Cowardice In The Things They Carried

Be careful! Cowards are contagious. The more things they run away from, the more their nightmares will transfigure into their host. The stories expressed by Tim O'Brien, author of “The Things They Carried” highlights cowardice acts made by several of the characters embodied in the novel. The kinds of cowards found in this book are not found in the typical day to day life. Instead they are only present in war times, and commit acts that can be challenged to whether they’re really acts of cowardice or bravery. In the same way being wrenched into war like Tim himself, or by doing something despicable, these men all had to confront their own fears of cowardice. By narrating numerous short stories, Tim O’Brien helps the readers to apprehend that some of the most courageous stories are told by the most dastardly people.

To be sure to understand the author, one must first understand “chickens”. Many common people see a man that’s running away from a fight as a coward. Though this is correct, the book introduces a new kind of coward, a person that runs towards the danger in fear of judgement. Confused? Cowards are said to have a “lack of courage in the face of difficulty of danger.”(Web1). Which in O’Brien’s case the men will have a lack of courage in the presence
The definition given by Tim, however bent to what it’s typically means, is felt only in times of war. The one thing the men in Tim’s stories have in common is their weakness. Their weakness, which is the embarrassment, makes them unexceptional human beings, leaving them vulnerable to cowardly acts. which they then commit. O’Brien’s opinion and the secondary evidence used in his book and other sources, state that being scared of; what others might think, difficulty, or danger is all characteristics that create a “yellow