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Rhetorical Devices In The Things They Carried By Tim O Brien

537 Words3 Pages

The Things They Carried was a very powerful and emotional book from the authors first person perspective. While he managed the art of good story telling by keeping the memories of his platoon mates alive through his stories, he also achieved good story telling by the use of specific narrative elements and rhetorical devices. Many people never really notice these specific things in novels or books until they are pointed out. So, what are these devices and how would they have any effect on the way he told the stories? To begin with, during the first chapter, Tim O'Brien uses anaphora as a rhetorical device. Throughout the whole chapter, he consciously repeats the phrase "they carried" and "the things they carried". “They carried all the emotional baggage of men that might die. They carried…”. (pg.20) Additionally, the phrase "he would" is used multiple times on page 24 at the end of the first chapter. “But from this point on he would comport himself as an officer…”. O'Brien repeats these three phrases to emphasize his point. I think the phrases "they carried" and "the things they carried" are stressed continuously in order to really state the fact that war can be burdensome and grueling. These words are thrown at the reader repeatedly because they hold weight. …show more content…

Enumeratio is a rhetorical device that lists several details or aspects of something, often to emphasize its importance or to induce emotions in the reader. O'Brien uses enumeratio to illustrate how soldiers' obsessions, fears, and memories could shape their identities and alienate them from the world they once knew. The use of lists to emphasize the weight of physical and emotional objects, the soldiers' fears and anxieties, and their yearning to return to normalcy creates a poignant and realistic representation of the psychological cost of

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