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What Is The Theme Of Ambush By Tim O Brien

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The true realities of war is such an important topic to draw attention to, and many authors, such as Tim O’Brien, successfully draw attention to these realities through their writings. In “Ambush”, Tim O’Brien manages to show some of the realities of the Vietnam war by describing the story of two fictional characters. Tim O’Brien shows the PTSD, violence, and guilt that Vietnam war soldiers experienced. His story communicates the trials that Vietnam soldiers would have had and the thoughts and emotions they could have felt. One of the big realities of war is the PTSD and lasting mental problems for soldiers after the war. “Ambush” by Tim O’Brien represents that, and backs up the reality of soldiers of the Vietnam war suffering from PTSD. Studies have found that “Veterans who …show more content…

In “Ambush” the guilt of the soldier is shown when he says, “Sometimes I forgive myself, other times I don’t” (O’Brien 3). This part of the story accurately shows the reality of the guilt many Vietnam soldiers felt. Many soldiers, not just Vietnam soldiers, can suffer from this guilt and shame too. A study on some of the Vietnam veterans who committed war atrocities shows that,“Long after the war, a soldier's shame may keep him in the shadows, while his guilt turns his aggression toward himself; this time he may feel it is he who must die”(Singer 5). Another part of this study showed that a Vietnam war veteran “may talk of feeling haunted by his victims manifested by recurring nightmares and even hallucinations in which he hears the cries and sees the faces of his victims”(Singer 5). Tim O’Brien also accurately describes something like this happening, where later in life, the soldier sees the face of his victim. In “Ambush”, through the use of describing this character’s thoughts and his experiences after the war, Tim O’Brien accurately shows the reality of guilt a Vietnam War veteran could experience. Both the PTSD and guilt many of the Vietnam Veterans experience could be connected

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In the 1990 book “The Things They Carried” By Tim O’Brien gives both the victims and survivors of the Vietnam war a voice. The soldiers, alive and dead, experienced horrific events too terrible to speak of. No one could express their emotions, causing many mental illnesses such as PTSD. How could they express how they felt if they couldn’t speak of the horrors that occurred? Tim O’Brien gave them a voice.

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“Approximately 58,000 Americans and more than 3 million Vietnamese “ This was a huge casualty for america, but this number was nothing compared to what the Vietnamese lost. No one will ever be able to comprehend how serious war was and is. Tim O’Brien did serve in the Vietnam War but his story Ambush is not a personal story from him. In the story a father tells a story to his daughter about one of his experiences in the war. In Ambush by Tim O’Brien, three messages are shared.

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1908 Words | 8 Pages

After the Vietnam War, thousands of soldiers experienced confusion, survivor's guilt, post traumatic stress disorder, and various amounts of other psychological conditions. A little over a quarter of a million Vietnam soldiers have been diagnosed with post traumatic stress disorder (Handwerk). This is a staggering number, and is increasing in today's day and age as well. Soldiers who had or still possess post traumatic stress disorder, would be exposed to: depression, angry outbursts, guilt, nightmares, paranoia, and many other similar symptoms (Hillstrom 182). All of these disorders may contribute one to feel guilty or confused, alongside the trauma of war itself.

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772 Words | 4 Pages

The grueling Vietnam War, disrupting the lives of soldiers and their families, un-packs its complexities through the journey of the soldiers. After the death of Curt Lemon, a fellow soldier, O’Brien exclaims, “War is hell, but that’s not the half of it, because war is also mystery and terror and adventure and courage and discovery and holiness and pity and despair and longing and love” (80). O’Brien’s metaphor conveys his perception of the Vietnam War while setting a strong precedent of what the war really was like. Furthermore, it is evident that the complexities of war are hard to navigate as soldiers, tearing away at their mental health, revealing soldier’s experiences at war that corrode their overall well-being. Furthermore, this toll on overall-well being can be self-inflicted when soldiers assign blame to themselves as guilt culminates into lifelong burdens.

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671 Words | 3 Pages

O'Brien emphasizes the difference between the troops' actual experiences and how those experiences are portrayed in the society and by the government throughout the entire story. He discusses how soldiers are taught to "spin" their perspectives in order to make them more appealing to the American public, frequently by praising their own bravery and understating the atrocities of war. He explains how soldiers can eventually have feelings of remorse and shame due to their sensitivity to violence and

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443 Words | 2 Pages

In addition, Tim O’Brien conveys how society’s view on cowardice leads to the feeling of guilt in soldiers in the Vietnam War. In “On The Rainy River”, O’Brien claims that he opposes the Vietnam War, and he sees no reason for the war. However, against his own will, he is drafted and is required to go to war. O’Brien reacts negatively to this saying, “All I wanted was to live the life I was born to... now I was off on the margins of exile, leaving my country forever, and it seemed so impossible and terrible and sad,” (50 and 51).

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928 Words | 4 Pages

In “Ambush”, O’Brien has no real reason to fear the young Vietnamese soldier; he poses no threat to O’Brien’s safety, and yet a subconscious fear drives him to take the man’s life. In “The Ghost Soldiers”, O’Brien recognizes that the reasonable and logical decision would be to forgive Jorgenson, but something deeper inside him drives him to play the prank to get revenge. In both of these stories, O’Brien is separated from his own decisions in intense moments. His choices are driven by emotions: fear and anger. During war, soldiers are often exposed to traumatic situations that have serious psychological effects.

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2081 Words | 9 Pages

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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774 Words | 4 Pages

There were flares and mortar rounds, and the stink was everywhere- it was inside him, in his lungs- and he could no longer tolerate it”(149). Since the war the soldiers get flashbacks of different scenarios all the time. It takes a toll on how they think and the trauma, guilt, and grief they felt in that

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919 Words | 4 Pages

“I can look at things I never looked at. I can attach faces to grief and love and pity and God. I can be brave. I can make myself feel again” (172). Even though O’Brien was too cowardly to look upon the faces of the fallen soldiers in Vietnam, through his stories, he is able to be brave and feel real pity and responsibility towards the fallen

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1504 Words | 7 Pages

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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868 Words | 4 Pages

Estimated over 30% of Vietnam Veterans suffer from PTSD. Many suffer from a vast variety of mental health issues. A majority of Veterans feel that they cannot ever explain the negative experiences they suffered in war and the consequences of those. There is a fear of embarrassment and being perceived as weak. In the novel The Things They Carried, Tim O’Brien, the author, conveys that Vietnam Veterans conceal their bad experiences with war; if these are revealed to others, no one knows how to respond.

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880 Words | 4 Pages

The death witnessed during war is often a recurring thought in soldiers returning from war. This idea is explored in The Things They Carried, a novel about the Vietnam war. This novel explains the overall experiences of war and the trauma soldiers faced in and outside of war. The author, Tim O’Brien, carries a lot of guilt from war and wrote this book as a way to reflect on his experiences. Throughout the book, he argues that when soldiers experience the emotional burdens caused by death at war, they need to place blame in order to cope with their emotions.

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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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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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