"They varied the sky. The whole atmosphere, they carried it, the humidity, the monsoons, the stink of fungus and decay, all of it, they carried gravity." -O 'Brien. The Things They Carried by Tim O 'Brien, is about how war can destroy you, with an horrible end always. O 'Brien use the symbolism to show that war can destroy your humanity and innocence. And use the allegory to show that the past can either hurt or help someone in war.
O 'Brien use the symbolism the dancing Vietnamese girl and Mary Anne to show that war can destroy your humanity and innocence.
O 'Brien and his troops come across a girl who is dancing outside her burning house with her family inside. "They were dead and badly burned. It wasn 't a big family: an infant and an old woman and a woman whose age was hard to tell. When we dragged them out, the girl kept dancing"(Pg.129). War will destroy your humanity and innocence, and there will be no mercy. It will destroy the most innocent of people. The destruction of humanity and innocence is not something good to hear, it 's horrific and shocking, it 's a terrible thing. The destruction of humanity and innocence was also seen when a soldier, Mark Fossie, invited his girlfriend, Mary Anne, to visit. Her transformation was shocking. "This Mary Anne wasn 't no virgin but at least she was real. I saw
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O 'Brien use the symbolism the dancing Vietnamese and Mary Anne to show that war can destroy your humanity and innocence. It also use the allegory of the letters of Martha, and Linda, are used to show the past can either hurt or help you someone in war. The destruction of humanity and innocence it 's something terrifying, war can transform you completely into someone else that at the end you will no be able to recognize yourself. And in war you will need to take decisions that you may not like, you will need to get ride of things that you don 't want to let go of the past so you can be able to survive, and your decisions can hurt or help
Readers, especially those reading historical fiction, always crave to find believable stories and realistic characters. Tim O’Brien gives them this in “The Things They Carried.” Like war, people and their stories are often complex. This novel is a collection stories that include these complex characters and their in depth stories, both of which are essential when telling stories of the Vietnam War. Using techniques common to postmodern writers, literary techniques, and a collection of emotional truths, O’Brien helps readers understand a wide perspective from the war, which ultimately makes the fictional stories he tells more believable.
In the book Fallen Angels Walter Dean Myers tells the story of soldiers who struggles with a problem involving what is right and wrong in war. Fallen Angels set in Vietnam during the Vietnam war, the story introduces the main character Perry, who faces obstacles, including death and killing. The author’s use of literary devices, specifically imagery, irony, and metaphors convey the theme warfare often forces soldiers to reconsider their traditional notions of right and wrong. The author employs imagery to express the theme that warfare often forces soldiers to reconsider their traditional notions of right and wrong.
A lot happens in Tim O 'Brien short story "The Things They Carried", at first, the reader speculates what the short story is about and why it is called "The Things They Carried". The narrator Tim O 'Brien tells and describes all the things that the men have to carry while "in-country" during the Vietnam War in the1960 's. The text 's artistic value comes from its plot, characters, conflict, and style. In the plot of the story the protagonist, Tim O 'Brien starts by describing circumstances that happened while he was in Vietnam. In the beginning of "The Things They Carried" we are introduced to each character by the things they carry.
Synopsis: In this chapter the protagonist, Mary Anne Bell, comes to be with her boyfriend Mark Fossie during war. When she first comes over she is a very innocent girl, but at the end of the chapter she is violent and addicted to war. Figurative Language: #1- (simile)“And over the next two weeks they stuck together like a pair of high school steadies.”
1.Guilt is one of the worst things accompanied by death. Guilt plays a huge role throughout the novel. In war, men are constantly dying and these men all become best friends with one another. For example, Norman Bowker felt a tremendous amount of quilt towards the death of Kiowa.
He fought a war in Vietnam that he knew nothing about, all he knew was that, “Certain blood was being shed for uncertain reasons” (38). He realized that he put his life on the line for a war that is surrounded in controversy and questions. Through reading The Things They Carried, it was easy to feel connected to the characters; to feel their sorrow, confusion, and pain. O’Briens ability to make his readers feel as though they are actually there in the war zones with him is a unique ability that not every author possess.
In The Things They Carried, O’Brien’s story-telling method is an attempt to show that the lines between fiction and reality are often not that far. Even though the names or details may not be fully accurate, this does not change the fact that they are a reality for many. Additionally, he challenges the importance that we place on war and links it to a storytelling aspect because he’s pointing out that not every story has a moral to it. With tragic events, we typically want some sort of meaning behind them, some sort of assurance that the incident was not for nothing. However, this is not always true, as a character “Yeah, well…I don’t see no moral”…
Originally published in 1990, The Things They Carried is a collection of war stories that took place during the Vietnam War. Due to its accurate and honest depiction of war, it has been banned for crude language, violence, drug use, and sexual innuendo. The author, Tim O’Brien, was born in Austin, Minnesota in 1946. Due to his service in the United States military during the Vietnam War, O’Brien is able to depict the war in a more graphic, and realistic manner.
The Things They Carried, written by Tim O’Brien, illustrates the experiences of a man and his comrades throughout the war in Vietnam. Tim O’Brien actually served in the war, so he had a phenomenal background when it came to telling the true story about the war. In his novel, Tim O’Brien uses imagery to portray every necessary detail about the war and provide the reader with a true depiction of the war in Vietnam. O’Brien starts out the book by describing everything he and his comrades carry around with them during the war. Immediately once the book starts, so does his use of imagery.
This transformation of Mary Anne captures the separation of beauty and horror in war. Her initial innocence and curiosity represent the beauty of human resilience and the pursuit of love and connection, even in the worst of circumstances. But, as she dives into the darkness of the war environment, she reflects the horrors of war which can strip away innocence, humanity, and
War is the graveyard of innocence for boys who become men through the loss of humanity. The book “Fallen Angels,” by Walter Dean Myers, is a story about Richard Perry, a young man who mistakenly joins the Vietnam War to avoid the shame of not going to college. As the book goes on Perry discovers his mistake and in the process, not only loses his innocence, but also his humanity. Wars will always be the dark parts of our history and no war is devoid of horrors that can strip anyone of everything they are, and in war soldiers must use coping mechanisms to deal with these very apparent horrors.
The Vietnam War is going on in the background of the novel and affects a character called Jeffrey. Jeffrey is a young Vietnamese boy. His family is not welcome in the small town of Corrigan and are abused and bullied. In the novel Jeffrey’s mother gets hot water spilt on her because the ladies husband died in the
The author was writing the story “The Things They Carried” expressed so many thoughts and feelings about what the soldiers had faced, they showed their feelings and duties, life or death, and overall fear and dedication. This story shows the theme of the physical and emotional burdens that everyone is going through in the war. By showing his readers what the soldier’s daily thoughts are and how they handle what is going on around them. Tim O’Brien expresses this theme by using characterization, symbolism, and tone continuously. In the story, physical and emotional burdens plagued several characters as they all had baggage weighing them down.
The things men carried inside.” (par. 6) In conclusion, the characters in “The Things They Carried” can be better understood through a closer look at the objects they brought with them. “They carried all they could bear, and then some, . . . “ (par 2).
Comparative Essay How can different perceptions about one topic be expressed in poetry? The main theme that the two sets of poems convey is war, but it’s expressed in different point of views through the use of diction that builds tone. The tones of these poems play a big role in conveying the differences between the different eras that these poems are written in, and shows how societies have changed from the Victorian era till the time of World War I. The diction and tone in Borden and Owen’s poems is so much different than the diction and tone in Lovelace and Tennyson’s poems due to different perspectives and point of views. In all four poems the main idea is war, but each set conveys a perspective of war, a positive perspective