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War In Tim O Brien's The Things They Carried

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War not only impacts the nations involved, but their inhabitants too. Usually, the ones most directly affected are those on the battlefield. Within Tim O’Brien’s The Things They Carried, through the perspective of a war veteran himself, he illustrated the psychological effects of relocation and of the brutal atmosphere that war was. O’Brien’s internal struggle began as he was contemplating what to do about his draft notice. His “hometown was a conservative little spot…,where tradition counted, and it was easy to imagine people… [talking about] the young O’Brien kid, and how [he was a] damned sissy [for] taking off for Canada” (O’Brien 42-43). By being surrounded by people who would judge him if he went against his duty, it intensified the difficulty of choosing how to respond. Additionally, …show more content…

Given that The Things They Carried was primarily about the mental baggage that war forced upon soldiers while on the battlefield, the hostile atmosphere impacted not just O’Brien, but the men around him as well. For instance, while on patrol, “Lee Strunk and Dave Jensen got into a fistfight… [about] a missing jackknife” (O’Brien 59). Then, Jensen’s anger escalated and resulted in him breaking Strunk’s nose. This incident, originally being a petty scrap, intensified with every passing day, though. Soon, it lead to Jensen “taking special precautions” as “it was mostly in his head [that there was…] a silent tension between them” and an unspoken “vow of revenge” (O’Brien 60). In fact, the continuation of this argument wasn’t because of any excessive violent nature within Jensen. Simply, it “was Vietnam, where guys carried guns… [and] any other circumstance[s like this] might’ve ended [earlier elsewhere]” (O’Brien 59). An aggressive and abusive tone enlaced the air of the war zone and manipulated him; the danger of the environment forced his anxiety beyond his breaking

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Summary Of The Things They Carried By Tim O Brien

1757 Words | 8 Pages

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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A Literary Analysis Of Tim O 'Brien's The Things They Carried'

719 Words | 3 Pages

Literary Analysis on Short Stories In the short story of Tim O'brien's The Things They Carried uses symbolism to suggest that items that the soldiers Kiowa, Lavender and Cross carried represent their values and where they come from. O'brien successfully shows in depth what each character mentioned in the short story represents in relation to the narrator by mentioning the items and memories that each individual carried.

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Similarities Between Catcher In The Rye And The Things They Carried

1272 Words | 6 Pages

This is important because it outlines how he deals with emotional distraught on his own and how he wants to keep to himself relating with internal problems. An example form The Things They Carried is in the quote, “...I headed straight west along the Rainy River...” (P. 45). This quote refers to when O’Brien received his draft notice for the military during the Vietnam War. He became very upset and responds to it by driving on his own towards Canada in hopes of avoiding the draft and isolating himself from his family and friends.

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Things They Carried By Tim O Brien: An Analysis

1267 Words | 6 Pages

“They carried the common secret of cowardice barely restrained, the instinct to run or freeze or hide, and in many respects this was the heaviest burden of all, for it could never be put down, it required perfect balance and perfect posture.” (O’Brien 77) Tim O’Brien clearly demonstrates to the reader that one of the most difficult burdens to bear is being a coward because even though carrying over fifty pounds of equipment is hard on the body physically cowardice is among the worst pain because you can never put that feeling down for even a second to relieve the pain. The novel The Things They Carried, by Tim O’Brien, intends to show the reader how the platoons soldier’s cowardice and dread can effect them in the form of regret later in

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The Vietnam War In Tim O Brien's The Things They Carried

1837 Words | 8 Pages

Tim O’Brien’s The Things They Carried is a collection of essays, all centered on anecdotes of American soldiers during the Vietnam War. The seemingly straightforward recollections slowly reveal dense layers of personal and metaphorical meanings upon closer inspection, with the exploration of the characters’ emotions and the underlying motif of love creating the opportunity to trace how war changes a person in the realm of his emotions. The Vietnam warfare acts as a catalyst for all of the unsettling changes in the soldiers’ minds, raising the question whether the battlefield is actively responsible for this result or merely accelerating the inevitable manifestation of these personal issues, inherent in every person. In the collection of essays

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On The Rainy River Diction

713 Words | 3 Pages

The novel The Things They Carried by Tim O’Brien uses many effective rhetorical strategies throughout. In the chapter On the Rainy River, Tim O’Brien tells the audience a story he has never told anybody. Not even his parents, siblings or wife. He narrates the events and emotions that he experienced after receiving a war draft notice during the summer of 1968. O’Brien is ashamed about how he dealt with the notice and he feels as though he is “too good” to go to war.

