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The Message In The Things They Carried By Tim O Brien

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The Things They Carried In the historical fiction The Things They Carried, Tim O’Brien presents himself, the narrator, being faced with a war draft to a war he didn't agree with, in order to convey a message about going to war instead of fleeing the draft ultimately illustrating that message of being a coward for going against what he believed in. Tim O’Brien conveys a message of himself being a coward for going against what he believed in. In the text Tim had recently graduated from college when he got drafted to the war, O’Brien stated “In June of 1968, a month after graduating from Macalester College, I was drafted to fight a war I hated.” O’Brien makes it extremely clear that his views did not align with the war. This presents a problem for him, because there was no way for Tim to get out of the draft. The Vietnam War was happening when Tim was still in college O’Brien Comments, “Young, yes, and politically naive, but even so the American War in Vietnam seemed so wrong.” Tim spoke a substantial amount on him being young, but still having strong opinions about the violence …show more content…

After Tim had been drafted a multitude of thoughts were going through his head, and understandably so. Tim realized he could never do the atrocities that fighting in a war comes along with. With this O’Brien adds, “At some point in mid-July, I began thinking seriously about Canada.” Tim was so scared for himself that he would leave his family and his country behind to not fight in this war that he despised. At one point Tim O’Brien is admitting to himself that he would go to the war in which O’Brien states, “And right then I submitted, I would go to the war - I would kill and maybe die - because I was embarrassed not to.” It is important that we understand his feelings of embarrassment, and also understand why he couldn’t

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Tim O’Brien’s thoughts about the war in the first seven chapters were honest. Tim does not like the I Idea of war, “No war is worth losing your life for” (21). He cherishes his life more than risking it out on the battlefield. When O’Brien meets with the chaplain, he told him how he felt about the war, “I believe human life is very valuable… Chaplain, I think the war is wrong.

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,” another soldier yelled in return, “See what you can do until he can get here!!” The effects of war, as shown in The Things They Carried by Tim O’Brien, are different for every person. Not a single person is made the same despite the similarities in backstories. One never knows what he/she will do in a situation until they are faced with that decision.

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Tim O’Brien was very skeptical about the war when he was drafted. He didn’t want to fight a war that served no purpose. O’Brien supports this as he states, “Certain blood was being shed for uncertain reasons”(40). O’Brien believes a war shouldn’t be started unless it's absolutely necessary. He believes there should be a reason for war and a country shouldn’t go into a war wondering who started it and why.

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The things they carried Tim O’brien had strong feelings about the war. He despised it and protested against it but that still didn’t stop him from being drafted into it. He felt depressed and isolated after being drafted. O’brien tried to get out of it but failed. Tim hated war, he understood that sometimes there needed to be one but, he did not feel that way about the vietnam war.

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Tim did not want to be on a side that fought and killed people for only a small amount of those people to be free. This is why he chose to go

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Not only did he feel shame for not going to the war, but he also would, later on, feel guilty for going to the war and disappointed in himself for letting the guilt get to him and making him feel like he needed to go to war. “I survived, but it’s not a happy ending. I was a coward. I went to the war” (O’Brien 58). No matter what choice Tim O’Brien decided to make, at the end of the day it was hard and it would have an everlasting effect on

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When O’Brien got the draft letter in the mail he claimed that he was too good for the war. O’Brien also said, “I was no soldier. I hated Boy Scouts. I hated camping out. I hated dirt and tents and mosquitoes.

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In “The Things They Carried” by Tim O’Brien, who also narrates through the perspective of Lt’ Cross’s state of mind, describes what it is like to endure the trials of the Vietnam War. Tim receives his draft notice in June of 1968, and contemplates crossing the Canadian border to escape fighting in a war he does not believe in. Guilt and fear took over Tim and he decided he has no choice but to go back to Minnesota and then later to Vietnam. He is but one of many different characters with many different thoughts, motives, and feelings, but also have one thing in common; they all carried with them something that held value to them. For some it was a physical object that the can hold or see, and for others it might have been a mental state of mind, a belief or even a superstition;

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In one scene Tim is describing the time when he decided to go to war instead of escape to Canada, “And right then I submitted. I would go to the war - I would kill and maybe die - because I was embarrassed not to,”(57). Tim is often shown to fear war. He never truly thought the war would come to him: When it did it affected his mental health. This quote shows how he is scared of war and that he is willing to give up his life to escape it.

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Tim O’Brien was very clear with his stance on the war, he very much opposed it. He wasn’t able to find the meaning or purpose behind the war and most definitely didn’t want to participate in it. “I was drafted to fight a war I hated.” (O’Brien, 38). This quotation showcases Tim’s feelings about the war, and how he disliked it.

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All because Tim did not want to go to the war. Thought it was morally wrong. And did not want to be seen as a coward by his family and by his conservative hometown in Minnesota. In conclusion, the characters in this chapter.

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He begins to start thinking about his family, friends, goals, and dreams. He questions if he should even go to Canada and begin a new life where no one would know what he had done or go back and fight in a war that he didn't believe in. Tim can’t push himself to jump and swim twenty yards so in embarrassment he cries and has a mental breakdown because of the conflict he was faced with. O’Brien ends up going back to his hometown and fights in the war not because he had to but because he was ashamed that when he was given the chance to leave the U.S he froze up and couldn’t do it, all he wanted to do was escape and not fight in a war he didn't believe in. This story shows great examples of what shame can do mentally to a person who doesn’t believe in the war or wants to get involved in

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Your perspective is reality, true or not it is. However, when something happens and you your perspective is lost is it true that you lose your sense of reality? Or perhaps you don 't lose reality but rather gain perspective, which can be confusing in a whole other light. Author Tim O’Brien, through his narrative, The Things They Carried, emphasises the idea the perhaps there is no way to lose perspective; instead you are constantly gaining it causes more confusion while you 're still writing your story. But perhaps when you take a step back after you’ve made it through the mess the pieces (the memorable moments good and bad) seem to fall into place creating a glance “across the surface of my [your] history” (233).

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in The Things They Carried Tim O’Brien is faced with a difficult choice. He has been drafted into the Vietnam War, and he can either stay and fight or run to Canada. The Vietnam War was a controversial one, with lots of people dying for an unnamed cause. It’s easy to see why he wouldn’t want to be involved with that. He almost runs, staying for several days at the border of Canada.

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I went to the war.” (last paragraph 58) This helps us understand that going to war was not an accomplishment for Tim. He regretted not running away and hated that he went.

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