Tim O'Brien's short story "Ambush" is based on the events of the Vietnamese War of November 1955 to April 1975. Recounting his experiences of the war, the author tells the story, pretending that his daughter Kathleen is an adult.
This short story is part of O' Brien's "<em>The Things They Carried</em>". The story is told from a first person narrative voice. The author's daughter had asked him if he had ever killed anyone which he denies. But then he resolves to tell her the truth when she grows up. This story tells about the one event when the author had killed a soldier coming through the fog. The narrator pulled the pin of a grenade and threw it at the man, killing him. Years later, the narrator is still grappling with that event, assuring himself that if he hadn't done what he had done, the man would still have died anyhow.
The irony that lies behind Fortunato's name is that the basic root word of his name is "Fortun" as in fortune, indicating luck, success or prosperity when Fortunato is the actual victim in the story of "The Cask of Amontillado."
