The soldiers
The soldiers
The Things They Carried by Tim O’Brien is a series of short stories that focuses on the lives of a platoon of soldiers during the Vietnam War, the items they carry; both mandatory and not, and how they deal with the hardships while serving. Of course the items that these military men are required to carry are extremely important to their survival, I have chosen to focus more on the smaller more personal items, most being the emotional baggage they carry.…
The Things They Carried, a novel by Tim O’Brien, is a collection of war stories told from a fictional Vietnam veteran’s perspective. O’Brien elucidates the physical and emotional barrier war creates between men and women to help demonstrate the frustration soldiers have with women in war.…
The Things They Carried, written by Tim O’Brien, is a book depicting the experiences of a soldier during the Vietnam War. As narrated by the author, the book contains real-life happenings. He served from 1969-1970 as an infantryman in the U.S. Army. The journey O’Brien takes is described through the stories he tells about the people he was stationed with. One member of his platoon, Kiowa, was fatally struck by a mortar.…
Tim O'Brien, in his short story “The Things They Carried,” writes about what soldiers in Vietnam carried, literally and figuratively. He discusses what they “humped,” the tangible things and the intangible ones too. For example, all the men carried flak jackets which had a real defined weight but also they carried fear and “all the emotional baggage of men who might die” (21). We can touch the flak jacket but not the fear or Jimmy Cross' love for Martha.…
The title of Tim O’Brien’s novel, The Things They Carried, paints a vague mental image of people carrying something – an image that is not yet complete for the reader to grasp the purpose of the novel. ‘Things’ are often assumed to be physical, in this novel, the ‘things’ that the soldiers carried were the mental burdens during and after the Vietnam War. Through the use of narratives of the different soldiers, O’Brien is able to follow each characters physical and mental weight that they carried. The…
To begin with, the mental weight the troops carry during the war continuously define them throughout their experience. One such heavy load is the need for the young men to stand up to the tension between fantasy and reality. Immediately after Ted Lavender's death, “he pictured Martha’s smooth young face, thinking he loved her more than anything...” (O’Brien). Cross believes his distractions caused him to be negligent, and as a result, one of his men died. For this reason, he later burns Martha’s letters and photographs, and concludes that he will never again have fantasies. Furthermore, the soldiers carry the mental load of keeping up with their reputations. “Rather, they were too frightened to be cowards.” That being said, these men killed…
In “The Things They Carried,” a short story by Tim O’Brien, the reader is able to see, in great detail, each of the characters ways of dealing with the atrocities of the Vietnam War by what they choose to carry; how symbolically they use these objects as a means for remembrance of what they have left behind, to escape what they deal with each day, and for some, a false sense of security and/or control over the violence and death that surrounds them.…
Civil War General Sherman once said, “War is hell.” He was right. In the short story “The Things They Carried,” Tim O’Brien shows us the hell that our soldiers suffered. The narrator shows us a captivating, and up-close story about our soldiers in the Vietnam War. While the title relates to the story about things carried, but the soldiers carry more than just the physical burdens-in many cases, they are weighed down by emotional baggage. The emotional baggage that lies heavy in their hearts outweighs the physical weight. In addition to the items that they must carry, they also carry personal mementos.…
There are many different controversies on the information in “The Things They Carried”. Some believe to tell a good story, there's only facts and no truth, but some think that there needs to be all fictional elements and no facts to make a good story. A majority of people say that an excellent story starts with facts and adds in other elements like metaphors, symbolism, and imagery because visualizing the story helps the reader connect to the unfamiliar event.…
The Things they Carried is seen as one of the most honest depictions of the Vietnam War that has ever been written. Tim O’Brien has a way of creating Vietnam around the reader. However, despite the clear depiction of war, this novel raises the question, “What is true?”. Through analyzing this novel, it is clear the author believes that the happening-truth of a story is far less important than the emotional-truth.…
The idea of war brings up many questions about life and death, suffering, and consequences. While many people may see war as something that affects people as a whole, such as nations or a persecuted group, war further impacts every individual, whether or not they are directly involved. War limits freedoms and individualism, and in most cases people find themselves with less rights than during peacetime. People base their choices not on what they feel, and more on what they have to do to survive. Soldiers and civilians alike are influenced by war in different ways, however, these tie together when the overall effects of war are examined.…
The Things They Carried, written by Tim O’Brien, recounts the horrible experiences of soldiers at war in Vietnam. Throughout the novel, the author not only tells war stories, but tales about his own life, often referencing and dwelling on those who have made an impact on his life. He stresses the importance of these people and stories, often referring to them as “war stories” although many of these are not true. They serve as an outlet for O’Brien, allowing him to let go of these horrible memories but also letting him keep the importance that they had on his life. These stories and messages are emphasized through the symbols displayed in the novel, the imagery used throughout, and the anecdotes that recount his memories.…
In Conclusion O'Brien's overall purpose for writing the book “The Things They Carried” is to tell his stories that will give the reader a great understanding of vietnam but also help Tim cope with the…
In The Things They Carried by Tim O’Brien, many negatives of being a soldier are presented. These negatives, being shown as emotional burdens, are prevalent throughout each character in The Things They Carried. More intensely shown is Norman Bowker. He carried strong burdens throughout the story as well as the end of it. The social aspect of the Vietnam War affected the soldiers in The Things They Carried by forcing them to get involved with illegal drugs, and find themselves stuck with emotional burdens of depression and PTSD.…
From the chapter “The Things They Carried” I was able to construe that there are some things that others can help us carry, like our back pack or a gun. On the other hand, there are also things that we must carry ourselves, like the feelings of fear, love, uncertainty, and ostracism. As I saw the progression of these insubstantial troubles creating more and more weight upon the backs of these soldiers, I began to think about how in my own life there are feelings that can create a sort or weight, even though it may not be in such an extreme circumstance as the Vietnam War. Yes, there are things that make me afraid, sad, embarrassed, and numerous…