Interpreting Tim O Brien's The Things They Carried

Limiting the options of books students can read is limiting the knowledge that a student can have. “The Things They Carried”, is a book which follows Tim O’Brien through the Vietnam War. Throughout the book, the reader is told stories about his time during the war while talking about his peers during that time. The book allows for insight into the traumatic events that O’Brien experienced through his time at war. Tim O’Brien’s “The Things They Carried” should be taught because of how it presents the reality of being a soldier, while expressing tough topics such as death, trauma and grief. These topics make it relevant to today, and how these characters go through certain situations makes it valuable to read. The Things They Carried should be

This is the first person that he killed while he was in the war. He stares at the man as he thinks about the life the man could have had before he killed him. O’Brien has tried to come up with a story for the man as a way to deal with his death. When getting over a death, many people also create stories to keep the person that passed away alive for them. This part of the book expresses to its readers how certain people deal with death and ways that they grieve. While explaining Ted Lavender’s death, Jimmy Cross stated “He felt ashamed. He hated the man himself. He loved Martha more than his men, and as a consequence Lavender was dead” (O’Brien 16). The quote discusses how due to Jimmy's thoughts being in his love life it led to the death of his peer Ted Lavender. He states that he felt ashamed, blaming himself for his death. This example portrays another way that many deal with death. The feeling of guilt is one that many feel and can relate to. Allowing for The Things They Carried to be taught will allow the readers to learn different ways that death can be grieved

Some people may argue that “The Things They Carried” should not be taught. The reason is because many students may not relate to actually being a part of a war. Although many might say that a lot of the new generation who read this book cannot relate to being a part of a war, it discusses topics like trauma and death. These are topics that everyone goes through at some point in their life.Even though it may not be related to the war, the experience of going through one's death and trauma is a feeling that many face. Many may not relate to the actual topic of war, however the experiences when going through war such as trauma, grief and experiencing death of someone close to you is a type of emotion many can relate to. Due to it depicting the reality of being a soldier while addressing difficult topics such as trauma and dealing with grief during a death, Tim O’Brien’s “The Things They Carried” should be taught in schools. These topics make it relevant and the experiences that these soldiers go through teach the readers about valuable topics.Understanding trauma and grief when dealing with death allows people to gain more insight on what different people go