...What We Learn from “The Things They Carried” “War is a bitch” (O’Brien 30), said Azar, an American soldier who joined Vietnam War. War doesn’t bring anything good to anybody. It just creates sorrow and pains to people. In “The Things They Carried”, the author Tim O’Brien shows us a realistic picture of what the war in Vietnam was like. He demonstrates how brutal the war is and the horrible reality of death in war, and how soldiers deal with the pain. This novel should be on the reading selections of The Interpretation of Literature because as it is a novel composed of war stories, it brings some enlightening endeavor and educational experiences to make us understand more about the war. To make us have an objective perspective of what happened in Vietnam War in 1968, O’Brien let us know a little about each soldier and what they carried with them along with the war in the first chapter. The “things” that the soldiers carried were both literal and figurative. The soldiers carry out of necessity for survival, such as guns, helmets, and other forms of weaponry, as well as things they carry more out of habit. First Lieutenant Jimmy Cross carried letters from Martha, a girl that he loved. “Henry Dobbins, who was a big man, carried extra rations, Dave Jensen, who practiced field hygiene, carried a toothbrush, dental floss, and several hotel-sized bars of soap. Ted Lavender, who was scared, carried tranquilizers”(2). O’Brien also describes specifically the weight of the item that...
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...works. Tim O’Brien’s short story “The Things They Carried” explores the hardships of the Vietnam War during combat, and his short stories “Speaking of Courage” and “Field Trip” show the after effects of the Vietnam War and how it changed people forever. Tim O’Brien is considered one of the only authors who portrays the Vietnam War exactly how it was. Through the use of tone and characterization, Tim O’Brien demonstrates a soldier’s constant fear of impending death, and the emotional toll of war. Tim O’Brien uses tone throughout is stories to show what the Vietnam War was like, and how it affected people. The tone in O’Brien’s short story, “Field Trip”, emphasizes the meaning of the trip and why the field is important. The whole purpose of the narrator’s trip to Vietnam is to get closure about Kiowa’s death. The narrator said, “I’d gone under with Kiowa, and now after two decades I’d finally worked my way out” (Field Trip 736). By visiting the site where Kiowa died, some of the burden of his death is taken off the narrator’s conscience. The tone of the passage is shown when the narrator’s daughter, Kathleen, does not understand what is going through her father’s mind as he is gazing out into the field (Bookstove 1). The last time the narrator saw this field he witnessed the death of his friend, and ever since then the field has been on his mind. The tone is how the field is completely different then the last time he saw it. It shows how things change and how you have...
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...still haunt him and many other of the men who made it home. His novel, The Things They Carried, describes Vietnam and all the things he encountered including the people he lost. Tim O’Brien is the author of The Things They Carried and 8 other books and short stories. O’Brien began writing these stories as a way to cope with all the leftover reminiscence of the things that happened...
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...Miller 1 Steven Miller Dr. Craig Barto English 112 14 February 20, 2014 The Things That Few Have Carried When people think of war, they think of very few things. They think of the things that is only seen on T.V. and movies. The small percentage of people who join the military can tell you about the military lifestyle, but the even smaller number of veterans who have actually been to combat can tell you that war is not what Hollywood makes it. In war, the average psyche of a human changes. There is no longer a “me” or “I” anymore, there has to be a unit mentality. The emotions range from extreme terror to having never been so bored in one’s entire life. Combat is not a constant experience, although combat is very common. Combat veterans will say that they have experienced a lot of the same feelings, but everyone deals with these feelings in their own way. In “The Things They Carried,” Tim O’Brien portrays the theme of war very accurately. He shows the emotions of Lt. Jimmy Cross, who is a platoon leader that not only has to handle his own personal thoughts, but his responsibilities towards the men that he commands. The responsibility that he has towards keeping his men alive is what truly weighs on his heart after Ted Lavender’s death. Prior to that, O’Brien is almost completely overwhelmed with his own selfish thoughts of Martha. These constant thoughts of a loved one back home is what has and will always dwell on the hearts and minds of men and women deployed overseas...
