Literary Techniques Used In The Things They Carried By Tim O´brien

The Things They Carried Essay
The Things They Carried by Tim O´Brien is a story that can be hard to swallow. O´Brien describes the Vietnam war in a way that both glorifies and critiques it, honors and blames it, but most of all makes the reader feel like they are right there with him. O´Brien uses the narrative elements of setting and atmosphere, framing it all in his point of view, to advance the many themes in his novel.
This book does not stick with one, consistent plot. O’Brien’s stories jump around between different time periods, but the setting is one thing that never changes. All the stories he tells take place in Vietnam. By keeping the atmosphere and setting consistent, O’Brien can focus more on developing his themes and expressing

This particular moment is right after the soldiers burned down her house with her family inside. He describes her with repetition, “The girl danced with her eyes half closed, her feet bare. The girl danced mostly on her toes. She took tiny steps in the dirt in front of her house, sometimes making a small twirl, sometimes smiling to herself. When we dragged [her family] out, the girl kept dancing. In just one short chapter, O’Brien describes a haunting and hopeful atmosphere. He makes the argument that in war, and in life, there is beauty in pain.
Another narrative element O’Brien makes good use of is point of view. Although most of his stories unfold from his point of view, he effortlessly transitions into other soldier’s mindsets in almost all of the chapters. His point of view sometimes seems very hazy, recalling in vivid detail the setting, but not always what happened. This is especially revealed when he describes the the man he killed in the chapter similarly titled on page 125. The description begins, “He lay face-up in the center of the trail, a slim, dead, almost dainty young man.” Then on page 129, he vividly describes the body. “His head was wrenched sideways, as if loose at the neck, and

“He had been born, maybe, in 1946 in the village of My Khe where his parents farmed, and his family had lived for several centuries. He was not a Communist. He was a citizen and a soldier. He was not a fighter. At night he could not picture himself doing the brave things his father had done, or his uncles, or the heroes of the stories. He hoped in his heart he would never be tested. He hoped the Americans would go away. He kept hoping and hoping…” (125). In giving this made up story about the dead man’s life, he humanizes him. O’Brien’s argument is that they were humans killing fellow humans. Even if they were supposed to be the enemy they were still only humans, and everyone knew it was wrong.
O’Brien uses even more specific instances of metaphor, simile, alliteration, and antithesis to create almost poetic stories. Tragic as the war may have been, his message always gets across.
He uses his skill with language to set the atmosphere and creates his unique point of view. When he leaves Vietnam, he carries with him the weight of the war. He carries the fear, the guilt, the grief. At the end of the day though, that’s not the point. The point is not that he went to war