During the Vietnam war soldiers took many sacrifices, including leaving their families and being outkast’s in society. But during the war they made really good friendships. The Vietnam war made people lose their lives, friends, and families. Many people didn 't support the war so they protested, and when the soldiers came back from war they were treated like outcasts. In the novel “The Things They Carried,” by Tim O’Brien, the book shows the themes friendship and sacrifice through key details like when someone dies they still remain friends even though they had a sacrifice. The theme of friendship is shown in many chapters of “The Things They Carried” by Tim O’Brien, in the chapter “Love,” friendship is shown through Jimmy Cross coming to visit Tim in Massachusetts. They drank and smoked for a whole day and caught up with things. “For a full day we drank and smoked cigarettes together and talked about everything we had seen and done so long ago,” (O’Brien, 26). This quote shows how good of friends they had become during the war and after because if not Jimmy wouldn 't go to Massachusetts. They became very good friends through hardships. Their friendship lasted through the war and many years after. They weren 't friends, they were brothers. …show more content…
The chapter “Friends,” is a very good chapter showing friendship. There are many details of how good of friends people can become during a war. Dave Jensen and Lee Strunk weren 't good buddies for a while but they eventually started to trust each other. “In late August they made a pact that if one of them should ever get totally fucked up- a wheelchair wound- the other guy would automatically find a way to end it,” (O’Brien, 62). This quote shows how good of friends they have become. They make a pact that if one got their legs blown off or something else they would have to fix it. They were such good friends that they other would have to kill the other person if they got really
Everyone carried at least something with them such as: burdens, ghosts, cruel images, and unscrupulous experiences. (“The Things They Carried” Critical Survey of Short Fiction 1790-1793). In Tim’s novel, They Things They Carried, he carried courage, innocent, guilt, and love: those were his personal memories. Nonetheless, in the novel, it seems like every veteran carries griefs and experiences. Each person will have different griefs: to Tim, his griefs will be dead of his friends, Lavender and Kiowa.
Death Is a Powerful Motivator In “The Things They Carried”, Tim O’Brien, the author, portrays his own experience in the Vietnam War. Although O’Brien fabricated some of the stories and exaggerated some of the parts, the main idea O’Brien wished to display is present. He wanted to allow the reader a view of the war along with the physical burdens and emotional burdens the soldiers carried with them. These burdens effected the soldiers and helped define them as people.
When you go to war, and you meet people who are fighting with you, you become closer to them. They become so close to you that they feel like your family or your second family. This is how I would describe Lee and Longstreet’s relationship. It is kind of like a father-son relationship. Lee and Longstreet have become so close that they may fight like brothers.
In life, a true friend is considered to be one of the most important things a person can have. Sometimes friends get in trouble, and when they do it’s your responsibility to help them. The soldier from Panos Ioannides’ story “Gregory” and Ronnie Quiller from Joseph Whitehill’s “The Day of the Last Rock Fight” both have friends that they constantly try to keep out of trouble. When in trouble, a friend will do everything in their power to assist you.
When the story started off it was talking of a women whom the Lieutenant Jimmy Cross carried letters from, a woman named Martha. Cross was very fond of Martha and had overwhelmingly strong feelings for her. He carried these letters from Martha and she never mentioned much about the war… except “Jimmy. Take care of yourself”
In Tim O’Brien’s book The Things They Carried he brings you into his life leading up to and through fighting in the Vietnam War. In the book he walks you through his journey of physical and personal struggles along with his fellow soldiers’. Throughout the book O’Brien gives you a sense of his own courage and how it evolves over time. Starting out when O’Brien is back in high school and the draft is rapidly approaching, he seems to be feeling very anxious and somewhat scared to be forced to fight. After his senior year in high school, getting ready to go off to Harvard to continue
And as a result his friend Kiowa was now dead.” (page 163). 2. Often times you may make unbreakable bonds in unlikely places.
War: The Idea of Friendship In the novel The Things They Carried by Tim O’Brien, the stories are mainly focused on the Vietnamese War and it’s effects on the soldiers. The two stories, Friends and Enemies clearly portray the personal problems faced by the soldiers during the war instead of problems in the actual war that the soldiers are fighting. In Enemies, Dave Jensen breaks Lee Strunk's nose over a stolen jackknife and is later found contemplating whether or not Strunk will get his revenge on him, causing him to become delusional. In Friends, however, both Strunk and Jensen agree to sign a pact that says if anyone of them gets hurt badly, the other will kill them.
In “The Things They Carried” by Tim O’Brien, the theme is shame and guilt. One character in the story, Jimmy Cross, is a good example of this theme. As the story progresses, Jimmy and the view towards his item he carried, love letters, changes and the significance of these letters is revealed. First, in the beginning of the story it is shown that Jimmy carries around love letters from a girl named Martha.
Radio host Bernard Meltzer once said, “A true friend is one who thinks you are a good egg even if you are half-cracked.” In other words, in a true friendship flaws don’t matter. In his novel Of Mice and Men, John Steinbeck tells the story of Lennie and George, two characters who remain friends regardless of any trouble or flaws. Lennie acts as a child and he doesn’t remember what George tells him. He has a mental problem and he’s dumb.
When the author expresses the feelings within Lieutenant Jimmy Cross’s troops we see their individual personalities. When the author used characterization, symbolism, and tone, they truly brought out the theme of physical and emotional burdens throughout “The Things They
The Things They Carried “The Things They Carried” by Tim O’Brien is a short story set during the Vietnam War. In the story, O’Brien lists many different items soldiers in the Alpha Company carried with them as they humped across the rugged terrain. Many carried necessities such as rations, matches, ammunition and things of that nature; however, many soldiers also carried quite peculiar objects such as condoms, pantyhose, and M&Ms. Readers can grasp a closer insight of the characters’ lives after further examination of the symbolism and meaning of the things they carried.
During the war, the soldiers all had a tight bond and were more together than separate because they always had each other's backs and supported each other. However, in the years ahead, the only way they can relate is from the past and the emotional weight they carry because of it. After the war, Jimmy visited O’Brien and “then for a long time neither of [them] could think of much to say. The thing to do…[was] switch to gin... and not much later [they] were laughing about some of the craziness that used to go on” (O’Brien 26-27).
War isn’t a topic talked of lightly, especially for those who served in the war. In Tim O’Brien’s book titled The Things They Carried, soldiers encountered countless lifeless bodies, witnessed gallons of bloodshed, and questioned their own morals knowing that each battle could prove to be their last. In fact, the soldiers long to escape the daily fear and, in Vietnam especially, resort to whatever easily offers itself as a way to momentarily break with harsh reality whether alcohol, drugs, etc. However, the ones who did experience that trauma almost miss it. The adrenaline in combat, the lack of connection in society after the war, and the brotherhood they created are all factors that contribute to their saudade.
The Things They Carried by Tim O’Brien is a collection of short stories about the Vietnam war. The title's significance refers to both the emotional and physical baggage that the characters in the stories carry. Although the soldiers carry heavy physical baggage, they also carry the heavy emotional loads of the war, such as shame, guilt and escapism. In the first chapter, the author catalogs physical items like weapons, water, and medical gear.