In The Things They Carried, Tim O’Brien exemplifies a central question in the book. The central question is, “Is war more good or bad?” To an extent, O’Brien answered that question. The answer is almost clear. O’Brien’s book on some his experiences in the Vietnam War captures nearly every detail need to answer the central question.
Overall from all the readings that were given, a clear message was being told. That message was that neither side wins. In Mark Twain’s “The Prayer”, he makes it seem like war is glorious, but it shouldn’t be glorified when war itself is horrific. He explains a war prayer that was being told then finishes off the story by saying, “It was believed afterward that the man was a lunatic, because there was no sense in what he said (3)”. It was clear that the man making the prayer to the patriots of war was claiming that he is sending a message from god and that god is amongst them.
The irony in Tim O’Brien’s The Things They Carried is crucial to understanding that the mental burden the soldiers carry are heavier than their physical burdens. Each soldier is required to carry their entire lives on their back throughout their tour in Vietnam. The soldiers carried not only weapons and the means of survival, but individual objects that are unique to them. While the individuality of the tangible objects that each soldier carried is supposed to keep them sane, it is these very objects that provides an even heavier mental burden of guilt and pain that eventually drove them to insanity.
O’Briens novel The Things They Carried is a unique text because each chapter tells an individual story. The work also becomes misleading because the chapters are told from different viewpoints. Rather than O’Brien using a traditional flow of chronological order, he tells the stories of his comrades to appeal to the reader at different times in the book. The reader can also begin to question O'Brien's reliability and truthfulness because of his uncommon style. The purpose is O’Briens way to cope with his experience in the Vietnam War; he retouches each memory individually depicting the story of his tragic experience at war.
What Were the Things They Carried? In the novel The Things They Carried, the author, Tim O'Brien demonstrated both physical and symbolic objects that characters carried throughout their time in the Vietnam War. In the course of the novel, published in 1990, characters cope with sadness, sorrow, and the hope for love. Henry Dobbins is a solider in the Vietnam War whom is very superstitious.
In The Things They Carried by Tim O’Brien, ambiguity is used to enforce the character of the story. O’Brien communicates the struggle of being on the battlefield, however it wasn’t a choice but a matter of abstract selection in which he couldn’t deny. O’Brien uses series of fear, the savage of the war on the soldiers and how the over certain fear. Repetition of the emphasize the ambiguity of dead. O’Brien fears going to war, he was about to risk his life.
The Things They Carried Analysis More often than not, a reader picks up the story, “The Things They Carried,” and notices the unavoidable overload of symbolism intertwined. The heavy burdens the soldiers carry is portrayed extremely well by the author’s use of symbols, as it is one of the main focuses the author seeks to make evident to the reader. However, the author does not only want you to focus on the symbols of the burdens these fictional characters carry, but he wants you to understand what they really went through and that his story symbolizes the lives of these real, brave soldiers. “War is hell, but that's not the half of it, because war is also mystery and terror and adventure and courage and discovery and holiness and pity and
The Things They Carried: Paper #2 This book is a recollection of the Vietnamese War from a soldier’s point of view that gives inside details about what the war was like. He goes to tell about different physical objects soldiers carry. As well as the types of events that experiences, and how the war affected him and the other soldiers around him. O’Brien gives details of deaths he saw and how others around coped with them, and other tragic things that happened.
O’Brien’s The Things They Carried is a third-person story about the Vietnam War. O’Brien was sent to Vietnam as a foot soldier in 1969 and left in 1970 with a Purple Heart, a Bronze Star for Valor, and a Combat Infantry Badge. O’Brien’s short story tells the tale of the Vietnam times, using characters to portray his horrors from the war. Mahini et al.
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.
Cowardice is defined as a ‘lack of bravery,’ but in what ways can a person exhibit cowardice? Fighting in a war, especially for a cause that one believes in, is a strong show of bravery. Speaking up against and resisting a war that one does not believe in could also be considered bravery. Men who fought in a war they did not believe in simply because they were told to, exhibit cowardice. Those who showed a lack of bravery during the Vietnam War were those who did not take a stance for what they believed in.
Tim O’Brien’s short story, The Things They Carried, is a Vietnam War veterans auto fictional tale of his experience in Vietnam. The story sets out to give a surreal look at the Vietnam War’s effects on the soldiers who fought it, and give some insight into a war that is still debated to this day. For me, the major themes I saw in the story were about the burden each soldier held, and how each soldier had their own way to try and escape the horrors they faced. The major, unifying theme of the story was about the burdens each soldier carried with them through their time in Vietnam. However, the burdens each man carries varies from their SOP (Standard Operating Procedure) gear such as canteens, ammunition, and helmets, to personal items such as comic books, photographs, or even dope.
“The Things They Carried”: A Critical Analysis In the short story “The Things They Carried” Tim O’Brien shares with the readers the inner thoughts of a soldier during the Vietnam War. In the story we learn about the physical and emotional tolls that are taken on each individual. The physical weight of the items they carry signify the individuality of each soldier, or “by necessity.”
Things They Carried Analysis draft In the short story “The Things They Carried,” Tim O’brien uses the literary element of symbolism to portray how people carry different items to represent certain things, and to represent the harsh realities of war and life. He also uses symbolism to show how people become attached to items, and how they take on deeper meanings in times of stress. The story takes place during the Vietnam war, and O’Brien talks about an army detail, and the different things that they carried. This story is a great example of the use of symbolism to represent many different things at once.
In The Things They Carried, Tim O’Brien highlights his conflict between escaping to Canada or staying to fight through the contrast of his initial and latter beliefs to demonstrate how society can keep people from staying with their individual convictions. For O’Brien, it is far more important to live by his principles than to follow his duty to his family and the law. He says that he wants to “choose a life for myself” (53), speaking to his desire to run off to Canada. O’Brien initially thought that “life” means to be free from the draft and to survive. However, when his wishes conflict with what society expects, for him to be brave and sacrifice for his country, he vacillates between continuing onto shore or staying to fight.
