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War In The Things They Carried, By Tim O Brien

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“Mankind must put an end to war, or war will put an end to mankind” (John F. Kennedy). In the novel The Things They Carried by Tim O’Brien he wrote stories about what being in Vietnam war was like. O’Brien wrote the book nonlinear because that is how he remembered the stories. Tim O’Brien let readers get a first hand look on what war is like and what it can really do to someone who was in war. Tim O’Brien used the themes shame/guilt and storytelling/memory to let people who want to understand what war is like to get a better understanding and what it does to a soldier mentally and physically. The chapter “The Ghost Soldiers,” connects with the theme shame and guilt because O’Brien felt guilty and had trouble dealing with the past situations …show more content…

Tim O’Brien listens to a story told by one of the soldiers Rat kelly. In the chapter “Sweetheart of the song Tra Bong” O’Brien learns of Mary Anne Bell and how the war changed her. Mary Anne was a girlfriend of Mark Fossie, who was one of the soldiers Tim O’Brien knew. Mark Fossie brought her out to Vietnam to show her off. When Mary Anne first got to Vietnam she was nervous about the outcome. The more Mary Anne was there the more comfortable she got and she started to become out of control. The soldiers had no idea who she was becoming and they knew it was because of the war, “For a long while the girl gazed down at Fosse, almost blankly, and in the candlelight her face had the composure of someone perfectly at peace with herself” (O’Brien, 105). Rat Kelly’s memory recalled Mary Anne changing while she was in Vietnam. She started to kill and turn into someone other than when he first emt, but her attitude was still there that everyone loved. O’Brien shared this story readers understand that the war can change anyone and …show more content…

Tim O’Brien uses detail to let readers know his emotions during the war. “I felt paralyzed. All around me the options seemed to be narrowing, as if I were hurtling down a huge black funnel, the whole world squeezing in tight” (O’brien, 41). He was stuck with the feeling of scared and not knowing what to do. He used detailed words to have readers try to understand what he was feeling. He was feeling loads of pressure but also felt numb while he was waiting to go into war when he got picked in the draft. He didn’t know what to do and really used his words to let the readers know what he was feeling. He uses great detail in the story he is telling. He wants readers to try and understand what people in the draft felt when they got called and how hard going to war can actually affect a

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Tim O Brien Literary Analysis

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In Tim O'Brien's The Things They Carried the narrator, Tim O’Brien, often blurs the lines between reality and fiction. As a young soldier, O’Brien recalls the Vietnam war including the sounds, sights, and his emotions, while 20 years later he again shares his feelings and experiences of the same event. This same event, however, is told differently in order to help him cope with the emotional pain of war. The details become blurry as the pain is too great to endure.

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Mental Cost Of War In The Things They Carried By Tim O Brien

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Mary Anne Bell was a young girl who was brought to Vietnam by her boyfriend Mark. She was known to be, “coy and flirtatious” (O’Brien 91). She was always curious, asking lots of questions about things. She started to get more distant from Mark.

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The Ghost Soldiers Tim O Brien Character Analysis Essay

844 Words | 4 Pages

This chapter “The Ghost Soldiers”, showed us how Tim O’Brien and the other soldiers were dealing with the war both physically and psychologically. It also shows us how the Tim O'Brien behaved and felt when he was shot, wounded and had a bacteria infection on his butt and how the war changed the way he thought, and viewed the other soldiers around him. This chapter also contain a lot of psychological lens. From the way Tim O’Brien felt when he was shot and separated from his unit to a new unit to when he wanted revenge on Bobby Jorgenson for almost “killing” him.

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

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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.

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Summary Of The Things They Carried By Tim O Brien

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By doing so, he ironically constructs a poignant set of truths. The significance of his is that it shows his experiences before, during, and after the war. But it also showed something far larger than his experiences. This book shows the nature of storytelling, truth, memory, and imagination in general. Going to this war questioned his own motives, and this is how we truly see what this man went through.

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The Vietnam War In The Things They Carried By Tim O Brien

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More often than not, soldiers and people in a war zone will be affected by the war one way or another. Either that being during or after the war, one could have a negative or positive outlook on the war, but one single event could automatically change that person's behavior. During 1957-1973, the longest war in the United States history took place, the Vietnam War. Many soldiers have lost their lives in this battle, but the ones that survived have significantly changed from this event.

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Things They Carried By Tim O Brien: A Literary Analysis

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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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Mary Anne Bell Character Analysis

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Mary Anne Bell’s character shows how much war really changes someone. She was shipped over to Vietnam by her boyfriend, Mark Fossie, at just seventeen years of age. She was an innocent, young and pretty girl from Cleveland Heights. When she first arrived,

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Guilt In Tim O Brien's The Things They Carried

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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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Coping Mechanisms In The Things They Carried Essay

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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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Psychological Warfare In Tim O 'Brien's The Things They Carried'

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Guilt is an emotion that O’Brien wanted to bluntly throw at the reader because the guilt is something a lot of soldiers faced in and out of war. There are multiple examples of the guilt in this book of all the trauma and all the love,the guilt starts to find its way into the characters. Continuing this, O’Brien runs with the psychological theme of guilt, and he does this masterfully. "They carried shame for almost dodging the draft. The weights they carried couldn’t be left behind and for some of the soldiers in O’Brien’s unit, they carried these intangible weights for more than twenty years after returning home from war"(Clark).

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Long-Term Consequences Of War In 'The Things They Carried'

1317 Words | 6 Pages

The author creates a sense of sadness and pity throughout the novel, causing the reader to sympathize with the characters. The emotional language used throughout the book heightens the experiences and war memories of the soldiers, causing the reader to feel the same terror. An example of this terror is in the chapter On the Rainy River when the narrator writes, “I did not want to die”(36). The narrator explained before that the draft did not let you choose your war, meaning if a soldier did not want to fight he doesn’t have that option. The draft does not give an option for not joining the war, and this makes the reader sympathize for the characters because it makes them put themselves in the characters shoes.

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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.

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Obstacles In The Things They Carried By Tim O Brien

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In the book, The Things They Carried, the narrator, and author, Tim O'Brien faces several different obstacles that he has to overcome. The main one that he goes through all starts when he gets his draft notice for the Vietnam Wa. He has to decide whether or not he should be brave, and fight. Or if he should pack up his things, and leave for Canada. For some people, making the decision to go to war or to flee would be a no brainer, but it was a different story for Tim O' Brien.

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The Song Tra Bong Figurative Language

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How he hated being drafted and how badly he wanted to run away. He tells how he took time to himself to decide whether or not he was going to run away and risk being caught and imprisoned or go join the army and risk dying over in Vietnam. He states at the end, “ I passed through twins with familiar names, through the pine forests and down to the prairie, and then to Vietnam, where I was a soldier, and then home again. I survived, but it's not a happy ending. I was a coward.

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