Field Trip Symbolism

The Vietnam War was a long costly armed conflict that wounded the U.S. The communist regime of North Vietnam was a war fought by the Viet Cong against South Vietnam and its principal ally, the United States. The war was increasingly unpopular at home it ended with the withdrawal of U.S. forces. More than 3 million people, including 58,000 Americans, were killed in the conflict. Tim O’Brien the author of “The Things They Carried” is book that recounts his own experience in the Vietnam War and allows him to give a vivid description on the war. He enters the war as scared young man. The war leaves a guilt-ridden middle-aged man who tells stories about Vietnam in order to cope with his painful memories. O’Brien uses imagery and symbolism in order to
O’Brien uses symbolism in the section “ Field Trip” in order to show the emotional experience of getting over guilt. O'Brien and his daughter travel to Vietnam and visit the site of Kiowa's death. He carries kiowa’s moccasins for twenty years and has kept them ever since the death of his best friend. Symbolism is a type of figurative language that author or others use when a noun which has meaning in itself is used to represent something entirely different. O’Brien talks about what he does with the moccasins when he takes a swim in the song tra bong “Leaning forward, I reached in with the moccasins and wedged them into the soft bottom, letting them slide away”(178). Kiowa’s moccasins are a symbol of getting rid of the guilt O’Brien has carries for two decades he says that “ In a way, maybe, I’d gone under with kiowa, and now after two decades I’d mostly worked my way out”(178). He tells

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