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Summary Of The Things They Carried By Tim O Brien

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The Things They Carried details a young naive man’s life that changes after being drafted into the Vietnam War. The author Tim O’Brien shares with us the many tragedies that are engraved in his memory. Throughout the book he tells stories about the lives(right) of the dead. As he writes the stories, he dreams about the dead, so in his mind they are alive and have returned back into the world. The reader can feel the struggle that Tim has in relieving the pain of losing these people. The title The Things They Carried refers to the things soldiers mentally carry. They have to carry for the rest of their lives feelings of guilt, shame, responsibility, regret, grief, and fear. They also carry images of horror, death, and tragedy. Tim shares …show more content…

He took his ten year old daughter, Kathleen with him. They visited the site of Kiowa’s death. Tim O’Brien stated that he looked for signs of forgiveness or personal grace or what ever the land might offer (173). “The field was still there though not as I remembered it” (O’Brien 173). This time when Tim was there everything was dried out. When Kiowa lost his life the field was a wet mess from a flood. The war doesn’t only change people it also changes the land. What once was a war zone was now a peaceful farmers field. “This field had embodied all the waste that was Vietnam, all the vulgarity and horror. Now, it was just flat and dreary and unremarkable” (O’Brien …show more content…

His choice to not run to Canada and to stay and fight for his country was the right choice. He would have never been able to live with himself had he dodged the draft. By going to the war it changed him into a better man. He can be proud that he lived up to the challenge and served his country. He can also be proud that through him and his stories that the lives of the fallen soldiers will never be forgotten. Their sacrifice to this country should never be forgotten. John F. Kennedy said it best when he said, “A nation reveals itself not only by the men it produces but also by the men it honors, the men it remembers.” Tim O’Brien and all the Vietnam Veterans should never be forgotten and deserve honor. War doesn’t only change people it can also change a

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War is one of the most complex yet completely understood subjects to read or write about. Tim O’Brien has captured the true essence of being drafted into a war. “The Things They Carried” is a novel composed of multiple short stories; Each taking the reader through the perspective of the narrator showing his multiple landscapes, situations, and changing feelings from being drafted into the Vietnam War to surviving it. These stories really help one understand the effects of war on someone’s mind as well as body. Tim O’Brien is the main character and protagonist in this novel.

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In the Lake of the Woods is a book about a man who comes back from the war in Vietnam and moves into a cabin in a town called In the Lake of the woods, but shortly thereafter his wife goes missing and he tries to find her while battling other things. Tim O’Brien is an American author from Austin, Minnesota. He was born on October 1st, 1946. He enrolled and studied at Malcalester College. He graduated from the in 1968 with a BA in political science and also a draft notice.

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“On the Rainy River”, an intimate chapter between Tim O'Brien and the reader digs deep within O’Brien’s mind, revealing his extensive fear of going to war and how far he would reach to avoid it. More than 60,000 men avoided the draft for the Vietnam War, O’Brien taking part in that number. Burning draft cards, ignoring “casting” calls and fleeing to Canada grew as young American men were being called to fight a war none had wanted to take part in. Without confronting his parents about the situation from the start, Tim O’Brien fled to the Tip Top Lodge which “jutted northward into the Rainy River”; not quite Canada, but close enough to execute his decision when made(47). Home, a place known to be safe and comforting for O’Brien, where his loved

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There is never a true winner in war. When hundreds of innocent civilians are killed it draws attention from all over the world. Actions such as the My Lai Massacre will lead to detrimental effects, and leave a mark on a country forever. Events like the My Lai Massacre portrayed our country in a negative way and furthermore coincide with the barbaric actions behind the entire Vietnam War.

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When they feel lost and deal with the traumas that come with fighting in the war, he quickly engages himself with their troubles and conducts a free therapy session by lending an ear, and checking in on them regularly while fighting in the war at the same time. For example, when Tim killed the young Vietnamese soldier during the war, he started to contemplate about the life that the fallen soldier could have had if it wasn’t for Tim taking his life. While the other soldiers carried on with their lives, Kiowa was the only one who stayed back and said to Tim, “It wasn’t you man. It wasn’t you.” (O’ Brien 145).

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In addition, Tim O’Brien conveys how society’s view on cowardice leads to the feeling of guilt in soldiers in the Vietnam War. In “On The Rainy River”, O’Brien claims that he opposes the Vietnam War, and he sees no reason for the war. However, against his own will, he is drafted and is required to go to war. O’Brien reacts negatively to this saying, “All I wanted was to live the life I was born to... now I was off on the margins of exile, leaving my country forever, and it seemed so impossible and terrible and sad,” (50 and 51).

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O’Brien expresses the men’s feelings towards their significant others back home and how it affects them while stationed far away from their safe place. Also, he reveals differences in truths and fiction within a story. Making sure people know and remember his team the way he did was one of O’Brien’s purposes of writing this book. He did not want what happened to them to be forgotten or ignored. The author’s claim as it pertains to the Vietnam War is that memories can be a good and a bad thing, they don’t necessarily have to be the whole truth, and remembrance is an important key to keeping legacies going.

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The Things They Carried, is a reflection on how Tim O’Brien spent his days in Vietnam. There are many factors to why it can be difficult to share a war story, there is no proof to tell how much he is just telling a story or saying something else to make it easier to share his experience. “In many cases a true war story cannot be believed. If you believe it, be skeptical. ”pg.68.

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The Things They Carried, written by Tim O’Brien, illustrates the experiences of a man and his comrades throughout the war in Vietnam. Tim O’Brien actually served in the war, so he had a phenomenal background when it came to telling the true story about the war. In his novel, Tim O’Brien uses imagery to portray every necessary detail about the war and provide the reader with a true depiction of the war in Vietnam. O’Brien starts out the book by describing everything he and his comrades carry around with them during the war. Immediately once the book starts, so does his use of imagery.

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Final Term Paper: If I Die in a Combat Zone… “Can the foot soldier teach anything important about war, merely for having been there? I think not. He can tell war stories.” -Tim

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Innocence and guilt earned throughout the book The Things They Carry are mentally or physically challenging, it affects the innocence lost at war or the war trauma. Tim O'Brien explains a fictional and nonfictional sense of war through the book of The Things They Carried by using stories to explain things that most humans do not live through. The Things They Carried show how loss of innocence at war can carry with you war trauma for the rest of your life.

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The story “The Things They Carried” was written by Tim O’Brien, and it talks about soldiers in the Vietnam War and the things that they carried both physically and mentally. I really enjoyed this story because it was not that hard to relate to and it shows how hard war is on a man. It follows the transition of a man from loving and hopeful to hard. War changes a man forever and it is visible in this story and real life.

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“That’s what stories are for. Stories are for joining the past to the future ... Stories are for eternity, when memory is erased, when there is nothing to remember except the story” (36). The Things They Carried is a captivating novel that gives an inside look at the life of a soldier in the Vietnam War through the personal stories of the author, Tim O’Brien . Having been in the middle of war, O’Brien has personal experiences to back up his opinion about the war.

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Tim O’Brien, author of The Things They Carried plays two roles in the book as a writer and a soldier. The Things They Carried is a memoir about the draft and the Vietnam War. It focuses on the life of Tim O’Brien but also Lt. Cross and many other characters and their journey around the Vietnam War. The experience that Tim O’Brien writes about in the Vietnam War uses as many physical and emotional feelings throughout the memoir. His hatred towards the war and how war separates characters created two narratives during the war and after the war.

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