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Quotes From The Things They Carried By Tim O Brien

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Quotation Analysis “It wasn't as if they had a choice. They were soldiers whose choices had ended when they had signed contracts and taken their oaths. Whether they had joined for reasons of patriotism, of romantic notions, to escape a broken home of some sort, or out of economic need, their job now was to follow the orders of other soldiers who were following orders, too. Somewhere, far from Iraq, was where the orders began, but by the time they reached Rustamiyah, the only choice left for a soldier was to choose which lucky charm to tuck behind his body armor, or which foot to line up in front of the other, as he went out to follow the order of the day”(Finkel 54). The notion that the soldiers don’t have the ability to make choices for themselves …show more content…

Although Norman was able to live through the war and go home, he was still haunted by Kiowa’s death and was unable to go on. He constantly fought throughout the war, only to go home to more and constant daily battles with himself. This is a way of self punishment and again wanting to relive and change the past which is impossible. This demonstrates PTSD since the soldiers are torturing themselves by reliving moments they can’t change. Also like how Tim O’Brien repeats the same phrase over and over when explaining how he shot a man and is unable to live with it, and only time can heal it. Not allowing time to heal and just punishing themselves like Norman and Schuman did leads to even further damages and being unable to cope with the …show more content…

Survivor’s guilt is another aspect of PTSD that many of the soldiers feel. Guilt is prevelant in the novel and shows up in many different instances. When Kiowa dies, all of the soldiers begin to blame themselves, including Jimmy Cross and Norman Bowker and even Tim O’Brien. They not only feel guilty for “letting him die” but also for surviving when he didn’t. Also when Jimmy Cross is focusing on Martha and Ted Lavendar gets killed, he feels guilt for being distracted and surviving when Lavendar did not. This painful feeling and longing for the past is also damaging to the soldiers

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