The Things They Carried By Tim O Brien: Chapter Analysis

I. The Author(s) and his/her times: 1. Birth-October 1, 1946; present 2. The Things They Carried was written in the late 1980's and published in 1990 (Lee 1). The novel acts as a response to the era it discusses by solidifying the un-generalized version of war through fictional anecdotes of the narrator and characters (Reed 1). The emotional truth is never portrayed correctly through historic context or media while the author was able to reciprocate the sentiments of the soldiers through the graphic battles or actions written in this novel. 3. Factors that influenced the author to publish this novel was partly due to his way of coping after war, using stories to keep the imagination alive. Towards the end of the book, O'Brien revealed that

In the first chapter, "The Things They Carried", the character, Jimmy Cross is introduced. There is background information on his life, including past interests like Martha. Cross's fascination with her and the letters automatically sets the tone as sentimental and nostalgic. The syntax consists of complex and simple sentences. When analyzing the characters, the author writes in long run-on sentences. "In the late afternoon, after a day's march, he would dig his foxhole, wash his hands under a canteen, unwrap letters, hold them with the tops of his fingers, and spend the last hour of light pretending" (O'Brien 1). This quote helps the diction because different inferences can be made, such as a story of war that includes love and pain. "He felt shame. He hated himself. He had loved Martha more than his men, and as a consequence Lavender was now dead, and this was something he would have to carry like a stone in his stomach for the rest of the war" (O'Brien 16). The author, O'Brien wants to convey the emotions that the men felt in war: fear, guilt, sadness, heartbreak, and love. Cross suffers from the regret and guilt of Ted Lavender's death, but sadness in his relationship with Martha. The author often provides short and choppy sentences backed with longer ones to further explain his thoughts. O'Brien writes with specific detail, providing imagery, metaphors, and similes. The short sentences are straight to the point, yet still powerfully impacting especially in the dialogue; the simple sentences provide characterization of each person. The background information and the informal communication between soldiers gives the illusion of being genuine and accurate. In "How to tell a true war story", the story of Curt Lemon's death holds most of the tone variety. As Rat Kiley writes a letter to commemorate Lemon with compliments, the tone is poignant. When the sister fails to reply, he becomes bitter by calling her a 'cooze'. The informality and vulgar language are