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...The Thing’s They Carried by Tim O’Brien illustrates the war in Vietnam through the perspective of various characters including Norman Bowker, Mary Anne Bell, and Rat Kiley. The literal and figurative “things” that these characters carry symbolize how they attempted to cope with the hardships of the war in Vietnam. Rat Kiley entered the war as a happy medic who carried comic books, M&M’s, and all of the stuff a normal medic would carry, but as the war went on, he began to carry pain and suffering, and he eventually broke down and shot himself so he could leave the war. Mary Anne Bell, a character from Rat Kiley’s story the Sweetheart of the Song Tra Bong, was innocent when her boyfriend Mark Fossie brought her to the war, however, the war turned her into a savage, and by the end of Rat...
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...In a chapter Tim O'Brien book, "The Things They Carried", he emphasizes how a war story should not leave the reader uplifted, since all of them are gruesome. Tim tells a story of a man named Bob Kiley losing his best friend, Curt Lemon. The chapter starts off by Bob writing a heartfelt letter to Curt's sister, and not getting a response from "the dumb cooze." Calling her this mean name already shows us how important every small actions means to a solider who has returned from war. Tim then goes into a back story of how Nom drove them crazy and how they played games using flash grenades. They would also have to sit in silence for a week on a mountain listing for enemy activity. After siting there for so long, they started to hear...
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...in college when the Vietnam War was happening which influenced his work. His most popular work is called “The Things They Carried” which is a book compiled of short stories about his experience in the Vietnam War. There are 6 of his short stories: The Things They Carried, Love, Spin, On The Rainy River, Enemies and Friends, How To Tell a True War Story which was published in 1990. His next popular work was “Going After Cacciato” which was written in 1978. The similarities in themes is that they are both surrounded by the idea of war. In “The Things They Carried,” there are psychological burdens from the war that follow these soldiers for the rest of their lives. O’Brien uses the title, “things they carried” to imply that the “things” the characters carry in these stories are both literal and figurative. While they all carry heavy physical loads, they also all carry heavy emotional loads, full of grief, fear, and love. In the novel “Going After Cacciato,” the theme is seen as having courage and taking control. Both of these themes from these two different books relate because the theme of control is a theme that subsumes and defines courage itself; therefore, courage in war requires self-control of body, senses, and emotions. Soldiers must have a lot of self-control in order to be in war because they must follow orders without questioning. In “The Things They Carried,” The main character is himself. Tim O’Brien is the narrator and the protagonist through the entire set of stories...
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...Geanean Mckenzie Professor Weiss Modes Of Analysis Character Of Analysis Essay 2/16/14 In Tim O’Brien “The Things They Carried” The first story in the collection introduces the cast of characters that reappear throughout the book. The cast is made up of the soldiers of the Alpha Company, led by First Lieutenant Jimmy Cross. The platoon is deployed to fight in the Vietnam War. The narrator, O’Brien, is one of the soldiers, and he distinguishes one soldier from another in this first story by the items that they carry. Authors as far back as Homer described soldiers going into battle by naming the things that they carried: goatskins filled with water, spears, and locks of hair from their beloved ones. O’Brien updates this literary strategy. His characters carry the modern implements of war. But the feeling evoked is similar: static lists make the characters seem already dead, prematurely mourned. The lists are like wills. The first story is told in third person, with some insight into the mind of Jimmy Cross. This movement between perspectives is called free indirect discourse, and serves to distance the reader from the soldiers. The reader sees them as if they were in a movie, moving slowly across an unfamiliar landscape, carrying their various burdens. The ancient movement of men going to war is juxtaposed with the rough, modern language of the soldiers themselves. They use slang, swear at each other, and try to diffuse the feeling of danger and helplessness by describing death...
