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Theme Of War In Tim O Brien's The Things They Carried

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Death is always associated with the occurrences of wars. No matter what, there is no escaping the fact that people will die in battle. Throughout the book The Things They Carried there are scenes of extreme violence, and heart crushing deaths. Witnessing someone you know being killed, or even killing someone you do not know is very traumatizing to a person and their life, but it's war and that is just how it is. Tim O’Brien uses many examples from the war for his story to emphasise the theme of Death, and violence and that no matter what it is no one's fault, and everyone fault. When Kiowa dies in the story, a sequence of events occurs, and people are left wondering whose fault it is. Jimmy Cross soon after Kiowa's death is already writing to Kiowa's father saying “No Natural cover. And so late at night, when they took mortar fire from across the river...My own fault he would say.”(162) Jimmy as a leader felt responsible for something he had no control over, and feels like he did not protect him with the proper guidance. Also another guy in the crew felt responsible, a younger boy. “Like murder the boy …show more content…

Tim Lavender is shot and killed, and Jimmy feels responsible. He is always thinking about the girl of his dreams Martha, and wondering if she loves him the way he loves her. “He pictured Martha’s smooth young face, thinking he loved her more than anything, more than his men, and now Ted Lavender was dead because he loved her so much and could not stop thinking about her.”(6) Jimmy Cross feels that because he was so distracted and loved someone who he isn't sure feels the same, more than the men he is supposed to protect, that he caused Lavender's death. Jimmy had lost a friend, and he had to carry the burden and the pain of not only losing him, but the feeling of himself being the reason he is

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Lieutenant Cross In Tim O Brien's The Things They Carried

585 Words | 3 Pages

He couldn’t help it (432).” This tells you that he is still just a boy at this point, but he knows that he should not be thinking of Martha he should be worrying about the lives of his men. Even so, Lavender is now dead and Jimmy holds himself responsible: “He would dispose of his good luck pebble. Swallow it, maybe… (437).” Mainly he is trying to get rid of all feelings for Martha, he cared more for her and himself, but he does care also about his

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Lieutenant Jimmy Cross In The Things They Carried By Tim O Brien

1173 Words | 5 Pages

In this situation readers can feel sympathy for Cross although O'Brien makes it obvious that most of the hard situations they found themselves in is because of Cross's mistakes. There are two times in the book that it had been seen that we see Cross fails miserably. First one in Ted Lavender's and second one in Kiowa's death. After Lavender's death, many soldiers are affected by their friend's death in different ways. Yet, Cross feels like he has to carry a heavier burden for his death.

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The Paradox Of War In The Things They Carried By Tim O Brien

705 Words | 3 Pages

Lieutenant Jimmy Cross is overcome by guilt when Ted Lavender, one of his men died, Lieutenant Cross then finds solace in the

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War Altar People: The Things They Carried By Tim O Brien

1140 Words | 5 Pages

After losing a member of his team, Jimmy Cross was unhappy with the result and blamed himself for the lost of Ted Lavender and started to do what is necessary to win the war. Meanwhile after Mary Anne saw the village and what the soldiers go through everyday to protect their country, she changed changed by become one with the war and fighting among her country that she became one with vietnam. Jimmy Cross burned the letter as a way to show his new role as a leader while Mary Anne wore a necklace that has human tongues to represent the person, the war turned her to. Jimmy Cross and Mary Ann had someone that they love and care about, although Martha didn’t love Cross back, Cross stilled loved her so much that he evened told her that he loves her but she didn’t say it back.

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Soldiers In The Things They Carried By Tim O Brien

1088 Words | 5 Pages

He tried to concentrate on ... the war, all the dangers, but his love was too much for him.” (11) Jimmy Cross’s love later becomes a burden as he blames himself for the death of Ted Lavender “because he loved [Martha] so much and could not stop thinking about her” (6). “No more fantasies, he told himself.” (23) He realized that he and Martha were a world apart.

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The Soldiers In The Things They Carried By Tim O Brien

559 Words | 3 Pages

Emotionally dragging people down one by one, war brings sweat, tears, and blood. Although soldiers do carry many physical items, each individual also carries responsibilities which are not visible, but tend to weigh one down immensely, such as the lives of men. In the novel The Things They Carried, written by Tim O’Brien, he describes the items which the soldiers carried such as “taking up what others could no longer bear. Often, they carried each other, the wounded or weak. They carried infections.

