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Literary Analysis: The Things They Carried By Tim O Brien

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Literary Analysis: The Things They Carried By Tim O Brien
Cole Ruch
ENC II
D.Chapman
April 22, 2013
Literary analysis #1- The Things They Carried, by Tim O’Brien This prolific and award winning story by Tim O’Brien, focuses on the hardships faced by soldiers during the Vietnam War. O’Brien chronicles the lives of several soldiers as they battle through the jungles of the Vietnam. They story gives the readers the ability to go through the solders inability to accept the reality they are facing. The title of the story plays an important function in the story as throughout the story O’Brien makes mention of everything each soldier is carrying both physically and mentally. The summary of the story is quite simple; it chronicles the complex life of a particular Vietnam soldier. The story focuses on Jimmy Cross and is constant hardships of facing reality. The Lt. Cross leads his men through the Jungle of Vietnam. As the story goes on some of the men are killed and most of the story focuses on those who have died throughout the war.
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As for mentioned Jimmy Cross is the Lieutenant and more than any other character mentioned , is in a deep battle against not only the Viet-Kong but against himself accepting his own reality. Lt. Cross is constantly brought back to the memory of the girl he loves back home, Martha. He is brought back on visions of her, letters he wrote to her and wondering what she could possibly being doing back home. This constant snap of reality tares him up because his thoughts progressively get darker as he believes her virginity may be taken by someone other than

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