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...Have you ever learned to accept something and then it completely changes? Or maybe done something wrong expecting no penalization? Well that is exactly what happened to Alice in the novel "Side Effects May Vary" by Julie Murphy. In the story Alice, a high school freshmen is diagnosed with acute lymphatic cancer, also known as leukemia. As Alice begins to accept the fact that her "expiration date" is catching up with her she makes a sort of to do list to right wrongs with her enemies by getting revenge. Just as Alice has almost completed her list she gets some very unexpected news. Alice was now in remission. In the story Alice and her untitled "more than friend" Harvey plan revenge against Alice's worst enemies. Her cheating ex boyfriend Lucas and her competitive frenemy Celeste. They first decide to blackmail Lucas by threatening to display an embarrassing picture that could ruin his reputation. They give Lucas a certain time frame to recover the disc with the picture but the display is never carried out due to an amusing change of events. Through the confusement of where she stands between life and death, her mom's betrayal, her revival of her passion for dance, and her relationship with Harvey, Alice must figure out how to survive in her new found life....
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..."The Removal of Thorns"...................................................... 285 Book V, "The Conduct of Courtiers" ................................................... 336 Book VI: The Source of Sovereign States ............................................ 362 Book VII, "The End of the Six-Fold Policy" .......................................... 370 Book VIII: Concerning Vices and Calamities........................................ 467 Book IX, "The Work of an Invader" ..................................................... 490 Book X, "Relating to War" ................................................................... 521 Book XI, "The Conduct of Corporations" ............................................ 541 Book XII, "Concerning a Powerful Enemy" ......................................... 547 Book XIII, "Strategic Means to Capture a Fortress" ............................ 563 Book XIV, "Secret Means" ................................................................... 584 Book XV, "The Plan of a Treatise" ....................................................... 607 2 Kautilya's Arthashastra Book I, "Concerning Discipline" CHAPTER I. THE LIFE OF A KING Óm. Salutation to Sukra and Brihaspati. This Arthasástra is made as a compendium of almost all the Arthasástras, which, in view of acquisition and maintenance of the earth, have been composed by ancient teachers. Of this work, the following...
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...around us. This book tells us everything that we should and should not do in our lives. It is like reading the entire collection of Aesop’s fables at one sitting. I don’t think that I have ever been so moved to laughter and tears by written words. The morals of this story are the reasons that I will list for its greatness. I will start with a fierce warning against the evils of greed. The dwarves of Moria were a great and powerful race. They lived in this particular mountain because they could find the mithril ore no where else in the world. It was very light but very hard, excellent for making weapons and armor. They became very greedy and delved deeper and deeper into the ground to keep there supply coming. They were warned that evil things lie deep in the ground, but they did not heed these warnings. It was there doom. Every dwarf died fighting the evil that sprung out of the ground. Many years later a band of dwarves set out to retake Moria and they were repaid for their greed with the same price. You cannot see where your feet are falling when your eyes are on the prize. Next is a fiercer warning on ambition and being kind to the environment. The evil of Saruman in this realm spread far and wide. He was...
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...War: An Anatomy of Madness James V. Lewis Jr. COM/172 October 19, 2011 War: An Anatomy of Madness Contrary to past wars, Americans are not asked to conserve on gas, or consume less sugar. No draft to protest as during the Vietnam War, and the air raid drills of cold war years are a thing of the past. Still the consequences of wars, even though at times necessary, are social and political trauma, the impact on society and the morality of war is inconsistent with the ideas of ethical decency and good common sense. Politically; in a democratic society like America the fallout from war makes it hard to govern and impedes the ability to fight and win wars. Body Paragraph 1 The impact of war on society For most American families with loved ones in harm’s way the consequences of war are traumatic. The strains on a spouse waiting for news from a husband or wife immersion in situations in which the possibility of death is ever present, is a familiar yet heartbreaking scenario. To anyone who has had a loved one or friend serve in a combat zone the stress can be detrimental to relationships as well one’s health. According to Huus (2007), “the uncertainty and fear felt by family members in this war are amplified by how few people are being called on, and to what extent”(The guessing makes you crazy section, para. 9). Our current wars in Iraq and Afghanistan are being waged by an overworked military. American soldiers are subject to frequent...
