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The Central Question In Tim O Brien's The Things They Carried

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Literature is broad enough for each reader to have their own unique understanding of a certain text. According to Critic Roland Barthes, “ literature is the question minus the answer.” In The Things They Carried, Tim O’Brien Reveals the central question, what is the purpose of fighting in war, is there a purpose and meaning behind each death? By having a question and not the answer, readers make their own meaning of the text based on the details provided by the author. The central question and it’s meaning could vary according to the author, the reader, and the work as a whole. O’Brien addresses the central question by allowing readers to know what he thinks, feels, and sees. O’Brien tells readers the stories of who he loves, who he loses, …show more content…

O’Brien discusses being unable to understand why he must fight, and why the innocent must die. Even as O’Brien tells the story of killing another soldier, he mentions feeling regret and hesitation. O’Brien threw a grenade at a soldier and for a moment wished he could warn him. Readers may also view the central question as a mystery. With the details provided by O’Brien, the reader may feel sympathetic towards the soldiers. As the author tells his story of war, the reader may feel that there is no purpose of fighting in war, there is also the possibility readers may feel those who fight in war are noble and brave. Each story told about death may introduce a new perspective for readers and what they feel is the purpose of war and death. As O’Brien tells his story of fighting in war, he also reveals who he becomes and how it impacts him. The novel begins with a young boy in love and ends with a man who has experienced a great amount of trauma. Death in war reveals O’Brien‘s view on all he experienced. This leaves the interpretation broad for readers allowing them to follow O’Brien‘s journey and create

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

1328 Words | 6 Pages

His stories are images of his own experiences in the war, as he is the narrator and main character in most of the stories. Some of his points of view are how war is an ambiguous thing and how it changes people. For instance, in “How to tell a true war story” the author reflects on the feelings of being alive after a fight, proposing that war is hell but also many other things. In O’Brien’s words “You feel an intense, out-of-the-skin awareness of your living self- your truest self, the human being you want to be and then become by the force of wanting it.

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Tim O Brien Quotes And Analysis

599 Words | 3 Pages

In this book, Tim O'brien uncovers all his encounters in insight about the war; and also stories about his kindred warriors, and makes a genuine, yet over the top about them. He clarifies how he feels through stories that are hard to unmistakably distinguish as "genuine." This book has a great deal of subjects, demise and brutality is one of the real topics. A major topic and point in Tim O'Brien's novel is what number of circumstances hurt the warriors' lives.

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The Changing Experiences In Tim O Brien's The Things They Carried

957 Words | 4 Pages

More specifically, the novel depicts the adverse effects war has on soldiers during the war and after the war. O’Brien quickly shows the crippling effects of war through himself. He has been ripped from everything he knows and placed into a foreign land, in which, his life is constantly at risk. As the story progresses there begins to be a shift from the war, to life after it. It is again immediately apparent how difficult it was for soldiers to adjust back to normal life.

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Synthesis Essay On 'The Things They Carried By Tim O' Brien

990 Words | 4 Pages

O’Brien shows readers and those who know veterans, how moments of morality and shame and guilt arise in war. The chapter “In the Field” shows many moments of shame and guilt for the characters as the result of a death. In the chapter Kiowa dies from sinking into the mud, and his friends are

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The Paradox Of War In The Things They Carried By Tim O Brien

705 Words | 3 Pages

Although the soldier he killed was an enemy soldier, instead of vilifying him he was able to humanize the man. O’Brien was able to describe the physical appearance of the soldier and imagine her life before war. The author was able to portray an emotional connection and made the line between friend and enemy almost vanish. This was able to reveal the natural beauty of shared humanity even in the context of war’s horror. O’Brien is able to find the beauty in the midst of this tragic and horrible event.

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Foreshadowing In The Sniper

668 Words | 3 Pages

”(3) In this moment, the sniper’s overall view on the war changes within seconds. The quick mood change and regret towards killing the enemy establishes a sense of foreshadowing to what could come as a consequence. If the sniper had missed and both of the opposing fighters had gotten away, the consequence of a family divide would not have been conveyed. However, O’Flaherty uses these situations to give readers the takeaway of not only the outcomes of war but, the outcome of a family divided through

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Juxtaposition In The Things They Carried

328 Words | 2 Pages

In order to view the true meaning of Tim O’Brien’s post war novel,

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Things They Carried By Tim O Brien: A Literary Analysis

1292 Words | 6 Pages

In the short story, “The Man I Killed,” O’Brien focuses on this to show that everyone fighting in a war has a story. He spends the story describing the man he killed and searching for justification of his actions. He carries around guilt with him because of it, and his fellow soldiers try to help him justify and come to terms with his action by saying things like, “You want to trade places with him? Turn it all upside down= you want that? I mean, be honest,” (126) and “Tim, it’s a war.

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The Things They Carried Rhetorical Analysis

912 Words | 4 Pages

The narrator O’Brien discusses his personal feelings about the war and tells of his story how he ended up there. He was drafted as like a lot of young men in America at this time, and he tries to avoid going by almost fleeing the country. He decides not to flee, not for himself, or any want or pride to go to the war and fight for his country, but to avoid embarrassment. O’Brien feels if he doesn’t go to the war, he would not be able to take knowing he disappointed his family.

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How Does Tim O Brien Use Story Telling In The Things They Carried

1094 Words | 5 Pages

This forewarns the reader that they could be reading something that is real or something that is completely made up. O’Brien is a masterful writer who has created an unique story about the experience of war through his style of writing.

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Truth In Tim O Brien's The Things They Carried

1102 Words | 5 Pages

In doing so, O’Brien forces the reader to reconsider the conventional American notion of war as good versus evil, and instead recognize the fact that war, no matter how noble the cause, claims innocent lives on both

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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.

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Truth And Fiction In Tim O Brien's The Things They Carried

866 Words | 4 Pages

Truth and fiction are what create a real war story. Tim O’Brien conveys this concept in The Things They Carried. In novel he reveals the ultimate emotions contained within war stories. Specifically in the chapter “How to Tell a True War Story” O’Brien develops his thoughts behind this. He includes multiple versions of stories throughout the book, to further enhance the interpretation of how sanity is believed to be contained by the imagination in stories, which brings an unreal reality.

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PTSD In Tim O Brien's The Things They Carried

1504 Words | 7 Pages

This quote epitomizes the trauma caused by war. O’Brien is trying to cope, mostly through writing these war stories but has yet to put it behind him. He feels guilt, grief, and responsibility, even making up possible scenarios about the life of the man he killed and the type of person he was. This

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The Things They Carried: An Analysis

688 Words | 3 Pages

He fought a war in Vietnam that he knew nothing about, all he knew was that, “Certain blood was being shed for uncertain reasons” (38). He realized that he put his life on the line for a war that is surrounded in controversy and questions. Through reading The Things They Carried, it was easy to feel connected to the characters; to feel their sorrow, confusion, and pain. O’Briens ability to make his readers feel as though they are actually there in the war zones with him is a unique ability that not every author possess.

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