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Things They Carried By Tim O Brien: A Literary Analysis

1292 Words | 6 Pages

Readers, especially those reading historical fiction, always crave to find believable stories and realistic characters. Tim O’Brien gives them this in “The Things They Carried.” Like war, people and their stories are often complex. This novel is a collection stories that include these complex characters and their in depth stories, both of which are essential when telling stories of the Vietnam War. Using techniques common to postmodern writers, literary techniques, and a collection of emotional truths, O’Brien helps readers understand a wide perspective from the war, which ultimately makes the fictional stories he tells more believable.

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All Is Not Fair In Love And War Analysis

1009 Words | 5 Pages

Cross blames himself, knowing “He had loved Martha more than his men, and as a consequence Lavender was now dead…” (p. 121). First Lieutenant Jimmy Cross is distracted by his infatuation for Martha, which ultimately results in Ted Lavender’s death, forcing Cross to realize his fantasies for Martha are wrong and that he is not fulfilling his duties as a lieutenant. Lieutenant Cross is inattentive to the war and his responsibilities because he is unable and unwilling to stop thinking about his adoration for Martha.

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Ambiguity In Tim O Brien

934 Words | 4 Pages

Tim O’Brien states, “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). In this quote, Tim O’Brien explains that since Jimmy Cross blames himself about Ted Lavender’s death, he will always be in lieutenant’s head. Thus, the lieutenant will always feel the guilt. With this, Tim O’Brien makes the reader think that Jimmy Cross is the person to blame since he is the head of the group and he has to pay more attention to his plans. Having questions about his love, Martha, in his mind instead of being careful about his men is the reason of him feeling guilty that “the lieutenant’s in some deep hurt” (17).

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Guilt In Tim O Brien's The Things They Carried

891 Words | 4 Pages

When most people think of war, they think of all the physical damages, terror, and destruction. Even though the physical damages and deaths are scary and can cause burdens, the emotional stance and psychological effects of war are the more devastating and destructive parts of war. Throughout the novel The Things They Carried, Tim O'Brien articulates how times of war brings out the powerful effects of shame, guilt, and fear on the human mind. The intangible negative emotions that every soldier carries may not have physical weight, but is a burden that every man possesses. Shame; the feeling of embarrassment, feeling as if other people are judging the actions one takes.

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Symbolism In The Things They Carried By Tim O Brien

648 Words | 3 Pages

Jimmy Cross is the first lieutenant who carries pictures and letters from Martha, the woman he loves who—sadly—does not love him back. The pictures and letters from Martha symbolize Jimmy’s longing to be loved and comforted. It is ironic that although he is the first lieutenant who is expected to take charge and lead others, yet he never took charge of his own love life. This is a regret and burden Cross carries to the end of the story. “It was very sad, he thought.

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Theme Of Sacrifice In Oryx And Crake

536 Words | 3 Pages

Jimmy could care less in in his early childhood about what goes on around the world , however when it comes to the fake scientific advancements he has a concern about them. Later on he proves this concern because after everyone is gone he knows how messed up the world is. Natural life can no longer prosper, since even fake trees were made and animals were being formed to be fake too. The scientific advancements made him cherish life more because he knows he is starving and not comfortable however, he tries to still live in order to just keep the human population alive so the future world would not be all synthetic and to try to make Earth valuable again with natural elements. He chooses to stay on the planet in order to try and preserve it and although unhappy he deals with it to show how much he worships

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Why The Challenges At War In Tim O Brien's The Things They Carried

757 Words | 4 Pages

Kiowa knows it is wrong to bring war into a place of peace. With this peace of mind, it shows how good of a person Kiowa is. It showed why people like him as a person. In a like manner, O’Brien discusses morality in the chapter “The Man I Killed.”

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War In Tim O Brien's The Things They Carried

705 Words | 3 Pages

War not only impacts the nations involved, but their inhabitants too. Usually, the ones most directly affected are those on the battlefield. Within Tim O’Brien’s The Things They Carried, through the perspective of a war veteran himself, he illustrated the psychological effects of relocation and of the brutal atmosphere that war was. O’Brien’s internal struggle began as he was contemplating what to do about his draft notice. His “hometown was a conservative little spot…,where tradition counted, and it was easy to imagine people… [talking about] the young O’Brien kid, and how [he was a] damned sissy [for] taking off for Canada” (O’Brien 42-43).

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Reasonably Insane In Margaret Atwood's Oryx And Crake

792 Words | 4 Pages

I believe that Jimmy and Crake are obvious products of their society because of how desensitized they are to violence and suffering. They are aware of all the terrible things that happen around the world but they are not moved by it because of how common it has

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