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Brief Summary Of The Things They Carried By Tim O Brien

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The Things They Carried by Tim O’Brien The Things They Carried Summary. The Things They Carried is a collection of twenty-two stories, or chapters. All focus on the Alpha Company and the fate of its soldiers after they return home to America. A character named Tim O'Brien (same name as the author) narrates most of the stories. These are stories flashbacks and flash forwards that encapsulate the feeling Tim had when he was drafted into the war and is based off his experiences. This involves the shock of being drafted as well as the many missions and interesting one=cedents that took place in vietnam they change the characters and gives the reader a firsthand view of the struggles faced by people fighting in the vietnam war. O’Brien …show more content…

He is seen as the soldier, a writer and a kid. His family and his Country are the only reasons he is at war, inside he is actually a pacifist. Jimmy Cross- He is the lieutenant of the Alpha Company. He is also responsible for the entire group of men. Cross has good intentions but he is unsure of himself of how to lead his men. He feels guilty because he believes that his love for a girl named Martha and his tendency to follow orders from other people despite his better judgment caused the deaths of Ted Lavender and Kiowa, two members of Alpha Company. Mitchell Sanders- A kind soldier that has a strong sense of justice. He told stories for the men. He appears like a fatherly figure. Kiowa- He is thoughtful, humorous, and respects the vietnamese people. He isn't a coward and is Tim O’Brien’s best friend. Bob “Rat” Kiley- He is the medic, he was so stressed that he had to shoot his toe off so that he is forced to leave the post. Curt Lemon - acts childish and is killed when he steps on a rigged mortar round. Tim O’brien didn’t really like him, however regrets his death with sadness. Ted Lavender- He is a scared, young soldier. He was the first one to

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Lieutenant Jimmy Cross was determined to find Kiowa’s body the morning after his death. Cross believed Kiowa was a fine soldier and human being and there was no way he would allow such a good man to be lost under the sewage . Jimmy Cross believed he had made a mistake setting up camp where he did, and felt sick about it (O’Brien, 2010, p.157). If Lieutenant Cross had not set up camp where he did he believed Kiowa could still be fighting with them and now held the responsibility to write a letter to

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As O’Brien tells what he would consider to be a ture war story of two young Vietnam soldiers he writes, “ They were kids; they just didn’t know. A nature hike, they thought, not even a war … they were giggling and calling each other yellow mother and playing a silly game they invented” (O’Brien 270). With O’briens words he reminices with his readers about childhood. The soldiers he writes about, under different circumstances, could have easily been kids in a school yard or a summer camp. True war stories show the gruesomeness of war, childrens lives lost faster than the blink of an eye.

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This chapter “The Ghost Soldiers”, showed us how Tim O’Brien and the other soldiers were dealing with the war both physically and psychologically. It also shows us how the Tim O'Brien behaved and felt when he was shot, wounded and had a bacteria infection on his butt and how the war changed the way he thought, and viewed the other soldiers around him. This chapter also contain a lot of psychological lens. From the way Tim O’Brien felt when he was shot and separated from his unit to a new unit to when he wanted revenge on Bobby Jorgenson for almost “killing” him.

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The Things They Carried Thematic Essay “Special honor or respect shown publicly,” is the definition of homage and homage is the biggest motivator in Tim O’Brien’s novel The Things They Carried. He wrote this book to pay homage to the men who died for our country during his fight in Vietnam. It is a theme that carries throughout this collection of stories. The Things They Carried is a way to see what these soldiers went through and who they were before passing away.

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Emotionally the stories within the novel give truth for the reader. O’Brien uses the protagonist, Tim, to deliver the stories, showing the reader how it would feel to be a part of the war. O’Brien shows the reader that when telling a story, the

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One character, in particular, is Jimmy Cross. “While Kiowa explained how Lavender died, Lieutenant Cross found himself trembling. He tried not to cry,” (16). Jimmy Cross was carrying the emotional baggage of guilt for the death of Ted Lavender. He experienced such emotional distress because he couldn't stop thinking about Martha the entire time the war started.

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As the soldiers realize this they begin to feel shame, Jimmy Cross blames himself for the death of Lavender, and Kiowa feels a sort of shame in that he cannot relate to this when he feels like he should (O’Brien

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On one side it shows what can physically happen to a soldier, and on the other side it shows the mental toll a death can have on a soldier. O’Brien feels guilty for killing the soldier. The war in Vietnam was both physically and mentally dehumanizing for the soldiers in the war. Throughout the novel, Alpha Company places blame on themselves for the deaths of their fellow soldiers in Vietnam. Lieutenant Cross carries the burden of Ted Lavender’s death with him.

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Tim O’Brien’s novel, The Things They Carried, captures these emotion as he recounts the Vietnam War through a collection of linked

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Cross blames himself, knowing “He had loved Martha more than his men, and as a consequence Lavender was now dead…” (p. 121). First Lieutenant Jimmy Cross is distracted by his infatuation for Martha, which ultimately results in Ted Lavender’s death, forcing Cross to realize his fantasies for Martha are wrong and that he is not fulfilling his duties as a lieutenant. Lieutenant Cross is inattentive to the war and his responsibilities because he is unable and unwilling to stop thinking about his adoration for Martha.

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In Tim O’brien’s war story, The Things They Carried, the narrator describes the life of American soldiers and provides evidence of how the war has impacted their lives. In the 1960’s, young American men were sent to fight in the war thousands of miles away from their homes. At this time, most men had no prior experience of fighting in a war. Naturally, the men had no idea what kind of brutality the war held also how much of a vital role the war would play in their futures. O’brien’s own experience with the war displayed that the fear of getting shamed before ones own peers played a main and also motivating factor for joining the draft.

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Jimmy Cross is an immature character. He is too immature to handle and to understand the war. Mitchell Sanders is a likable character. He is very a good friend and he also has a sense of loyalty and justice. Finally Kiowa is an honest and compassionate friend.

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On November 1, 1955, the Vietnam war began. The war was between North Vietnam and South Vietnam along with the United States to stop the spread of communism. Tim O’Brien walked alongside the South China Sea during his time in Vietnam. He and his soldiers called it Pinkville because of the color it was on the map which represented a misleading area. O’Brien published his novel The Things They Carried on war stories to show how storytelling can be believable although his novel is fiction.

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They died so as not to die of embarrassment.” (O’Brien 20). O’Brien even discusses his own acceptance as a flawed soldier, “That old image of myself as a hero, as a man of conscience and courage, all that was just a threadbare pipe dream.” (55). As well, a true war story examines the real consequences of sending men into combat, ““Speaking of Courage” was written in 1975 at the suggestion of Norman Bowker, who three years later hanged himself in the locker room of a YMCA in his hometown in central Iowa.”

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“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.

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