A Literary Analysis of “Do Not Go Gentle Into That Good Night” and “The Things They Carried”

ENG125

Sharon Linne

January 26th, 2015

Sources of conflict provide a unifying factor that enables an audience to relate to a literary work’s respective authors on a psychological level. This is particularly important when an author seeks to place his or her audience in their own perspective. A strong case for the conflict of individual versus self can be identified in the texts “They Things They Carried” (O’Brien, 1990) and “Do Not Go Gentle Into That Good Night.” (Thomas, 1952) This shared trait offers insight towards the human element and increases both works’ depth as a result. It also allows the audience to experience timelines and situations they would never have been able to otherwise, especially when dealing with sensitive topics such as death and war. We will be exploring the combined use of persona, fate, point of view, flashbacks, epiphanies and irony towards further contributing towards the authors’ visions.

The texts “The Things They Carried” and “Do Not Go Gentle Into That Good Night” both share the conflict of individual versus self. The pair both vary greatly in their presentation as well as what substantiates them. They however, simultaneously both touch on the universally shared trait of human emotion in extenuating circumstances. O’Brien and Thomas both depict situations where the concept of death is always lurking just around the corner. The realization of one’s mortality is often enough to shift one’s perception away from fantasy to cold, hard reality. O’Brien illustrates this point well as Lieutenant Cross’s obsession with a fading memory leads to a man’s death: “He felt shame. He hated himself. He had loved Martha more than his men and as a consequence Lavender was now dead.” (O’Brien, 1990, p.20) Consequently he is forced to revaluate his motives and strive to move forward as the alternative will see more men perish: “it was another world, where there were no pretty poems or midterm exercises, a place where men died because of carelessness and gross stupidity”. (O’Brien, 1990, p.26) We can determine a similar case of impending doom present in “Do Not Go Gentle Into That Good Night” as the poem’s entirety revolves around a father on his deathbed. The second through to fifth tercet establish the different types of men who are on death’s doorstep and have decided to not relinquish themselves choosing instead to continue fighting on. O’Brien depicts the conflict of individual versus self as a parallel between obsessing over fantasies and living in the present. He demonstrates the importance of the latter when the main protagonist blames himself for the death of a fellow soldier. This is a concrete representation of how the struggles of individual versus self can in fact be detrimental to one’s well being especially in the case of Lieutenant Cross. The conflict cited in Thomas’s poem on the other hand is presented as something glorious, in fact it can be stated as a positive quality attributed to man. The poem presents men who in the face of adversity decided to fight on instead of kneeling to their fate, thus following the poem’s namesake.

There are a number of literary techniques present within O’Brien’s short story and Thomas’s poem. “The Things They Carried” superimposes conflict upon conflict; Lieutenant Cross is struggling with his feelings for Martha, a girl whom he knows does not love him, whilst trying to lead a platoon of men on the battlefield. The plot climaxes in a fellow soldier’s demise. The protagonist has an epiphany as a result “Lieutenant Cross reminded himself that his obligation was not to be loved but to lead.” (O’Brien, 1990, p.27) The story is also laden with flashbacks that highlight the importance of tokens that remind Lieutenant Cross of Martha such as the small pebble, handwritten letters, and the two photos. “Do Not Go Gentle Into That Good Night” is written with the notion that fate will affect us all, yet we need not succumb to it willingly. This is demonstrated repeatedly with examples of men at the face of their demise still fighting on. A great deal of irony is present with the selection of words used. An example of this is the juxtaposition of words such as curse and bless. (stanza 6, line 17) The words’ meaning is only magnified by the fact that they present opposing ideals and are placed next to each other. Thomas presents the main character’s persona in this poem as someone that might be of old age and close to the end as well, hence all the references to others in the same situation. Only in the last stanza do we discover the truth, that the person about to face their end is the main character’s father.

The literary techniques of conflict, epiphany and flashbacks contribute heavily to establishing the plot in They Things They Carried. Their greatest asset is they truly allow the audience to understand the conflict and reasons behind it within Lieutenant Cross’s mind. The conflict present within this short story presents the struggle that one may find when presented with such extreme conditions of survival. That is to say, it is not considered unusual to cling to items that present comfort when trying to cope in such harsh conditions. O’Brien goes out of his way to describe the numerous creature comforts the other soldiers carry with them, however, the main difference being that they all have a particular use as opposed to Lieutenant Cross’s which seems to be driving him to madness and obliviousness to the situation unfolding around him. Harsh realities can be said to require harsh lessons. Cross blames himself for the death of Ted Lavender as he was preoccupied by his own thoughts of Martha when he should have been worried about the wellbeing of his men. This leads to his epiphany, that he must let go of the fantasy and focus on the task at hand, ensuring that no other lives are lost due to his negligence. The numerous flashbacks presented help give the protagonist backstory as well as assist the audience in placing themselves in his shoes. In the harsh environment Lieutenant Cross has found himself, he has decided to cling to what very little he finds comforting in this case, anything and everything that reminds him of Martha. The tiny pebble referred to for example, helps demonstrate how Cross is obsessing over even the smallest, most trivial of objects.

