ipl-logo

Society's Influence In The Things They Carried

937 Words4 Pages

An adventurer has just received a dangerous task: He is to skydive into the Grand Canyon. Everyone around him sees him as extremely brave and daring and expects him to mercilessly do so, but this time, the adventurer responds differently, saying he feels too scared to do that. Knowing that the community around him wants to see him go do that, he begins to feel a lot of pressure. Once seen as the most bold person anyone could meet, he is afraid that the community will view him as a coward if he does not attempt this task. Ultimately, he chooses to go skydiving amid the inherent risks. This is a prime example of society’s influence and what it can do to people. It motivates people to do what they usually would not do. Without coincidence, it …show more content…

Near the start of the chapter “On the Rainy River”, O’Brien receives the one notice in the mail which he had been hoping to avoid for the rest of his life: he is drafted and enlisted for duty in the Vietnam War. Long before he received the notice he went through negative warlike experiences such as hating boy scouts. Additionally, he feels as if there is no point in the war, but the people in his town keep encouraging him to go. Troubled with a large dilemma, he goes back to his hometown in Minnesota, pondering for days. Eventually, he thinks of himself as a coward, and he reveals that he “couldn’t endure the mockery, or the disgrace or the patriotic ridicule…[he] couldn’t make [himself] be brave...Embarrassment, that’s all it was” (O’Brien 57). O’Brien feels the shame engulf him and this leads him to submit and go to war. Although O’Brien does not have any incentive to go to war at first, it is the shame that ultimately motivates him to face his fears and head to Vietnam with other soldiers. Without feeling the embarrassment himself, O’Brien would not be anywhere near as motivated to go to war as he is in the book. Society’s influence on him causes him to not only feel ashamed, but to also submit to one of the most dangerous things one can experience: war. Clearly, he shows that one should make decisions independent from society, otherwise negative effects will

Show More
Related

  • Are The Burdens In Tim O Brien's The Things They Carried

    641 Words  | 3 Pages

    Throughout life we experience hardships, and we use these past experiences to help us make future decisions that overall grow as human beings. In Tim O ‘ Brien’s novel “The Things They Carried,” the characters not only carry physical baggage but emotional ones as well. They are forced to feel the effects of war such as guilt, burdens, and other factors that come with being a soldier. Soldiers going into the war often went in with immense pride that they were serving their country however in doing this they didn’t know they would lose their innocence and see the world in a new perspective when they returned. “My hometown was a conservative little spot on the prairie, a place where tradition counted” (O’Brien 38) shows where O’Brien lived in a place where things like the draft were taken very seriously.

    Read More

  • Things They Carried By Tim O Brien: A Literary Analysis

    1292 Words  | 6 Pages

    In the short story, “The Man I Killed,” O’Brien focuses on this to show that everyone fighting in a war has a story. He spends the story describing the man he killed and searching for justification of his actions. He carries around guilt with him because of it, and his fellow soldiers try to help him justify and come to terms with his action by saying things like, “You want to trade places with him? Turn it all upside down= you want that? I mean, be honest,” (126) and “Tim, it’s a war.

    Read More

  • A Marker On The Side Of The Boat Analysis

    813 Words  | 4 Pages

    O’Brien tells the readers about him reflecting back twenty years ago, he wonders if running away from the war were just events that happened in another dimension, he pictures himself writing a letter to his parents: “I’m finishing up a letter to my Parents that tells what I'm about to do and why I'm doing it and how sorry I am that I’d never found the courage to talk to them about it”(O’Brien 80). Even twenty years after his running from the war, O’Brien still feels sorry for not finding the courage to tell his parents about his decision of escaping to Canada to start a new life. O’Brien presented his outlook that even if someone was not directly involved in the war, this event had impacted them indirectly, for instance, how a person’s reaction to the war can create regret for important friends and

    Read More

  • On The Rainy River Character Analysis

    807 Words  | 4 Pages

    Planning Page Template Prompt Question: Discuss the ideas developed by the text creator about the role adversity plays in shaping an individual’s identity. Identity: Tim O’Brien thought of himself as an indisputable hero, the Lone Ranger, he exuded confidence, courageous. Adversity: Tim had been drafted to fight in the Vietnam war, a war of which he didn’t endorse and thought was frivolous and brainless. Over the course of the the story Tim endures a difficult man vs self conflict, can’t decide whether he wants to be seen as a coward if he flees to Canada or see himself as a coward if he allows societal pressures to override his values and beliefs on the war.

    Read More

  • The Things They Carried: An Analysis

    688 Words  | 3 Pages

    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.

