ipl-logo

Referring Within Tim O Brien's The Things They Carried

1172 Words5 Pages

Tim O’Brien, a Vietnam war veteran, is a famous author. One of his most famous books is “The things they carried.” Tim O’Brien has been able to achieve success in his writings due to his writings being based on actual events that happened while he served. Another reason his writings are so successful is how he immerses the reader into his stories using common military jargon, how he describes events and people within his stories. Due to him being in the military for a few years, Tim O’Brien has received a lot of influence for his writing, he has elements that make his writing unique, and how Tim O'Brien's stories have an overarching theme of death.
The major factor that influenced Tim O’Brien’s writing is the fact that he was in Vietnam. Referring …show more content…

In his book “The Thing They Carried” he shows not only the tangible objects they carry such as; canteen, ammo, rations, etc, but also the non tangible and psychological things that all soldiers carry. The major psychological issue that the soldiers carry on their shoulders is death. (An example is from one of his short stories, “How to tell a true war story,” a character named Rat Kiley loses his best friend Curt Lemon to an explosive trap. Rat Kiley carries the death of his best friend on his shoulders and even slaughters an innocent animal due to him not having control over himself. Another example, is from his story “the things they carried.” A Lieutenant, named Jimmy Cross: carries the death of a fellow soldier who was shot upon returning from the bathroom. At the time of the incident, Jimmy Cross was thinking of a girl named Martha wondering if she was truly a virgin. In the story Tim O’Brien shows how Cross deals with the death of Ted Lavender by stating, “He felt shame. He hated himself. He had loved martha more than his men… Lavender was now dead… this was something he would have to carry like a stone for the rest of the war.” As more soldiers die it becomes more “stones” that the soldiers must carry. ) Tim O’brien incorporates a theme of death, which is something that a lot of soldiers must carry with them. Whether its is the the fear of them dying or carrying the death of a fellow solider on their shoulders, the thought of death is something that is real and that Tim O’Brien wants to incorporate within his

Show More
Related

A Brief Review Of The Things They Carried 'By Tim O' Brien

1328 Words | 6 Pages

Tim O’ Brien’s book ‘The Things They Carried’ is a series of stories about the Vietnam War. Although all chapters in this book are related to the Vietnam War, each story transmits a different message to the readers and is narrated in different ways. In this essay, I have analyzed two stories to find the themes of each one and through what they are expressed. In “How to tell a true war story”, the author narrates two stories of the men in the Alpha Company and throughout the stories he disputes whether they are real or fabricated. On the other hand, in “Sweetheart of the Song Tra Bong”, Rat Kiley tells the story of his first assignment in the isolated mountains of Chu Lai.

Read More

Conflict In The Things They Carried By Tim O Brien

1041 Words | 5 Pages

The heaviest of the weightless load was fears that they would not speak of, or perhaps could not speak of, lest it come alive and eat up their sanity. Instead, they shallowly laughed off the threat of death in this war, all the while alienating each other, thinking that this isolation wouldn’t allow their fellow soldiers to see how afraid they were of the dark shadow of death. It’s easy to feel the weight bearing down on the soldiers shoulder’s as O’Brien goes over the detailed list of items strapped to these men’s backs. Perhaps the most haunting of his words being “They all carry the emotional baggage of men who might die.” Nonetheless, they marched on.

Read More

Eventeen In The Things They Carried By Tim O Brien

751 Words | 4 Pages

In war, soldiers and civilians will experience the loss of friends and families. In Tim O’Brien’s work, The Things They Carried, the reader is introduced to soldiers fighting in the Vietnam war who lose their comrades’ loves due to mishaps. These soldiers in combat, along with civilians, learn to accept or become numb towards death by understanding the situation they are in and by finding comfort in oblivion. Early in the plot, the reader is made aware of how the soldiers comprehend their allies’ deaths. According to the author, when Lieutenant Cross’ team was contemplating about who is to enter the tunnel, “Lee Strunk drew the number 17” then he laughed (O’Brien 10).

Read More

Jimmy Cross In The Things They Carried

657 Words | 3 Pages

“The things they carried were largely determined by necessity” (O’Brien 102). The weight of war is a theme strongly represented in Tim O’Brien’s story, The Things They Carried. Lieutenant Jimmy Cross starts off with no desire to be in a leadership position, because of his immaturity, his love for Martha, and inability to handle the responsibilities of lieutenant many of his men die. “He had loved Martha more than his men, and as a consequence Lavender was now dead, and this was something he would have to carry like a stone in his stomach for the rest of the war” (O’Brien 107). The soldiers carried many burdens, they carried: diseases, good luck charms, pencils, intangibles, memories, fear, responsibility, and on top of all this they carried

Read More

Tim O Brien Figurative Language

1094 Words | 5 Pages

Novelist, Tim O’Brien writes short semi true stories about his and other’s experiences in the Vietnam war. O’Brien wanted to explain to his audience what happens in war and how it effects people after the fact. O’Brien really helps his audience acknowledge how much war really does change people. Tim’s dynamic use of symbolism, imagery, and figurative language emphasizes the Post Traumatic Stress Disorder that people experience during and after the war. O’Brien begins by analyzing the thoughts of sorrow and loss overwhelm the Vietnam veterans upon their return back home.