The literary techniques presented in “Do Not Go Gentle Into That Good Night” offer insight into the thought processes of the author as this poem revolves around the concept of impending doom. An all-encompassing theme of fate is omnipresent throughout the poem. This is obviously apparent as every stanza deals with it in concrete form. The four central tercets focus upon other men and how they dealt with their fate. This assists in setting the tone for the piece, as it’s central message is to not meet your end lying down. Irony is also present in this poem by way of description of others. The classic image of one’s death is usually one of perceived peace, surrounded by your loved ones. The author goes out of his way to describe groups of very different men who did not meet such ends and instead decided to defy death. It is also present in the way in which he describes these men. The second tercet denotes wise individuals who hadn’t really accomplished anything (lines 4-5). Tercet three describes frail deeds as shining bright. Lastly, tercet 5 talks about men who see with blinding sight. The descriptions of these individuals paint an ironical way of measuring one’s life. Persona is used as the main character’s true identity is in fact kept from the audience until the very end, thus magnifying the impact of its reveal. The fact the poem revolves centrally around the idea’s of fate and irony only to reveal that in the end this is about a son at his father’s side. The fact that his father is on his deathbed helps heighten the emotional context from which it came. These literary techniques help allude to the mindset the author is currently in while in this state of emotional strife. There is no logic behind the reasoning of not going down without a fight; it is a human emotion that appeals to our deepest desire to survive and more so, to give meaning to one’s life. The irony apparent is that it changes nothing in the end.

Both works offer vastly different settings and protagonists however; the same underlying conflict of individual versus self can be found present in both pieces. “Do Not Go Gentle Into That Good Night” and “The Things They Carried” both address conflict from the point of view of the protagonist. There is also a looming sense of death as well as fate present in both. O’Brien talks of fate as it truly is, something that we have no control over and can often be an un-glorified, unjustified end to life. Thomas on the other hand exclaims that we must choose to go out in a blaze of glory despite our life’s failures. The internal struggle of the main protagonists in both pieces is a vital component to the plot development present in these two works. O’Brien illustrates conflict of individual versus self in many ways, the most predominant being the human struggle of letting go of comforts of the past, especially in hostile situations. Thomas on the other hand focuses on the conflict as the pain and anguish a son faces when dealing with the loss of someone currently in their process of letting go of life all together. There are similar literary techniques of the change in the protagonist’s personas present in both texts. Lieutenant Cross is intentionally described as someone whose head is in the clouds and stuck in the past. This aids heavily in making the transformation from daydreamer to leader that much more powerful. Thomas reveals that the protagonist in “Do Not Go Gentle into that Good Night” is not near his own demise but in fact the son of someone that is. Ultimately the resolutions of conflict found in both pieces differ dramatically as well. The Things They Carried offers the resolution that Lieutenant Cross understands that he must let go his fantasies as lives depend on him. The transformation from boy into man becomes apparent and brings to light the harsh realities of war that make this a necessity. Thomas offers the resolution that regardless of what has happened previously in one’s life, the failures and successes, in the face of adversity and certain death one should continue to fight the good fight. It appeals to deepest sense of human romanticism and glory.

Factors such as conflict can offer the audience a chance at finding a topic to relate with the author upon. Making the material more relatable instantly makes the work more powerful to the audience as it employs significant emotional clout in regards to reader response theory. In my opinion, one of the strongest points of both these pieces is the fact that they both take a somber topic such as death and prove how it can be a form of rebirth in a sense. Both characters in these works are significantly affected by death in a positive manner as they choose to take a proactive approach to life because of it.

References

O’Brien, T. (1990). The Things They Carried. In R. W. Clugston, Journey into Literature (2nd ed) (section 5.4) Retrieved from https://content.ashford.edu/books/AUENG12514.1/sections/navpoint-1.

Thomas, D. (1952). Do Not Go Gentle Into That Good Night. Retrieved from http://www.poets.org/poetsorg/poem/do-not-go-gentle-good-night

Clarke, M. T. (2013). ‘I Feel Close to Myself’: Solipsism and US imperialism in Tim O’Brien’s The Things They Carried. College Literature. Vol. 40 Issue 2. p.130. Retrieved from http://eds.b.ebscohost.com.proxy- library.ashford.edu/eds/pdfviewer/pdfviewer?sid=b1470aed-0239-47ef-b2aa- cb0941f71009%40sessionmgr110&vid=3&hid=126

Westphal, J. (1994). Thomas’s ‘Do Not Go Gentle into That Good Night.’ The Explicator. Vol. 52. Issue 2. p. 113. Retrieved from http://eds.b.ebscohost.com.proxy- library.ashford.edu/eds/pdfviewer/pdfviewer?sid=af586d58-9b7f-41e5-981f- 01fac6dcf7c6%40sessionmgr113&vid=3&hid=126