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Tim O Brian's The Things They Carried

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Will Carr Mr. Hovemeyer English 4 ACC 25 April 2024 The Things They Carry In Tim O’Brian’s work, “The Things They Carry,” the burdens borne by soldiers go beyond just the physical pain and suffering. Tim does an amazing job of showing the emotional trauma of soldiers in the Vietnam War. The mental part of war is not talked about as much as the physical side, and not for good reason. The mental and emotional suffering soldiers go through is worse than the physical pain that they have to endure, which is shown by the stories and experiences of Norman Bowker, Jimmy Cross, and Mitchell Sanders. All three of these soldiers from The Things They Carried have PTSD symptoms that exhibit how harsh war is emotionally for humans. The story of Norman Bowker …show more content…

One event that Jimmy is said to remember is the death of Ted Lavender. In the first chapter of The Things They Carried, the platoon guards Lee Strunk, who was searching through a tunnel. As the group is guarding Lee, Ted Lavender decides to take a step away from the platoon to empty his bladder and as he is doing that he is shot in the head by a sniper. The tragic death of Ted was said to have weighed deeply on Jimmy as he feels that if he had done a better job of his duties as the leader of the platoon, then Ted would still be alive. In the book it says, “Later in the day, perhaps, he would call the men together and speak to them plainly. He would accept the blame for what had happened to Ted Lavender”(O’Brian pg.24). This reveals that Jimmy brought the whole platoon together to take blame for the incident, once again showing how much emotional trauma soldiers have to go through. Living with the death of one of your friends and comrades takes a huge toll on a person, and you can see that in both Jimmy and Norman. They both have an immense amount of emotional distress that stems from their time at war, which surpasses the pain that they experience from their physical traumas. Lastly, the experiences Mitchell Sanders had during the book are important to

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War is one of the most complex yet completely understood subjects to read or write about. Tim O’Brien has captured the true essence of being drafted into a war. “The Things They Carried” is a novel composed of multiple short stories; Each taking the reader through the perspective of the narrator showing his multiple landscapes, situations, and changing feelings from being drafted into the Vietnam War to surviving it. These stories really help one understand the effects of war on someone’s mind as well as body. Tim O’Brien is the main character and protagonist in this novel.

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