Paul Berlin often thought about his life prior to Vietnam in the United States. He becomes fed up with all the evil situations he has been in during the war so he begins to dream his way out of the war. The mere possibility of reaching Paris is good enough for him to keep dreaming of better things. An example of Berlin imagining better things is when he holds the phone to his ear as he calls home, he remembers the past with his family.