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A Literary Analysis Of Tim O 'Brien's The Things They Carried'

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Literary Analysis on Short Stories In the short story of Tim O'brien's The Things They Carried uses symbolism to suggest that items that the soldiers Kiowa, Lavender and Cross carried represent their values and where they come from. O'brien successfully shows in depth what each character mentioned in the short story represents in relation to the narrator by mentioning the items and memories that each individual carried. The narrator (O’brien) lists things that the soldiers carry with them, both tangible and intangible. Other members of the unit are introduced through descriptions of the things they carry, such as Ted Lavender who carried tranquilizer pills and excessive amounts of ammunition, Jimmy Cross who carried photos of his lover back home and Kiowa who carried a hunting hatchet. O'Brien introduces readers to the short story’s primary characters by describing the “things” that the soldiers carried. The level of detail O'Brien offers about the characters is expanded upon and shown throughout …show more content…

Not only was it physical items, but it was also memories brought, like the ones brought by Jimmy Cross of his girlfriend at home. O’brien highlights the things that these soldiers carried in a way to set up the the rising action and help the story reach a climax. In reference to the character Kiowa, the things that he carried create a perfect picture of what type of person Kiowa was. A deeply religious American Indian who carried a tomahawk and a bible in his rucksack. Kiowa throughout the short story is clearly the silent leader of the platoon. If there is a mentor figure for O’Brien, it is Kiowa. Kiowa is the perfect example of a static character, one who does not change. Kiowa shined in this area because of the knowledge and wisdom that he continues to provide the narrator

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The Things They Carried by Tim O’Brien is a novel that emphasizes symbolism in chapter 7, “How to Tell a War Story” the character/narrator Tim O’Brien expresses The struggle that affects a soldier in the war. “He shot it twice in the flanks. It wasn't to kill; it was to hurt it” (O'Brien, 75) In Chapter 7 How to Tell a war story, the story expresses the grief that Rat Kiley goes through.

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606 Words | 3 Pages

The Things They Carried by Tim O’Brien uses many rhetorical devices and specific narrative elements to enhance the overall themes by using point of view, imagery, and metaphors. Tim O’Brien uses his friend’s point of view to elaborate on the war experiences and the feelings of his fellow friends. On Page 62, O’Brien states, “Rat almost bawls writing it. He gets all teary telling about good times they had together and how her brother made the war almost fun.” This shows the emotions and feeling Rat was experiencing during the war.

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508 Words | 3 Pages

Tim O'Brien short story "The Things They Carried" is about a unit in the Vietnam War. One of the soldiers “Ted Lavender, a "Grunt" gets shot by a sniper when in route to the restroom. Meanwhile, his superior by the name of, Lieutenant Jimmy Cross points the finger at himself for the catastrophe. One of O'Brien's themes is that emotional problems on soldiers can be heavier than physical problems. Symbolically, the things the soldiers carry represented who they were.

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429 Words | 2 Pages

Something as simple as Lieutenant Cross’s good-luck pebble or Dave Jensen's rabbit’s foot held significant superstitial value and gave them peace of mind that something was on their side (O’Brien, 609). To them, every piece of their equipment had meaning; from the ammunition to the M&M’s (O’Brien, 607), whether it was for the benefit of them succeeding in the Vietnam War or a distraction from it, everything held value. From their helmets, boots, jackets and gear which helped them sustain themselves from the unfamiliar climate and jungle territory to things like Kiowa’s weight of his own feelings about a fellow soldier who died right before him. Even though Kiowa’s feelings had no physical weight, he still felt held down by this “un-Christian” of not feeling sorrow and pain when Ted Lavender fell down dead in an instant right there on the same battlefield he was in (O’Brien,

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1019 Words | 5 Pages

The Things They Carried shows an overall theme of soldiers carrying physical and emotional baggage through the war. Throughout the book, Tim O’Brien vividly describes some of the literal

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737 Words | 3 Pages

The War of Emotions The emotion in the The Things They Carried by Tim O’Brien emulate the literal and physical things the soldiers take with them. The tranquilizers, pantyhose, and water buffalo symbolize the anxiety, longing, and sometimes rage felt during the war, and reflect how traumatizing the experience is. The soldiers in the Vietnam War carried many physical items with them. Many of the things they carried were because of necessity.

