ipl-logo

Things They Carried

1373 Words6 Pages
bulb-icon

Recommended: Literary devices in beyond vietnam

In the book “The Things They Carried”, Tim O’Brien writes about his experience before and during the Vietnamese War, tells stories about his troop, and their lives before and after the war. He illustrates about how his life changed because of the war, and emphasizes on how the war is so cruel and has no moral at all. His stories involve a lot about Vietnamese War. If people read his story superficially, they will say it is definitely a war story, but he argues that his book is actually about love (81). Although his story looks like a war story, it is actually a loved story because his stories are either about his loved ones or dedicated to his loved ones. The reason that O’Brien went to war is because of his love to the people around him. …show more content…

His art of storytelling makes readers reach to the Vietnam War instead of getting actual facts about the war. In the chapter “How to Tell a True War Story”, he illustrates about how Rat Kiley tortured a baby water buffalo and killed him cruelly by writing “He shot randomly, almost casually, quick little spurts in the belly and butt” (75). According to this evidence, we can see that it is just act of cruelty and gore since he is emphasizing his friend slowly killing an innocent baby buffalo. But if we look at it closely, it is a love story. O’Brien started his chapter with Rat Kiley writing a sincere letter to his deceased best friend, Curt Lemon’s sister about how he feel sorry and how he will take care of her after the war (64-65). Therefore, if we trace things back a little bit, we can clearly see that O’Brien is writing that way to express his fellow soldier’s sorrow of losing his best friend. His writing style is unique in a way that he doesn’t express the feelings just bluntly. He could just add words that emphasizes sadness, but instead, he added the act of his friend to show the underlying feeling about one during the war. Therefore, after reading about that chapter, people will say they were so cruel during the war, but if they think deeply, all chapter is about the writer’s friend grieving for his dead

Show More
Related

Summary Of The Article 'The Grunts' By David Woods

696 Words | 3 Pages

(O’Brien 107). The quote was significant at the time that Tim O'Brian was attempting to talk to Norman Bowker about his guilt over the death of Kiowa and to stop him from believing that he needed to continue telling war stories after the war. The letter O'Brien received from Bowker vividly depicts his struggles with depression and traumatic events. This demonstrates how the author is attempting to deal with the traumatic events from his time serving in the Vietnam War. Because this was the first war that America lost and because it can be used to illustrate how people suffered, it demonstrates how difficult it is for soldiers to talk about their experiences.

Read More

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

705 Words | 3 Pages

Although the soldier he killed was an enemy soldier, instead of vilifying him he was able to humanize the man. O’Brien was able to describe the physical appearance of the soldier and imagine her life before war. The author was able to portray an emotional connection and made the line between friend and enemy almost vanish. This was able to reveal the natural beauty of shared humanity even in the context of war’s horror. O’Brien is able to find the beauty in the midst of this tragic and horrible event.

Read More

Analyzing O 'Brien's The Things They Carried'

1520 Words | 7 Pages

It is evident that he wanted to give the readers insight into stories and real-life experiences during the war. According to an article published by Alex Vernon, O’Brien was careful to avoid focusing on the war while advertising his story, in hopes of portraying his book in a different light than all the other novels focused around the negative and horrific realities that war is. He uses his own real-life experiences and twists them slightly to correlate with the story, while still providing a informative take on things. O’Brien was wounded by a grenade during his time that he served. He rewrites this experience as the narrator using a grenade on a Vietnam soldier.

Read More

The Thing They Carry By Tim O Brien Literary Analysis

920 Words | 4 Pages

O’Brien used lies to guard, protect and hide war given only people that don’t know the truth peace, love and those who know the truth of war the burden of keeping it to themselves. When O’Brien explained the stories of comrades Norman Bower and how he felt when he came home to his old town, how everything had changed to the point where only thing which actually remained the same to him is the old swamp lake. Even so everyone he knew are living a joyful life, he had to deal with a burden of what truly cause Kiowa death. Bower mention how Lieutenant Jimmy Cross told the squad to rest in a waste field full of human feces and how the storm turn the field to a landslide. As well mention how Kiowa was stuck in the waste mud, Bower tried to pulled him out try, try with all his might Kiowa was gone and if he doesn't leave he would had died, but still knowing the fact that he saved his life, it hurt him deep inside.

Read More

Things They Carried By Tim O Brien: A Literary Analysis

1292 Words | 6 Pages

In the short story, “The Man I Killed,” O’Brien focuses on this to show that everyone fighting in a war has a story. He spends the story describing the man he killed and searching for justification of his actions. He carries around guilt with him because of it, and his fellow soldiers try to help him justify and come to terms with his action by saying things like, “You want to trade places with him? Turn it all upside down= you want that? I mean, be honest,” (126) and “Tim, it’s a war.

