"The Dentist" by Tim O'Brien (from The Things They Carried) As we sat waiting, Curt Lemon began to tense up. He kept fidgeting, playing with his dog tags. Finally somebody asked what
the problem was, and Lemon looked down at his hands and said that back in high school he'd had a couple of bad
experiences with dentists. Real sadism, he said. Torture chamber stuff. He didn't mind blood or pain - he actually enjoyed
combat - but there was something about a dentist that just gave him the creeps. He glanced over at the field tent and said,
"No way. Count me out. Nobody messes with these teeth.
But a few minutes later, when the dentist called his name. Lemon stood up and walked into the tent.
It was over fast. He fainted even before the man touched him.
Four of us had to hoist him up and lay him on the cot. When he came to, there was a funny new look on his face, almost
sheepish, as if he'd been caught committing some terrible crime. He wouldn't talk to anyone. For the rest of the day he
stayed off by himself, sitting alone under a tree, just staring down at the field tent. He seemed a little dazed. Now and then we
could hear him cussing, bawling himself out. Anyone else would ve laughed it off, but for Curt Lemon it was too much. The
embarrassment must've turned a screw in his head. Late that night he crept down to the dental tent. He switched on a
flashlight, woke up the young captain, and told him he had a monster toothache. A killer, he said - like a nail in his jaw. The
dentist couldn't find any problem, but Lemon kept insisting, so the man finally shrugged and shot in the Novocain and yanked
out a perfectly good tooth. There was some pain, no doubt, but in the morning Curt Lemon was all smiles. By the end, Curt Lemon is characterized as: 1)Recklessly concerned with his reputation. 2)battle-hardened and powerful. 3)Overly impulsive but cheerful. 4)Childish and prone to fainting.