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754 Words | 4 Pages

Kiowa, the platoon’s young Native American, not only carried an illustrated copy of the New Testament, but also his grandfather’s hunting hatchet. His conflicting commodities represented the distrust of his situation and perhaps his distrust in Christianity’s principles. Kiowa’s wariness proved appropriate, as his fellow soldier, Norman Bowker, pushed aside comradery. Bowker sought to save himself from foul unpleasantries, directly leading to Kiowa’s end. Ted Lavender’s death, however, stemmed from his crippling fear.

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1050 Words | 5 Pages

In the story, “The Thing They Carried” the reader gets to look a little bit deeper into what an everyday soldier does. The narrator describes the things each soldier carries and how a soldier can be identified by these things. Each soldier carries a unique load. Soldiers carry pounds upon pounds of physical burdens that also happen to be precautionary necessities. They carry ammunition, weapons, rations, medical supplies, heavy uniforms, and personal items; but they do not only carry physical burdens.

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Entry 1 In the first chapter titled “The Things They Carried,” the author said that they carried the physical items like ponchos and ammunition, but what resonated with me was how he described the intangible things that each of them carried. They carry the life that they left back in the United States. I can’t imagine what it would be like to leave the life that’s lived for eighteen years to fight for something that’s not even clearly understood.

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1272 Words | 6 Pages

Tim O’Brien starts off with Jimmy Cross narrating all the things that he, along with all the other soldiers, carried. He lists things such as assault rifles, ammunition, food rations, clothes, and other things of a typical ground soldier. Most of them also carried things specific to themselves that symbolize deeper parts of their personalities and human

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774 Words | 4 Pages

The Things They Carried Surviving war is more than just dodging bullets and grenades, it 's being able to find purpose in what you are doing. In Tim O 'Brien 's book The Things They Carried he gives a first hand view portraying how the soldiers of Vietnam pressed through mental depression and despair. For some finding purpose ment trying to achieve glorified war medals, for others it was winning the war, but for most it was reliving the life they had before Vietnam. In his book O’Brien takes readers on his own and his fellow soldiers journey through the rough and demanding life that is war.

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1178 Words | 5 Pages

It lists a variety of things that the soldier brought on their mission. For example, some of the things were intangible, such as sickness, guilt, and the atmosphere. Other soldiers were carrying physical objects, including P-38 can openers, pocket knives, heat tabs, wrist-watches, dog tags and etc. as listed in (O 'Brien). Throughout the plot of the story O 'Brien seem to focus on the things that were not important versus the things that 's were, and at the end, he was faced with a big consequence.

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776 Words | 4 Pages

Things They Carried Analysis draft In the short story “The Things They Carried,” Tim O’brien uses the literary element of symbolism to portray how people carry different items to represent certain things, and to represent the harsh realities of war and life. He also uses symbolism to show how people become attached to items, and how they take on deeper meanings in times of stress. The story takes place during the Vietnam war, and O’Brien talks about an army detail, and the different things that they carried. This story is a great example of the use of symbolism to represent many different things at once.

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702 Words | 3 Pages

Tim O'Brien's “The Things They Carry,” tells a story about the lives of young men during war. The narrator tells his story from first person, marking all of his adventures and experiences of his companions. O’Brien crafts his piece through the use of repetition, symbolism, and metaphors to convey the idea of physical and psychological hardships of soldiers during war. Though the literary device of repetition, O'Brien portrays the physical and psychological hardships of a soldier.

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510 Words | 3 Pages

In the story, "The Things They Carried" a narrator describes the life of soldiers during the Vietnam War. The narrator lists what some of the soldiers carried during their experience in the war, emotional and tangible. Tim O'Brien presents the character of Ted Lavender, an obviously frightened soldier, in order to be a spokeperson to symbolize obvious stress within soldiers during their journey. He presents the character of Kiowa, a devoted Baptist, in order to represent how some of the soldiers cope with the exorbitant amount of stress. Tim O'Brien characterizes Ted Lavender as stressed and frightened in order to portray fright during the war within soldiers.

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