In Tim O’Brien’s story “Notes,” he discusses his fellow soldier “Norman Bowker […] [who hung] himself in the locker room of the YMCA” (149). Bowker symbolizes the pain that many veterans experienced, and how they sadly found their only escape through suicide. Yet, veterans potentially could have survived and even thrived if they had access to resources such as therapy, psychiatrists, and psychologists. When organizations supporting the idea that veterans should have opportunity to obtain these assets proposed this concept to The House Committee members, “members repeatedly balked at the notion that Vietnam Veterans required special counseling programs to help readjust” (Scott 38).
Readers always hope that incredible stories they read about have some truth to them. Tim O’Brien writes of a lonely soldier named Norman in his short stories “Speaking of Courage” and “Notes.” O’Brien digs at reader's emotions using different postmodern writing techniques to make Norman’s story seem believable, even though it is completely fiction. The themes in Norman Bowker’s story in “Speaking of Courage” make it a prime example of a postmodern story.
Tim O’Brien and Chris Kyle both use literary devices to contrast two different ideas of war. “There’s no place to go. Not just in this lousy little town. In general. My life, I mean.
Louie Zamperinis story is one of perseverance, strength, and courage. The central idea of this book is to never give up and keep on going, even in the darkest situations. This novel explores many issues and ideas, but the one that stands out the most is the personal one. Laura Hillenbrand uses the themes of suffering and perseverance in the novel Unbroken to show how if a person believes he/she can do it, it can be done. The author demonstrates this in many ways telling the story of his childhood until adulthood.
The characters in the novel experience losses which connects them and influences their actions: Luke with the Tamassee, Allen and Herb, and Maggie who experience loss, but unlike the others. The characters confronts different losses from each other, but the losses play the same task of
Combat is one of those incidents, where the best and the worst of people will be shown. The effects from combat could last minutes to a lifetime and will define people for the rest of their lives. To overcome the effects, people must have coping mechanisms. In the book, The Things They Carried, a platoon of soldiers is followed in their quest to survive the Vietnam War. The soldiers developed coping mechanisms to deal with stress so they can function normally and survive the war.
Post Tim-atic Stress Disorder The book The Things They Carried is based on the emotional turmoil of its characters. Tim O’Brien outlines the different men he served with and the emotional baggage they all carry. However, he often only touches on his own emotions.
Storytelling has such a large impact on all stages of life. Stories are told to teach a lesson, give hope, or get someone through a hard time. Tim O’Brien uses storytelling in his book, The Things They Carried, to teach lessons from war, and help readers understand about the baggage people bring to war. The publisher section of this novel has this warning in it, "This is a work of fiction. Except for a few details regarding the author's own life all incidents, names, and characters are imaginary” (O'Brien).
It’s ironic that one would want to relive the horrors of war. Traditionally, a veteran would do anything in his power to forget everything he saw and experienced at war. However, for Tim O’Brien, it’s the exact opposite: Storytelling is the way that he copes, the way he keeps the dead alive, and the way he allows for outsiders to feel what he felt during the war. In The Things They Carried, O’Brien portrays the power of storytelling by using it to rehumanize the soldiers during the hardships of war.
During the Vietnam War the soldiers, whether or not they wanted to be there, many of them developed mental illnesses. The things they would experience would cause burdens on them for the rest of their lives. “Ted Lavender, who was scared, carried tranquilizers until he was shot in the head outside the village of Than Khe in mid-April.” (The Things They Carried) Lavender carried tranquilizers until he died, because he was scared.
When reading a few of Flannery O’Connor’s stories, one cannot help but make a connection with her intensive stories and those of a television show. Both take mostly everyday people and exaggerate them into an absurd nature. Her stories and television shows use shock factors to draw in readers and viewers, respectively. While television shows tend to vary in themes and messages, Flannery O’Connor’s short stories tend to be focused on a few limited messages and themes. Television shows are mostly mindless channels of entertainment, Flannery O’Connor uses her characters not only to entertain, but to also cause readers to reflect inward and think.
They were willing to give up their safety and tranquility for a new life which is a degrade of their own. Both their lives were being controlled and both of them wanted freedom for their own selfish reasons which was why once again Thomas Hobbes was right about human behaviors and how we are very selfish even if the best thing is right in front of us we would still be selfish and do what we
Death is a recurring theme in this book. Not only is death explained as being sad, but what is kind of weird is how death can be seen as sort of a happy thing. Dying, in general, is sad. But the whole ordeal of it can bring people together, or fix relationships that have been broken. In the case of Tuesdays With Morrie, by Mitch Albom, Morrie and Mitch were separated due to the fact that Mitch cared more about his job than the most important things in life; love, work, community, family, aging, forgiveness, and the main theme, death.
Family, for most people, is defined as a sort of safe haven for people to go to. For others, families may be fragmented, split, or may have wrong ideals as a whole. Broken families, while they may have a long lasting effect on the spouses, can also have a detrimental, long-lasting effect on the children of these marriages which can lead to certain mental illnesses. For example, in the story of the Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks, Deborah faces the emotional effects of her mother’s death. Other stories such as “A Rose for Emily”, show how Emily 's fathers parenting techniques and a lack of a mother figure burdened her future.
To Suffer or Not to Suffer As human beings, we try to eschew from the suffering and adversities that plague human morality. Nonetheless, society remains drawn to the surplus of tragedies in plays, movies, and literary works. Not only do these works provide an escape from our own hardships, but suffering and tragedy is a significant aspect to the development of human society. Personally, I have experienced my own share of sorrow, trauma, and difficulties in life. While they may not be as severe as those faced by the characters in A Doll’s House and Never Let Me Go, a pervasive theme still manifests in the presence of suffering.