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...War: An Anatomy of Madness James V. Lewis Jr. COM/172 October 19, 2011 War: An Anatomy of Madness Contrary to past wars, Americans are not asked to conserve on gas, or consume less sugar. No draft to protest as during the Vietnam War, and the air raid drills of cold war years are a thing of the past. Still the consequences of wars, even though at times necessary, are social and political trauma, the impact on society and the morality of war is inconsistent with the ideas of ethical decency and good common sense. Politically; in a democratic society like America the fallout from war makes it hard to govern and impedes the ability to fight and win wars. Body Paragraph 1 The impact of war on society For most American families with loved ones in harm’s way the consequences of war are traumatic. The strains on a spouse waiting for news from a husband or wife immersion in situations in which the possibility of death is ever present, is a familiar yet heartbreaking scenario. To anyone who has had a loved one or friend serve in a combat zone the stress can be detrimental to relationships as well one’s health. According to Huus (2007), “the uncertainty and fear felt by family members in this war are amplified by how few people are being called on, and to what extent”(The guessing makes you crazy section, para. 9). Our current wars in Iraq and Afghanistan are being waged by an overworked military. American soldiers are subject to frequent deployments...
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...The True Light of Marilyn When we here the name Marilyn Monroe many thoughts come to mind. Was she that big time Hollywood star that overdosed on drugs? Was she Hollywood’s angel with hidden secrets? Internally she was stuck in darkness and externally it seemed as if she was always in the light. All of these thoughts circulate in our heads about who Marilyn Monroe really was when in reality, she was just a person who wanted to be loved and feel wanted. Marilyn Monroe was born as Norma Jean on June 1, 1926 in Los Angeles, California. Her issues started as a child. Her mother was a single parent and was not around due to work and later being placed in a rest home due to her mental illness of schizophrenia. Consequently, Norma was moved around between family members and eventually ended up in several orphanages. By the age of 15, one of Norma Jean’s family members thought it would be good for her to marry their next door neighbor so she could have some stability in her life. The union between them only lasted several weeks because shortly after the marriage he went to the merchant marines and was shipped away. Feeling alone and needing extra money, Norma Jean began to work at a factory where she was discovered and got her first break as a model. She was featured in over 33 magazine covers and later began getting in to film. As her imaged changed so did her name. Formally known as Norma Jean she was now Marilyn Monroe. She had platinum blonde hair and a...
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...evil, right and wrong, civilized and uncivilized, freedom and oppression for Vietnam, according to American standards; then it traveled the long physical distance to Vietnam and attempted to make its own notions about these things clear to the Vietnamese people—ultimately by brute, technological force. For the U.S. military and government, the Vietnam that they had in effect invented became fact. For the soldiers that the government then sent there, however, the facts that their government had created about who was the enemy, what were the issues, and how the war was to be won were quickly overshadowed by a world of uncertainty. Ultimately, trying to stay alive long enough to return home in one piece was the only thing that made any sense to them. As David Halberstam puts it in his novel, One Very Hot Day, the only fact of which an American soldier in Vietnam could be certain was that "yes was no longer yes, no was no longer no, maybe was more certainly maybe." Almost all of the literature on the war, both fictional and nonfictional, makes clear that the only certain thing during the Vietnam War was that nothing was certain. Philip Beidler has pointed out in an impressive study of the literature of that war that "most of the time in Vietnam, there were some things that seemed just too terrible and strange to be true and others that were just too terrible and true to be strange." The main question that Beidler's study raises is how, in light of the overwhelming ambiguity that...
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