Things They Carried Innocence Quotes

When Kiowa lost his life the field was a wet mess from a flood. The war doesn’t only change people it also changes the land. What once was a war zone was now a peaceful farmers field. “This field had embodied all the waste that was Vietnam, all the vulgarity and horror. Now, it was just flat and dreary and unremarkable” (O’Brien

In the novels “Ambush” by Tim O'Brien and “The Morally Injured” by Tyler Boudreau discuss both the consequences of war being a curse by having effects on the soldiers by being morally injured on what they experience in war. Furthermore when solider go to war they develope invisible wounds that affect the way the soldiers think when they return home. In the essay “The Morally Injured” by Tyler Boudreau shows that memories of war affect the way soldiers think by saying,”Thousands of veterans have come home in state of near mental collapse, harried by their memories of the battlefield”(P1) This affects the soldiers by having to carry the horrid memories of the war with them for the rest of their life. When coming home they have the experiences

O'Brien emphasizes the difference between the troops' actual experiences and how those experiences are portrayed in the society and by the government throughout the entire story. He discusses how soldiers are taught to "spin" their perspectives in order to make them more appealing to the American public, frequently by praising their own bravery and understating the atrocities of war. He explains how soldiers can eventually have feelings of remorse and shame due to their sensitivity to violence and

The disconnect between O’Brien’s sense of self and his actions could be attributed to this emotional toll. O’Brien’s values and sense of self are clear in “On the Rainy River”, when he describes how he ended up in the war. In his late teens, O’Brien had no plans of going to the war– he felt almost immune to it, in a way. He planned to graduate college summa cum laude and complete his grad studies at Harvard. He says “I was no soldier.

In The Things They Carried, a war novel, by Tim O’Brien author introduces many characters. Those characters show the bitterness pain and suffering of Vietnam War caused situation. For better picture of what does the war do to young people Tim O’Brien introduces some major and minor character. Showing how they are at first represented, what kind of change do they go through and how do they end up. Different angles of viewpoint are depicted by the fact that author not only uses men to show the evolution, but also women.

The constant war zone does not only weaken the physical state of soldiers, it can also take away the stability of some men’s mentality. Although O’Brien does not directly state that the other characters in the novel are mentally unstable, he uses the women, who are close to the soldiers, as mirrors of the soldier's emotions. As an example, O’Brien uses his daughter to convey how the fighting in the Vietnam war and how reminiscing on Vietnam has changed him mentally. O’Brien tells a story twice, one time telling it truthfully and the other time “story-truth”(179). He comforts himself through the entire chapter because of this, telling one story and stating that it was untruthful, but it does not become apparent to the reader until the daughter asks, “‘Daddy, tell the truth,’ Kathleen can say, ‘did you ever kill anybody?’

Most of the time soldiers are sent to war and are expected to return to their families and lives unchanged, expected to pick up where they left off. War, however, has a different lasting effect. Experiences of war leave soldiers scared for their life and change who they are as a person. War and death change a person both physically and mentally, Tim O’Brien shows this when Rat Kiley loses Kurt Lemon at war. Rat Kiley sees unimaginable events over and over again and it changes who he is as a person, “ ‘These pictures in my head, they won’t quit’…

(O’Brien 128.) With the tone being used in this quote, readers already know that the actions you commit in war have the ability to stick with you for the rest of your life, but they also learn that although a significant amount of time has passed, that doesn’t necessarily mean that becoming comfortable with the situation will become easier, because O’Brien and his other platoon members are the perfect examples of this. Dealing with situations like these can even become harder as you progress throughout life because every time you think of a resolution, more and more questions arise about what you should and shouldn’t have done. Readers recognize that the things they do, or don’t do in life can make them feel the same way as the war

The quote also serves to illustrate the harsh realities of war and the devastating consequences of decisions made in the heat of the moment. He suggests that stories can be used to make sense of experiences, even though they may not always be literal truth. O'Brien illustrates this idea by weaving together personal anecdotes, historical facts, and vivid descriptions to create a narrative that is both emotionally powerful and

Obrien perfectly describes the duality of war saying, “war is nasty; war is fun” and “war makes you a man; war makes you dead” (76). War has many positives for some men, and it gives them a chance to honor their country. War is also horrible and leads to the death of countless young men with bright futures ahead. O’Brien uses the story of the water buffalo to describe all the emotions described in the description of war. The shooting of the water buffalo shows how desensitized soldiers become due to the mindless killing of Vietnam.

The experiences of war leave profound impacts on soldiers, both physically and emotionally. Beyond the physical scars and injuries, veterans grapple with returning to a normal life after their service. Transitioning from a war environment to civilian society is extremely difficult due to their trauma and social obstacles. The government fails to provide adequate aid to returning soldiers, resulting in financial struggle and emotional despair. In The Things They Carried written by Tim O’Brien, soldiers witness violence and death, forcing them to bear emotional burdens that haunt them throughout their entire lifetime, impeding their ability to achieve a sense of normalcy.

The Lasting Effect of War It is impossible to undo the changes caused by war. People often go into war as one person and return a completely new one. Not only does war have extreme physical effects on a person, but greater effects on the mind and mental state of the people involved. The traumatic and life changing effects of war are evident in The Things They Carried and are especially noticeable in the characters of Mary Anne Bell, Tim O’Brien, and Rat Kiley and the lives they live.

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.

Although the soldier he killed was an enemy soldier, instead of vilifying him he was able to humanize the man. O’Brien was able to describe the physical appearance of the soldier and imagine her life before war. The author was able to portray an emotional connection and made the line between friend and enemy almost vanish. This was able to reveal the natural beauty of shared humanity even in the context of war’s horror. O’Brien is able to find the beauty in the midst of this tragic and horrible event.

This forewarns the reader that they could be reading something that is real or something that is completely made up. O’Brien is a masterful writer who has created an unique story about the experience of war through his style of writing.