ipl-logo

Things They Carried By Tim Obrien Sparknotes

1661 Words7 Pages

For Veterans, war has impacted a majority of their life due to the traumatic events that they encounter, so they are left them with the last decision, which it could be drugs or suicide. In the book, The Things They Carried, Tim Obrien writes several short stories on the Vietnam War. A fictional book based on real events and how he describes the Vietnam War as the most significant event in his life because of the things he and his friends had to face. It studies the nature of young men in a time of war, and what made them do tough decisions in and after the war. The thing that is noticeable at first is how characters go into development, and how they listed the things the men had carried with the profound irony being that is not the physical thing they carried but the nonphysical thing they carried, the emotion, the experience and the guilt they encounter in Vietnam. Although the book is based on Vietnam that happen years ago, veterans who were in Iraq are facing the same similarities on the book that Obrien wrote. …show more content…

Cross wasn’t the guy someone would think as a leader of the war because he kept looking at Martha’s photo (Cross girlfriend) because it gave him a type of hope that everything will be all right. He was young and got drafted to the war, yet it wasn’t his choice to become one or was fitted to be a leader, he was called on random. The Photo of Martha that Cross was looking at distracted him, and eventually got Ted Lavender killed (one of his men). Obrien writes in “The Things They Carried”, “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." (42). this gave cross the guilt to live forever and it summarizes that the hope for happiness after the war was dashed by Martha

Show More
Related

Summary Of The Things They Carried By Tim O Brien

1905 Words | 8 Pages

The United States of America conducted lotteries to determine the order of call to the military service in the Vietnam War for men ages 16-21. Many men were forced to leave loved ones and special people behind. “The Things They Carried” by Tim O’Brien gives readers the inside look of what it was like to be an American Soldier in the Vietnam War. His memoir includes unforgettable images of a nightmarish war that people are still trying to absorb. The book is a set of connected short chapters that tell the stories of soldiers before, during and after the war.

Read More

Lieutenant Jimmy Cross In The Things They Carried

711 Words | 3 Pages

In the beginning, Lt. Cross was all in love with Martha and nothing else came close to even being thought about. Martha was a girl that he met before going overseas when he went over they started sending letters to each other. Although those were not lover letters, Cross always hoped that one day they would be, “Wash his hands under a canteen, unwrap the letters, hold them with the tips of his fingers, and spend the last

Read More

Summary Of The Things They Carried By Tim O Brien

1276 Words | 6 Pages

The Things They Carried, written by Tim O’Brien, focuses on the author’s experiences in the Vietnam war. This book confronts the truth about death and the wave of agony that hits after the fact. The story highlights the ways that Tim and his fellow soldiers find ways to cope with the immense amount of pain that comes with war. Throughout the book, Tim O’Brien explores the power of storytelling and how it allows those who are physically dead to remain alive in the memories of other. There are many ways in which O’Brien has found storytelling to help him confront the death that he has faced.

Read More

The Thing By Tim O Brien Rhetorical Devices

747 Words | 3 Pages

This flashback serves as a way for the reader to connect with the character Lt. Cross. O’Brien uses the flashback to demonstrate the emotional toll war took on him. Cross focused on that evening with Martha because he did not want to focus on the war itself. Instead of focusing on the blood and gore involved with her he chooses to concentrate on Martha. The sexier image of Martha back home waiting for him was much more comforting than the reality of

Read More

Summary Of The Things They Carried By Tim O Brien

928 Words | 4 Pages

Most war stories are labeled as fiction or nonfiction; however Tim O’Brien breaks this rule in The Things They Carried by creating a fictitious story that yet seeps the truth, and labelling it as a work of fiction. The book is compiled of various stories that correlate together, but it can be unclear what is fact and what is fiction. O’Brien purposely does this to draw in the reader to question what is and what isn’t, and no one exactly knows the right answer. By utilizing intentional, rhetorical tactics, O’Brien has the power of blurring the lines between fact and fiction; which allows the reader to distinguish between fact and fiction in chapters, such as “Sweetheart of the Song Tra Bong”, “Stockings”, and “Speaking of Courage”.

Read More

What Is Captain Cross's Overall Experience With Martha In The Things They Carried

1057 Words | 5 Pages

Cross’ overall experience with Martha and the soldiers? The Vietnam War was one of the most unpredictable and controversial wars that the United States had fought in. Due to the unfamiliar jungle environment, there were many casualties and horrifying experiences. Many people were getting anxious about the war and wanted the soldiers to return.

Read More

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

1173 Words | 5 Pages

Guilt which is caused by letting Martha in his mind interfere with the war he is supposed to be in. The narrator explains the way Cross feels as "He had loved Martha more than his men, and as a consequence Lavender was now dead"(16). The quote's tone is noticeably shame. He makes a direct connection with Martha and Lavender's death as the quote is worded in a cause and effect relationship. This is where the sympathy plays a big role.

