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The Things They Carried By Tim O Brien

1082 Words5 Pages

Often times we carry much burden on us, and doubt that we could have any purpose because of those burdens that we carry. In choosing three specific pieces of writing, the themes shared many similarities among them. Tim O’Brien’s, “The Things They Carried” is a short story about the very sentimental, physical and emotional possessions that the different soldiers carry within the story. McKay’s, “If We Must Die” speaks to the reader in such a way that conveys the idea of if they should die; it should be with honor and reason. Langston Hughes’, “I too, Sing America” gives no mention of death. However, he gives the similar impression that if he is going to live, regardless of his heritage, he is still going to live happily. These three pieces …show more content…

In “The Things They Carried,” we can emotionally relate thanks to the author, Tim O’Brien’s incredible tone, as well as his choice of words. O’Brien is a US veteran who fought in Vietnam. Unfortunately he was discharged after receiving a shrapnel wound in battle near My Lai. He did, however, receive a Purple Heart (Mandell 392). This story focuses on both the physical and emotional burdens that these particular soldiers can and do carry. There are many occasions in this short story where O’Brien was specific about what these men carried, physically. “To carry something was to “hump it”… Almost everyone humped photographs” (Mandell 394). The main character was Lieutenant Jimmy Cross. O’Brien mentioned that he carried photographs of his lover back home named Martha. He was not the only one who carried personal belongings. Carrying around these personal items gives us insight to what these men really were carrying on the inside. They burdened guns, and ammo and backpacks loaded with necessary material, well as …show more content…

“If we must die—oh let us nobly die” (line 5). This poem was written by Claude McKay in 1919, around the time Negros were gaining some of their independence. In an article, also written by McKay, we understand part of the struggle that people of color were going through during this time (McKay, 1919). This article gives us very specific cases in which the people of color come together in opposition to the white population, the KKK, as well as the president during that time (McKay, 1919). Between this article and the poem, the reader has a feeling of pity for what the people of color have had to deal with. We can understand the burdens the people of color may have felt through their struggle of their heritage during that time. However, they are still very positive, proving they are still worthy of being American in America. “Though far outnumbered, let us show us brave” (line 10). They were finally beginning to see that they could have purpose, just as anyone

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“The Things They Carried” The narrative “The Things They Carried” by Tim O'Brien shows the man versus self conflict of the inexperienced Lieutenant Jimmy Cross and his troop in the Vietnam war. O’Brien tells the story of the lieutenant’s struggles, sacrifices and transformation that the war inflicted on him. Struggle was no stranger to Lieutenant Jimmy Cross or his grunts deep in the swamps of Vietnam. They struggled across the lush jungle with the physical burden of carrying all the possessions they would need to eat, sleep, and live in the foreign mud, or at least everything the US Army found fit to issue them for such a task.

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The Things They Carried by Tim O'Brien, is an emotion provoking collection of short stories about the Vietnam War. One of those stories, The Sweetheart of Song Tra Bong, is about Rat Kiley, who had the reputation of “heating up the truth, to make it burn so hot that you would feel exactly what he felt” and that quality is displayed in his account of a girl named Mary Anne. In Rat’s story, Mark Fossie, a medic, flew in his girlfriend, Mary Anne, to Vietnam where she gets enveloped and changed by the excitement of the war. Rat Kiley created the story of Mary Anne to characterize changes that happen to all people who go to war. Rat also highlights the idea that we have “these blinders on about women”.

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The book The Things They Carried by Tim O’Brien is about the Vietnam War and the physical and mental burdens that soldiers carried, but it is not just about the violence of war, it is also a love story. O’ Brien interweaves the characters of Mary Anne, Martha and Kathleen into the novel in sporadic ways that at first it just seems random, but it is done that way to remind the reader that sometimes there is no war without love, and that is the role of the women in this story. Each one of them serves the purpose of being a beacon of light that shines through the darkness that is war. One of the most influential female in O’Brien’s story is Kathleen, his ten year old daughter. She is one of the reasons that O’Brien explains his war experience

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In “The Things They Carried,” O’Brien demonstrates the life of a solider during the Vietnam War. O’Brien describes what the soldiers went through physically and mentally before, during, and after the war. He also describes how the soldiers had to adapt to war at a young age and sometimes the things they did were deranged but nothing was normal about war. Also after going to war and coming home, these soldiers struggle with how to deal with what they went through. This is also demonstrated through the book and one can see this through the author.

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