    Read More

  • Conformity In On The Rainy River 'By Tim O' Brien

    839 Words  | 4 Pages

    ‘’I was a coward. I went to the war’’ Pg187. In the short story, ‘’On The Rainy River’’ by Tim O’Brien, The protagonist faces a difficult life decision, he did not want to conform to society the way others wanted him to. He wanted to keep his personal beliefs. Tim O’Brien does not want to conform no matter how vital it is that he should.

    Read More

  • Courage In Tim O Brien's The Things They Carried

    730 Words  | 3 Pages

    In the novel The Things They Carried, Tim O’Brien expresses to the reader why the men went to the war and continued to fight it. In the first chapter, “The Things They Carried,” O’Brien states “It was not courage, exactly; the object was not valor. Rather they were too frightened to be cowards.” The soldiers went to war not because they were courageous and ready to fight, but because they felt the need to go. They were afraid and coped with their lack of courage by telling stories (to themselves or aloud) and applied humor to the situations they encountered.

    Read More

  • Examples Of Shame In The Things They Carried

    944 Words  | 4 Pages

    Shame is an emotion that pushes one to do things they would never have done before. Whether that is returning to fight a war, sitting on an active battlefield, committing revenge against a fellow troop member, or all of them combined, shame is able to cause one to do that and more. Even when O’Brien is faced with completely different settings and experiences, the feeling of shame causes the same reaction. He became both irrational and overanalytical, pushing his mental and physical health to deteriorate rapidly. Shame is a dangerous emotion that all are vulnerable to, yet the important part is how one responds to it.

    Read More

  • The Things They Carried Internal Conflict Analysis

    845 Words  | 4 Pages

    This is evident when Mr. O’Brien says, “I would go to the war – I would kill and maybe die – because I was embarrassed not to,” (pg. 57.) In the end the author realized what he must do and went back home, so he could fight in the Vietnam

    Read More

  • Tim O Brien On The Rainy River Analysis

    708 Words  | 3 Pages

    The short story “On the Rainy River”, by Tim O’Brien is an exploration of how guilt and the pressures of society can shape one’s decision making. O’Brien feels guilty about going to war in Vietnam which contradicts his principles and his dream of becoming a writer. In the story, O’Brien admits, “I was a coward, I went to war” (O’Brien 80); he feared how the people of his community, and the rest of society would view him if he ran away. He feared the external embarrassment he would face if he dodged his draft notice instead of serving in the war; the fear of being judged by society was too unbearable for him to face. During O’Brien’s encounter with Elroy Berdahl, he is influenced to adhere to a decision, however, he chose to conform to the expectations of society.

    Read More

  • PTSD In Tim O Brien's The Things They Carried

    1504 Words  | 7 Pages

    This quote epitomizes the trauma caused by war. O’Brien is trying to cope, mostly through writing these war stories but has yet to put it behind him. He feels guilt, grief, and responsibility, even making up possible scenarios about the life of the man he killed and the type of person he was. This

    Read More

  • On The Rainy River Analysis

    1205 Words  | 5 Pages

    In the short story, “On the Rainy River” by Tim O’Brien, the author develops the idea that when an individual experiences a feeling of shame and humiliation, they often tend to neglect their desires and convictions to impress society. Tim, the narrator, starts off by describing his feeling of embarrassment, “I’ve had to live with it, feeling the shame”, before even elaborating on the cause of the feeling. Near the end of the story, he admits he does not run off and escape to Canada because it had nothing to do with his, “mortality...Embarrassment, that’s all it was”. The narrator experiences this feeling of intense shame and then he decides that he will be “a coward” and go to war. His personal desire is that he wishes to live a normal life and could never imagine himself charging at an enemy position nor ever taking aim at another human being.

    Read More

  • Moral Dilemma In On The Rainy River By Tim O Brien

    284 Words  | 2 Pages

    At this moment, O’Brien is going through remorse for himself. He does not think that he should be forced to fight in this war when he does not believe in what they are fighting for. O’Brien believes that the war was unjust because “certain blood was being shed for uncertain reasons” (1002).O’Brien

    Read More

  • Where Have You Gone Charming Billy Critical Analysis

    763 Words  | 4 Pages

    The soldiers in the Vietnams war were there for different reasons, some soldiers were forced against their will and some were there by choice. Because of that, each soldier has their own thoughts about the war, O’Brien has interpreted that “The twenty –six men were very quiet: some of them excited by the adventure, some of them afraid”. This clearly shows how the men

    Read More

  • The Draft In On The Rainy River By Tim O Brien

    615 Words  | 3 Pages

    This results in him wanting to avoid the draft and, him contemplating the consequences of avoiding the draft. O’Brien just graduated college and is working in a pig slaughter plant when he receives the draft notice. During this time period people his age were burning their draft notices and protesting against the war and the government's involvement. The reason why O’Brien was drafted into the military was because he fit the requirements of the military.

    Read More

More about Society's Influence In The Things They Carried

Open Document