Read More

Summary Of The Things They Carried 'By Tim O' Brien

1271 Words | 6 Pages

The Things They Carried, a novel by Tim O’Brien and published in 2009, examines what it was like to have fought in the Vietnam War, through memory, imagination, and the powerful ability of storytelling. Throughout his book O’Brien writes a series of vignettes and describes what it was like during the war, and the effects it had on him a decade later. There was one part in particular that really caught my attention. In the chapter,“How to Tell a True War Story”, O’Brien mentions how Rat Kiley, a Vietnam soldier, writes a letter and he was not pleased with the outcome. As I am sitting on my bed reading one of the chapters in the novel, “How to Tell a True War Story,” I begin to see a flashback of my own life.

Read More

Lieutenant Jimmy Cross Character Analysis

798 Words | 4 Pages

From our initial introduction we can see that Lieutenant Cross is distracted and not focusing on the war he’s fighting in. Instead, Cross’ mind is on a young girl back home who he is not even sure reciprocates his deep love for her but he clings to her memory because a sweetheart is often one of the few escapes from war a soldier has. “On occasion he would yell at his men to spread out the column, to keep their eyes open, but then he would slip away into daydreams, just pretending, walking barefoot along the Jersey shore, with Martha, carrying nothing” (O’Brien, 641). Cross does this throughout the story, drifting in between the war and his imaginary Martha, and it doesn’t pose an issue for him until an April afternoon.

Read More

Tim O 'Brien's The Things They Carried'

1263 Words | 6 Pages

His bitter experience, a combination of self-hatred and sorrow at the loss of a comrade hardens him. As a form of atonement, he destroys all the letters and pictures he has of Martha. Lt. Cross re -dedicates himself to his current predicament allowing no distractions to enable the loss of another of his

Read More

Jimmy Cross In The Things They Carried By Tim O Brien

1530 Words | 7 Pages

Along with his usual gear, though, he carries with him the burden of not being able to be with his girlfriend and , “walking barefoot along the Jersey Shore, with Martha, carrying nothing,” (O’Brien 1480). Therefore in order to forget this burden Cross carries a pebble in his mouth because it is one Martha picked up, and he also stares at pictures of her in his foxhole every night. This is what keeps Cross, in a sense, sane during the war because he can escape the horrors around him and at the same time witness something beautiful and peaceful in a place that would be considered ugly and horrendous. Cross’s escape from the war can be contrasted to the poem “Dulce et Decorum Est” in the sense that the speaker in this poem cannot escape the war he is in, but rather he has to face it every day without a break in the war since the troops have to march on until the soldier’s, “distant rest began to trudge,” (N).

Read More

All Is Not Fair In Love And War Analysis

1009 Words | 5 Pages

Throughout the text, Cross “could not stop thinking about [Martha]” (p. 116), unable to concentrate on the war or the men he is charged with leading. Consequently, Cross’ distraction and inadequate leadership result in Lavender’s death. Cross finds himself accountable because “he loved [Martha] 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” (p.

Read More

The Thing's They Carried By Tim O Brien

1400 Words | 6 Pages

Lieutenant Cross shows a prime example of a soldier mentally strained by the sense of responsibility. He feels responsible for his troop because he is the leader. In consequence to having Martha clouding his mind during the time of Lavender’s death, he suffers from guilt and feeling responsible for his death. In order to fix what appears to be a distraction in Cross’s mind, he burns all of his letters and photographs of Martha and proclaimed he hated her with love. “He realized it was only a gesture.

Read More

Love In Tim O Brien's The Things They Carried

854 Words | 4 Pages

Lt Cross thought “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” (p567). This is when the story began to turn. Lt Cross became overwhelmed with guilt, he blamed himself for the death of Lavender. If only he could keep the thoughts of Martha's letters, and face out of his mind, he would be able to guide his team safely through this war. “...yet he could not bring himself to worry about matters of security” (pp 570), this is when Lt Cross realized that it was he who was in charge of the team, and the emotional heartfelt daydreaming had cause the loss of one of this

Read More

The Things They Carried: An Analysis

688 Words | 3 Pages

He fought a war in Vietnam that he knew nothing about, all he knew was that, “Certain blood was being shed for uncertain reasons” (38). He realized that he put his life on the line for a war that is surrounded in controversy and questions. Through reading The Things They Carried, it was easy to feel connected to the characters; to feel their sorrow, confusion, and pain. O’Briens ability to make his readers feel as though they are actually there in the war zones with him is a unique ability that not every author possess.

Read More

More about Things They Carried By Tim Obrien Sparknotes

Open Document