Read More

Guilt Quotes In The Things They Carried

423 Words | 2 Pages

(page 68). This is why Tim O’Brien writes the way he does. He wants the reader to believe his story and get a sense of what war is truly

Read More

Imagery And Symbolism In The Things They Carried By Tim O Brien

1041 Words | 5 Pages

O’Brien uses the imagery of the description of the man he killed and the prank of scaring Bobby to show soldiers loss of innocence. In “The Man I Killed” O’Brien kills a young vietnamese soldier, he's in shock and can't stop staring at the

Read More

The Themes In The Things They Carried By Tim O Brien

496 Words | 2 Pages

And one by one, the others did it too. ”(O’Brien 226). But after each death, they all became numb to the feelings that came along with the passing of a brother or a Vietnamese citizen that was killed by their presence and the only way they could cope was by the humor that they had even if it seems twisted. But even then after all that time, O’Brien never lost all of himself to the war because he would always feel guilty that someone else perished at his hands, “ Later, I remember, Kiowa tried to tell me that the man would’ve died anyway. He told me that it was a good kill..”(133).

Read More

Summary Of How To Tell A True War Story By Tim O Brien

1114 Words | 5 Pages

O’Brien himself is the principal character-he is Vietnam veteran remembering his encounters during the war, as well as an author who is assessing the techniques behind authoring narratives. Through writing about his encounters in Vietnam, the author’s character is able to find a medium in which he can sort through his emotions, since “by narrating stories, one can objectify individual experience. One can separate it from self. An individual can pin down particular truths”(158). The author does not look upon his narratives as therapy-he narrates his tales since they are part of his history and he is now a direct outcome of them.

Read More

Gore And Violence In The Things They Carried By Tim O Brien

1161 Words | 5 Pages

Contrary to people thinking the United States should not interfere, too many young men were being drafted, and the war was pointless, O’Brien still pointed out that soldiers were still fighting in the war and facing the possibility of not knowing whether they would live to see another day. He described the gruesome memories that he any many other military figures were bringing back home. One scene describes his friend Norman Bowker after coming back home, driving around a lake eleven times thinking about his friend Kiowa drowning in a field of sewage which represents the ability to cut right to the heart of the matter; soldiers coming back from war in emotional hardships. Bowker goes on to write O’Brien only to hang himself a couple years later showing the impact the war had on soldiers and the lack of help they received after the war due to many people not accepting the war. His expresses his opinion by stating, “If you don’t care for obscenity, you don’t care for the truth; if you don’t care for the truth,

Read More

Impacts Of Trauma In The Things They Carried By O Brien

872 Words | 4 Pages

In “Ambush”, where O’Brien killed a lone Vietnamese soldier, we get a glimpse of how O’Brien reacts to the experiences he undergoes during the war. O’Brien gives a grisly description of the dead man’s corpse, showing just how deeply the memory is etched into his brain. O’Brien also speaks of how, years later, he “hasn’t finished sorting it out” (O’Brien 128). Despite so much time passing, he is still incapable of forgiving himself for the things he did during the war. Further, this isn’t the only experience that O’Brien isn’t able to get past.

Read More

O Brien Rhetorical Analysis Essay

450 Words | 2 Pages

He not only conveys his emotions, but also other soldiers emotions through his writing. Therefore, O’Brien is able to share the war stories to all of his readers and to share the deep impact of war. War creates deep connections and relationships between soldiers, O’Brien uses shifts in point of view to emphasise the weight of others soldiers stories can have on a

Read More

Tim O Brien's The Things They Carried

1142 Words | 5 Pages

Years afterwards, he still feels detached and numb, so he must write to attempt to reconnect himself: “[O’Brien’s] moments of introspection also become emotional releases, opportunities to cut through the numbness that the war has created in him so he can feel again” (Herzog 115). He uses his writing as a form of therapy to manage his emotions of stress and intense guilt in an effort to thrive despite his traumatic recollections. Moreover, he fears facing the emotional weight of killing people and leaving his comrades to fend for themselves in the past, but O’Brien also does not want to become emotionless and indifferent to hurting others (Herzog 118). He still cannot place all of his emotions and memories in order; he says of himself: “Even now I haven’t finished sorting it out. Sometimes I forgive myself, other times I don’t.

Read More

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

757 Words | 4 Pages

O’Briens intended audience is people who have an interest in war, and uses mortality and death, along with morality to help the audience get a deeper understanding of what could possibly occur at war. First, O’Brien discusses how mortality and death greatly affected many of the men around him. In the chapter ” In the Field” Kiowa is gone and there is nothing they could do to save him. The

Read More

A Marker On The Side Of The Boat Analysis

813 Words | 4 Pages

O’Brien tells the readers about him reflecting back twenty years ago, he wonders if running away from the war were just events that happened in another dimension, he pictures himself writing a letter to his parents: “I’m finishing up a letter to my Parents that tells what I'm about to do and why I'm doing it and how sorry I am that I’d never found the courage to talk to them about it”(O’Brien 80). Even twenty years after his running from the war, O’Brien still feels sorry for not finding the courage to tell his parents about his decision of escaping to Canada to start a new life. O’Brien presented his outlook that even if someone was not directly involved in the war, this event had impacted them indirectly, for instance, how a person’s reaction to the war can create regret for important friends and

Read More

More about Things They Carried

Open Document