“To generalize about war is like generalizing about peace”, words from the American novelist, Tim O’Brien. I inferred from his statement that the depthness behind these two intangible concepts is unfathomable. One cannot simply explain the who, what, why, when, where, and how’s of each concept without reaching a block. The novel The Things They Carried, was written in 1990 and is a collection of short stories from soldiers, each about the effect the Vietnam War left on them. The Vietnam War was a time where America was torn on whether fighting in the battle was the right thing to do. Therefore, many soldiers deeply hesitated on going to Vietnam and were mainly not accepted when they returned. In the novel The Things They Carried, Tim O’Brien writes about the themes of growth and emotional burdens as he displays his character’s stories of the effects of the Vietnam war. The chapter, “On the Rainy River”, is where O’Brien expresses his biggest growing moment when he is still a minor, battling dodging the draft, …show more content…
Jimmy cross was the lieutenant of the Alpha Company, being fully responsible for all of the soldiers and getting them through the battles. However, he was battling through his own predicament, his undefying love for an American women named Martha. The constantly daydreaming leader had thought he had lost the respect of all of his soldiers when one of his own men was KIA because of his “love for Martha”. The soldier finally thought, “He would dispense with love; it was not now a factor” (O’Brien 250). After the death of his dear friend, Cross changed into a strict and orderly lieutenant. He had finally lost the mindset of a highschool boy, gazing about even the idea of his crush wanting him back. The chapter exposes growth from one of the main characters, Jimmy Cross, as he loses the idea of Martha being a factor in his Vietnam
During the War young men were taken away from fully experiencing their adolescence lives and were sent to fight in war. In the short story, “The things they carried” by Tim O’Brien, the narrator discusses his personal experience in the Vietnam War along with his fellow soldiers. He tells the story in an unusual way when he shares parts of his story from past and changes to present which allows the reader to feel the emotions and experience what each soldier went through and learn more about the characters personalities. O’ Brien uses an unusual narrative technique that allows the reader to visualize the experiences they went through such as death and guilt. Throughout the story we also learn more about the characters personalities and the importance
Many people do not like their position in this world. For instance, they are vexed from working at a low paying job or pursuing a higher education. And, when they hear of a draft into the military, they go for it eventually regretting their choice, attempting to dodge the draft, change their minds, but cannot do so because they are already in the war. In order to challenge this prevailing ideal, Tim O'Brien wrote The Things They Carried as a memoir of his experiences during the Vietnam war, and to proclaim the injustices of the government towards the soldiers. Therefore, O’Brien’s odyssey in the war not only impacted his life but for all the other veterans as well, challenging the underlying power of the government in America through the unfair orders that they gave the soldiers and the little help that they gave the soldiers with mental illness.
Tim O’Brien’s novel The Things They Carried (TTTC) is a collection of short stories detailing the experiences of young soldiers deployed in the Vietnam War. He uses a variety of genres, such as magical realism and an unreliable narrator, to deviate from the traditional war autobiography. In doing so, he provides an insight into the emotional and psychological toll of war, as well as the social structures within groups of soldiers at the time. The experiences of the soldiers range from facing the victims of war to coming to terms with one’s unchosen fate as a soldier. O’Brien makes use of motifs and recurring themes throughout the book to influence the reader’s interpretation of the experiences of soldiers at war.
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.
In the novel The Things They Carried by Tim O’Brien we learn about O’Brien and his soldiers during the Vietnamese war. The Vietnamese war was a deadly and very costly war between the North Vietnam and their communist allies versus the Southern Vietnam and the United states. Throughout the novel Tim O’Brien narrates many stories about the war. Stories about traumatic incidents, pleasant occasions, sorrowful events, and even peculiar event. Personal accounts about himself and also tells about experiences his fellow soldiers faced.
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 Tim O’Brien’s The Things They Carried, the author retells the chilling, and oftentimes gruesome, experiences of the Vietnam war. He utilizes many anecdotes and other rhetorical devices in his stories to paint the image of what war is really like to people who have never experienced it. In the short stories “Spin,” “The Man I Killed,” and “ ,” O’Brien gives reader the perfect understanding of the Vietnam by placing them directly into the war itself. In “Spin,” O’Brien expresses the general theme of war being boring and unpredictable, as well as the soldiers being young and unpredictable.
The soldiers were shattered and traumatized by the death of their fellow brothers. Lieutenant Jimmy Cross blamed himself for the death of Ted Lavender. He might still blame himself until this day. Tim O'Brien mentions how Jimmy Cross lamented and wept, and he said, "He had loved Martha more than his men, and as a consequence Lavender was now dead, and this was something he would have to carry like a
“That’s what stories are for. Stories are for joining the past to the future ... Stories are for eternity, when memory is erased, when there is nothing to remember except the story” (36). The Things They Carried is a captivating novel that gives an inside look at the life of a soldier in the Vietnam War through the personal stories of the author, Tim O’Brien . Having been in the middle of war, O’Brien has personal experiences to back up his opinion about the war.
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.
Tim O’Brien uses many literary elements in his writings to help clarify his points; the main elements this paper focuses on are symbolism, and perspective. One of the better-known books he wrote, of which this paper is about, is The Things They Carried. During the Vietnam War, O’Brien was drafted in to the United States Army as a part of the infantry division (PBS). O’Brien has used his experiences serving in the military as inspiration to write fiction stories about soldiers. The Things They Carried uses symbolism and point of view to give understanding to the reader of the physical, mental, and emotional stresses many soldiers experience.
In November of 1955, the United States entered arguably one of the most horrific and violent wars in history. The Vietnam War is documented as having claimed about 58,000 American lives and more than 3 million Vietnamese lives. Soldiers and innocent civilians alike were brutally slain and tortured. The atrocities of such a war are near incomprehensible to those who didn’t experience it firsthand. For this reason, Tim O’Brien, Vietnam War veteran, tries to bring to light the true horrors of war in his fiction novel The Things They Carried.
The Vietnam War leaves a legacy of moral confusion with each and every soldier who serves. Soldiers are fighting for a cause they do not necessarily believe in, killing people who do not necessarily deserve it, and watching their brothers die beside them. Tim O’Briens’ book, The Things They Carried, illustrates the soldiers struggle to define morality throughout the confusion of the war. On the Rainy River, Tim O’Brien faces what he feels is his moral obligation to answer his country’s call and fight in Vietnam, and a personal moral issue with the reason for the war.
Ambiguity Lingers On Edith Wharton, who is an American author, states “The novelist must rely on what maybe called the illuminating incident to reveal and emphasize the inner meaning of each situation” (Wharton). Tim O’Brien uses illuminating moments to show how war makes guilt ambiguous. By examining three specific moments, the reader discovers how difficult it is to deal with the ambiguities of guilt. Lieutenant Jimmy Cross suffers from the ambiguity of guilt about Ted Lavender’s death.