Read More

Analyzing O 'Brien's The Things They Carried'

1520 Words | 7 Pages

The Things They Carried Analysis More often than not, a reader picks up the story, “The Things They Carried,” and notices the unavoidable overload of symbolism intertwined. The heavy burdens the soldiers carry is portrayed extremely well by the author’s use of symbols, as it is one of the main focuses the author seeks to make evident to the reader. However, the author does not only want you to focus on the symbols of the burdens these fictional characters carry, but he wants you to understand what they really went through and that his story symbolizes the lives of these real, brave soldiers.  “War is hell, but that's not the half of it, because war is also mystery and terror and adventure and courage and discovery and holiness and pity and

Read More

How Does Tim O Brien Tell The Reader To Read The Things They Carried

925 Words | 4 Pages

Tim O'Brien did a fantastic job when he wrote the book The Things They Carried. He was able to bring out his personal experiences from it. He was able to captivate the audience by both having the theme feel what he was feeling and also how he was able to express what was going on when it was going on. One of the most important parts was when he was explaining the feeling of the war on the men when one of their comrades was killed. He also does a great job when he shows death he is not only able to show the dark dirty gruesome parts of it but also the light clean beautiful parts of it.

Read More

Research Paper On If I Die In A Combat Zone

997 Words | 4 Pages

O’Brien The novel/autobiography, If I Die in a Combat Zone (1973), recounts author Tim O’Brien’s experiences with life, love, and personal dissention during possibly one of the most horrific military conflicts in history: the Vietnam War. In If I Die in a Combat Zone, Tim O’Brien gives a terrifying first-person perspective of his disdain and opposition toward the Vietnam War through his recollection of his internal struggle of living life in mid war Vietnam, the violence and loss of humanity that soldiers, and the life-altering, irreversible damage that the author/narrator endured during the Vietnam War. Throughout his involvement/participation in the Vietnam war, O’Brien was having a hard time coping with the way he felt about why the war was even happening to

Read More

On The Burdens In Tim O Brien's The Things They Carried

895 Words | 4 Pages

Jimmy cross was the lieutenant of the Alpha Company, being fully responsible for all of the soldiers and getting them through the battles. However, he was battling through his own predicament, his undefying love for an American women named Martha. The constantly daydreaming leader had thought he had lost the respect of all of his soldiers when one of his own men was KIA because of his “love for Martha”. The soldier finally thought, “He would dispense with love; it was not now a factor” (O’Brien 250). After the death of his dear friend, Cross changed into a strict and orderly lieutenant.

Read More

Interpreting Tim O Brien's The Things They Carried

980 Words | 4 Pages

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

Read More

Courage In Tim O Brien's The Things They Carried

960 Words | 4 Pages

In Tim O’Brien’s novel, “The Things They Carried,” about the Vietnam war, courage is described as a necessity for all soldiers. He uses both him and his comrade’s circumstances to describe this. Throughout the novel the motif of courage evolves as characters serve in the Vietnam War. Being drafted into the Vietnam war forced O’Brien to become a soldier and participate in the war. His distaste for the war made it difficult for him to find the mental courage to fight in Vietnam which he thought was avoidable.

Read More

Coping Mechanisms In The Things They Carried Essay

2081 Words | 9 Pages

The soldiers in the Vietnam War are portrayed as losing themselves in the chaos and trauma of combat. Through the stories of the soldiers and their experiences, O’Brien explores the ways in which war strips away one's sense of identity and humanity. The author himself is depicted as losing himself in the war. O'Brien served in the Vietnam War, and his experiences inspired much of the book. Through the character of Tim O'Brien, the author explores the ways in which war can strip away one's sense of self and purpose.

Read More

The Emotions In The Things They Carried By Tim O Brien

976 Words | 4 Pages

Any rational person would blame Jimmy Cross’s neglect for Lavender’s death, but the author explains how Jimmy’s emotions for Martha were some he could not control. O’Brien describes Cross’s behavior when he exclaims, “suddenly, without willing it, [Jimmy] was thinking about Martha.”(11). As a drafted soldier who longed of his life in America, Jimmy Cross simply could not stay focused in the war environment. Even more, given the circumstances, the war enervates Cross so much that he nearly loses his masculinity when he “[tries] not to cry”(16). However, having made clear that all these behaviors were one’s that Lieutenant Jimmy Cross could not control, Tim O’Brien argues that soldiers cannot always perform as society expects them to and can sometimes make mistakes in war that are

Read More

Physical Burdens In The Things They Carried

795 Words | 4 Pages

The story describes the physical burdens the soldiers had to carry such as weaponry and rations, along with the emotional burdens such as love and loss (375-390). This story is significant because it gives readers an insight to the difficulties faced by soldiers that may not be recognized by many. The

Read More

PTSD In The Things They Carried

1047 Words | 5 Pages

The heavy physical and emotional loads Tim O’Brien carried were composed of grief, terror, and love. Coming home from the war Tim O’Brien didn't have much for himself. O'Brien came back from war with a different perspective; he realized what he was fighting for the whole time…the American dream. Tim O’Brien didn't have anyone to speak with but himself, he began to vision conversations with the people he once knew. O’Brien noticed everyone moved on in life without him.

Read More

More about Referring Within Tim O Brien's The Things They Carried

Related Topics

Open Document