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What Is The Difference Between The Odyssey And The Best Years Of Our Life

1247 Words | 5 Pages

When faced with war soldiers change, for better or for worse. Modern culture celebrates the glory of patriotic sacrifice. However, this celebration often leaves out the gritty details and trauma of violence behind war and the way it affects people. Homer’s The Odyssey and William Wyler’s The Best Years of Our Lives clearly discuss these details. Both debate the long-awaited return of warriors that went off to fight a war and the way the experience changes the protagonists.

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

757 Words | 4 Pages

Challenges at War Robert E. Lee once said, “What a cruel thing war is… to fill our hearts with hatred instead of love for our neighbors”. The novel The Things They Carried by Tim O’Brien takes place in Vietnam. He and a handful of other men experience things only one can image and hope they will never have to experience again. They learn how death among them can greatly affect them, and many others. War is not an easy task to get through and these men all had different coping methods.

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Long Way Gone Rehabilitation

834 Words | 4 Pages

Each circumstance was forced upon him, separating him from the routine of how he was living beforehand. The army ripped him away from his life of running away from violence, forcing him to face it head on. Here, his fear manifested with obvious signs, whether it was trembling upon holding a gun or going into a state of shock when thrusted into a battlefield. Ironically, the transition from escaping violence to becoming a part of the army was much simpler than the transition into rehabilitation. The author mentioned it only took two more battles in the first week of his first kill to be comfortable shooting a gun (120).

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Reflective Essay: The Things They Carried By Tim O Brien

747 Words | 3 Pages

O’Brien’s intended audience was young people who were not educated about the war and he discussed the themes shame/guilt and mortality/death. The chapter “The Things They Carried” gives an introduction about the men in the group, it also shows shame/guilt. The chapter talks about the equipment each soldier carried and how it affected them. During this chapter it focuses primarily on LT.

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Fiction And Reality In Tim O Brien's The Things They Carried

1413 Words | 6 Pages

Hidden somewhere within the blurred lines of fiction and reality, lies a great war story trapped in the mind of a veteran. On a day to day basis, most are not willing to murder someone, but in the Vietnam War, America’s youth population was forced to after being pulled in by the draft. Author Tim O’Brien expertly blends the lines between fiction, reality, and their effects on psychological viewpoints in the series of short stories embedded within his novel, The Things They Carried. He forces the reader to rethink the purpose of storytelling and breaks down not only what it means to be human, but how mortality and experience influence the way we see our world. In general, he attempts to question why we choose to tell the stories in the way

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

772 Words | 4 Pages

Psychological Warfare in ​The Things They Carried Unless you have been in war or have read ​The Things They Carried​, you can't fully understand the psychological toll on a person's mind and body, you can't understand the psychological hardship soldiers go through in war. However, ​The Things They Carried​, by Tim O'Brien, is written to where it shows the overall psychological effects of war on soldiers in and out of Vietnam; as shown throughout the story, the recurring themes of trauma, love, and guilt give the clear psychological implications of war.

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The Things They Carried: An Analysis

688 Words | 3 Pages

In The Things They Carried, O’Brien reveals his view on war through telling his readers how the Vietnam War had no point, was emotionally devastating, and displaying that there is no purpose in war unless the soldiers know what they are fighting for. O’Brien shows the pointlessness of war by

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Thesis For The Things They Carried

999 Words | 4 Pages

The True Weight of War “The Things They Carried,” by Tim O’Brien, brings to light the psychological impact of what soldiers go through during times of war. We learn that the effects of traumatic events weigh heavier on the minds of men than all of the provisions and equipment they shouldered. Wartime truly tests the human body and and mind, to the point where some men return home completely destroyed. Some soldiers have been driven to the point of mentally altering reality in order to survive day to day. An indefinite number of men became numb to the deaths of their comrades, and yet secretly desired to die and bring a conclusion to their misery.

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Things They Carried Reflection

561 Words | 3 Pages

These are some of the characters that O’Brien grows a strong friendship with and they contribute to the main theme of the book, friendship, in that they help him through tough times and they all learn to care about one another. The Things They Carried is a great read that I would recommend to anyone who likes a good war story. However, the book is not great for someone who likes a storyline that follows

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