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.
Author Information The author, Tim O'Brien served in the United States military from 1968 to 1970, during the Vietnam War. The unit he served in was involved in the infamous My Lai Massacre. When his unit moved to the area of the massacre the place was very hostile to him and and his unit. According to him, the book The Things They Carried had a contrast between what was really happening, and the story part of the event. He is considered to write stories using Verisimilitude, the blur between fiction and reality in philosophical terms.
Literary Analysis on Short Stories In the short story of Tim O'brien's The Things They Carried uses symbolism to suggest that items that the soldiers Kiowa, Lavender and Cross carried represent their values and where they come from. O'brien successfully shows in depth what each character mentioned in the short story represents in relation to the narrator by mentioning the items and memories that each individual carried.
In Chapter one "The Things They Carried," by O'Brien has deeper meaning with the type of things soldiers were carrying with them all the time. In this chapter which took place in Vietnam during war time is very associated with the soldiers who carried emotional weight physical weight and psychological on their humps or in their minds. The purpose and the way O’Brien described the situation in the chapter tell us different aspect and reasons about carrying things with them or have to deal with it. It is directly correspond to the soldiers behaviors. It also shows that either the soldiers were adapted to the things they have to deal with by force or naturally.
In the first chapter of Tim O'Brien's novel The Things They Carried, O'Brien takes time to create lists of objects each soldier carried with them while on active duty, along with their weight. Each list is separated into categories of necessities, personal belongings, and gear. This use of objects and weight creates a connection between the categories/objects and the physical or mental weight that each soldier carries throughout the war. In this chapter, O'Brien uses strong symbolism to show the reader the extent of physical and psychological exhaustion war can have on a soldier. Through each item mentioned in chapter 1, the reader is able to experience the weight of war through both a literal and metaphorical sense.
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.
In the novel The Things They Carried, by Tim O’Brien, the author shares with the reader his use of stories and the power they have over the listener. O’Brien shows the reader how stories give emotion where the truth might not give the emotion to the reader that the storyteller is looking to instill. For instance, They Things They Carried was written by O’Brien to show the reader the emotional toll of war. He tells the reader multiple times that these stories aren’t all true in the actual truth sense.
There are many objects or scenes that have immense symbolism in The Things They Carried. The Things They Carried is a novel written by Tim O’Brien. The book is essentially stories through the different perspectives of people he went to the Vietnam War with, including himself. The title of the book in itself represents the basis of the story.
Throughout Tim O’Brien’s book The Things They Carried, the true scene of the Vietnam war is expressed through stories of the soldiers themselves. From the very early stages of the novel, O’Brien focuses on the question: What is the point of storytelling? He explores whata the purpose of storytelling is through the effect they have on people. As the art of storytelling does its work-feelings of sorrow, joy, frustration, and love come to the surface. The point of storytelling is never pinpointed in his book.
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.
After the Vietnam War, a great many veterans experienced Post Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD). For more than fifty years PTSD already alluded to as "Shell Shock" has been an enormous issue for Vietnam veterans. The National Veterans Readjustment study directed in 1988 found that 31% of men and 27% of women experienced PTSD upon their arrival home from the Vietnam War. Critical to acknowledge, it was not until 1989 the Veterans Administrations (VA) recorded PTSD as one of the leading conditions treated by their medical professionals. Subsequent to returning home from the war, Tim O'Brien creator of the novel The Things They Carried, was diagnosed as having PTSD.
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.
Soldiers lugging onward in the heat or freezing air with a hundred pounds of gear through tough terrain in gunfire or silence they must keep moving forward to accomplish what they were sent out to do. In “The Things They Carried” by Tim O’Brien it is made evident that the men and women who go to war face many struggles and make many sacrifices. Brave military personnel have to overcome personal issues, physical hurdles, and mental barriers while under the pressures of fighting a war. Everyone has personal issues something that is going on in their lives that ponder their minds and can be a distraction to our daily lives. That goes for those in the military as well; personal issues don’t just vanish in the face of war, although that may be
The things they carried was a play that represented different angles of the Vietnam War. The story was written by Tim O'Brien who was a veteran at the war and wrote this fictional story to depicts his real-life experience in the war. Even though the story looked so real and well written, the author did not go through all the event in real life. Therefore, the story is not real, but it makes readers and play attendance reanimate or live the events of the story.
“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.
