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Universal Truth In The Things They Carried By Tim O Brien

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Sent by Patriots, Dismissed by Protestors In order to better convey an understandable universal truth in their works, writers will distort factual happening truth by creating a fictional story truth. Tim O’Brien uses fictional characters in the novel, The Things They Carried, to convey the pressure American draftees faced when called to join the military in Vietnam. Recruits of the Vietnam War Draft in 1969 were descendants of World War II veterans, subsequently, military service was an expectation. Recruits who dodged the draft would forever be labeled by America as cowards who would, as Vietnam Veteran, Francis T. Logan states, in the South Dakota Vietnam War Memorial Dedication, “live with,” their national embarrassment along with, “their …show more content…

Vietnam intervention was widely unpopular among American citizens and countless rallies were held protesting the US Government. Troops were consequently held in blame by the majority of America for participating in the Government's war. In the South Dakota Vietnam War Memorial Dedication, Vietnam War veteran, Jerome K. Cleveland, stated that any person who sacrifices their lives for their nation, “deserves the respect of all citizens,” (Cleveland 14). Along with many other troops who sacrificed their lives, Cleveland felt unappreciated as the majority of America scorned them for participating in Vietnam. O’Brien, who was part of the military during the war, created in his novel a character, Rat Kiley, to bring to life the feelings of abandonment troops felt. Kiley writes a letter to a sister of one of his friends who was killed in Vietnam stating his remorse for the loss, yet she never writes back leaving Kiley in frustration, “The dumb cooze never writes back,” (O’Brien 66). Rat Kiley felt the sister had no respect or appreciation for the sacrifices that her brother, Rat Kiley, and every troop in Vietnam made. The girl was a part of a majority in America who denounced the war and the soldiers. O’Brien uses Rat Kiley to prove that U.S. citizens totally relinquished the troops in Vietnam who sacrificed everything for

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In If I Die in a Combat Zone, author Tim O’Brien argues that the Vietnam War was unjust by expressing his disapproval of the war through his own moral beliefs, sharing the descriptions of deaths in Vietnam of the innocent citizens, and by describing how much the war impacted himself and others negatively. In the beginning of the book, O’Brien openly stated his beliefs on the war. He believed it was wrongly accepted and unjust, but he battled his own opinions with society’s views anyway (18). Constantly, O’Brien discussed within his own head about the true definition of bravery and courage (147).

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22 million American men were drafted for the Vietnam War, 30,000 men leaving the country to avoid the inevitable draft. In Tim O’Brien’s 1990 historical fiction novel The Things They Carried, 22 short stories of the war are told by a first hand soldier who had experienced the guilt and grief associated with war. These stories follow O’Brien’s fellow soldiers and friends as they go along the war and the audience sees the development of these soldiers whose life had just been turned upside down. The readers see the guilt and grief associated with the war and the variety of how these soldiers cope with this loss. Rat Kiley, Mary Anne, and Linda are all characters the readers see whose innocence is ripped away from them at such a young age and

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“A thing may happen and be a total lie; another thing may not happen and be truer than the truth” (83). The theme of “happening-truth” versus “story-truth” is a constant opposition Tim O’Brien uses to convey his “true war story” to his audience. Many times in the book The Things They Carried, O’Brien lies to the reader to attempt to give the reader realistic events, so they can relate to the emotions O’Brien felt during the Vietnam war. O’Brien makes it clear in the chapter “Field Trip” that a person who has not been to war cannot comprehend what it was like. He uses a fictional character, Kathleen, to be a stand in for the reader; she is innocent and free from the burden of serving in wartime.

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O’Brien does not try to justify his actions, but makes up a life story that is very similar to his own to try to familiarize with the dead Viet Cong soldier he stumbles upon in the story “The Man I Killed”. The story O’Brien makes up highlights the dead soldier's life. Going from being teased for his women-like appearance at school and faking his excitement of fighting and being patriotic in front of his father and uncles. O’Brien continues to make up stories about the young Viet Cong soldier, how he went to continue his passion in math, going to study in Saigon and how he met this girl that liked him for his bony legs and small wrists. The way that O’Brien handles guilt after the war shows his own problems that arose during the war.

