Summary Of 'The Gift Of The Magi, By Tim O' Brien

The story I almost picked was: The Gift of the Magi by JOE . The description of two young married lovers caught my eye at first, but continuing down the list I came to a story that the title and description really hit home. I have always found it easier and more enjoyable to write about something you feel connected to than not. So I chose: The Things They Carried by Tim O’Brien, this story has strong personal ties to my past military experiences in the Marine Corps. In this story, I feel that the author is trying to tell the reader about the pains and joys of war as well as teach you the age-old lesson that complacency kills. The story has a few characters with the main being a Lieutenant in the Army named Jimmy Cross from New Jersey. I feel that Mr. O’Brien is portraying himself as the young Lieutenant and the things he experienced as young sergeant in Vietnam. Lieutenant Cross always carries letters from a woman named Martha, who he misses and feels very deeply for. At the end of each day he brings them out and reads each one of them.

But he mainly wants you to focus on how they come together at the end of the day becoming closer friends and making jokes and trying to forget about home or the fear of dying. The camaraderie of a platoon is very important and without it you would not know anything about these personal treasures that everyone carries around. What may seem like a piece of trash to one man may be priceless to the owner. For example, while in Iraq I served with a young man that carried around an old shinny penny. But he did not carry this penny around for luck; it was a symbol of him freedom. This was the first penny he earned after becoming an American citizen and anytime he felt discouraged he would pull it out to remind himself how hard he had worked to get that point in his