Jerry Springer once stated,” We are all born as empty vessels which can be shaped by moral value.” In the book, The Things They Carried, written by Tim O’Brien, consisted an assortment of stories having to do with the Vietnam War. Throughout the stories, readers see O’Brien and his platoon as the overall center of the novel and they were constantly faced with conflicts having to do with the elements of the jungle and elusive Viet Cong. The novel was a nonlinear writing covering detailed stories of experiences and events that O’Brien had to overcome. O’Brien’s intended audience was veterans and he discussed the themes morality and mortality/death. In the chapter, “Night Life”, readers see clear evidence into the theme mortality and death because of the life-threatening circumstances he faced. Throughout the course of the chapter, O’Brien stated,”... the presence of death and danger has a way of bringing you fully awake,” (O’Brien 183). This quotes's use of the theme mortality and death is shown from emotions that O’Brien …show more content…
The chapter was about the death of Kiowa and the emotional rollercoaster Lieutenant Jimmy Cross went on because he feels responsible for his death. He decided to write a letter to Kiowa’s father to convey his guilt for his death for it was his way of saying sorry to his family. When his body was found the whole crew silently mourned his death because of the terrible condition his body was in. In the chapter, it stated,”Whenever a man died it was always the same, a desire to get it over with quickly,” (O’Brien 159). This idea shows the dislike of death of the men and how they hated getting rid of the bodies. The quote showed how the morals and values affected the men facing all the death. Their feelings and emotions are expressed in how they cope with death and they made little adjustments in their attitudes to deal with the