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“How to Tell a True War Story” If you died today, who would remember you tomorrow? A true war story is not meant to be told about war and the perpetual series of events that happened in Vietnam. It’s about the special way the main character Rat Kiley in Tim O’Brien’s short story , “How to Tell a True War Story” faced the loss of his friend Curt Lemon. It’s a story about how Rat Kiley’s troop mates also witnessed the horrific beauty war constructs, but mostly it’s about how war doesn’t have a true story the ending is a mystery filled with infinite possibilities.

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Tim O'Brien's short story, "The Things They Carried", is a personal narrative of the time he served in the military during the Vietnam War. His experience in the war along with his platoon shows how soldiers have to conform to the specific image of a tough, brave, and emotionless warrior courageously fighting in the heat of battle. However, the story shows young soldiers who try to follow this image, but end up showing individuality by being their true selves. In the nature of war, most soldiers will try to conform to this image, however showing individuality isn't always a negative thing. At first, the group of very young soldiers who have just been drafted try to show their masculinity by hiding their true emotions such as fear.

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The soldiers in the Vietnam War are portrayed as losing themselves in the chaos and trauma of combat. Through the stories of the soldiers and their experiences, O’Brien explores the ways in which war strips away one's sense of identity and humanity. The author himself is depicted as losing himself in the war. O'Brien served in the Vietnam War, and his experiences inspired much of the book. Through the character of Tim O'Brien, the author explores the ways in which war can strip away one's sense of self and purpose.

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William Timothy O’Brien was born on October 1, 1946. As a young man he rallied against the Vietnam war. However sometimes later he got the draft notice. He was torn between going, therefore leaving his convictions aside; or deserting and face the embarrassment he would cause to his family, friends. He decided to go, and fought in the Vietnam war.

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In his novel, The Things They Carried, Tim O’Brien aims to convey his experience fighting in the Vietnam War. This subject is very difficult to write about, because many readers have never gone through anything like this – O’Brien is showing them a world that seems completely foreign. Throughout the novel, he portrays people from different backgrounds, all of them deeply human, living through and contributing to something that goes against the very foundations of humanity. In order to be able to convey this disparity, he needs to use every tool available to him, including bending the truth.

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Many people do not like their position in this world. For instance, they are vexed from working at a low paying job or pursuing a higher education. And, when they hear of a draft into the military, they go for it eventually regretting their choice, attempting to dodge the draft, change their minds, but cannot do so because they are already in the war. In order to challenge this prevailing ideal, Tim O'Brien wrote The Things They Carried as a memoir of his experiences during the Vietnam war, and to proclaim the injustices of the government towards the soldiers. Therefore, O’Brien’s odyssey in the war not only impacted his life but for all the other veterans as well, challenging the underlying power of the government in America through the unfair orders that they gave the soldiers and the little help that they gave the soldiers with mental illness.

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Even after all these years, O’Brien is still unable to get the images of Vietnam out of him head, specifically of the man he killed. In the novel, he repeats the description of the man numerous times, almost to the point of excess, saying,“he was a slim, dead, almost dainty young man of about twenty. He lay with one leg bent beneath him, his jaw in his throat, his face neither expressive nor inexpressive. One eye was shut. The other was a star-shaped hole” (124).

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This quote stated by O’Brien shares how himself and other soldiers felt about the war, and how they felt like their fight and war tactact was overall useless for the United States. O’Brien also mentions that he feels frustrated that the government would let thousands of Americans' lives to end just for a war that had no benefit or meaning for the country. O’Brien is a great representative for American soldiers who served in the Vietnam War because of the emotion and frustration he felt about the war and the war’s

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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.

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"I carry the memories of the ghosts of a place called Vietnam — the people of Vietnam, my fellow soldiers," quotes O’Brien. "More importantly," he continues, "I carry the weight of responsibility, and a sense of abiding guilt." (npr.org). His intended audience for the book was adults,

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