O'Brien is drafted to go to Vietnam in the summer of 1968. When he is drafted, he is confused and contemplates many ways in which to avoid going to the war. He does not feel that he is a fighter. O'Brien goes through basic training at Ft. Lewis, Washington. While at Ft. Lewis, he meets a friend named Erik. Erik is also opposed to…
What would it be like to be caught on Ship Trap island alone? A man named Rainsford gets trapped on an island and has to survive against the "man catcher," General Zaroff, who is an outstanding hunter terminating everything he comes face to face with. While being on Ship Trap Island, Rainsford shows he is capable, intelligent, and resourceful against General Zaroff.…
Tim O'Brien feels a great deal of guilt when he thinks about dodging the Vietnam draft. They physical and emotional aspects of dodging the draft made O`Brien fear fleeing the United States to avoid going to Vietnam. Ultimately he made the decision to go to Vietnam and honor his country. The people in O'Brien's life, and the opinions they possessed influenced his overall decision and later added to the shame and guilt he felt. “It was as if there was an audience to my life, that swirls of faces along the river and in my head I could hear people screaming at me” (O`Brien 57) O'Brien was guilted into staying in the United States because of the opinions of his peers, but at the end of the day the guilt ate away at him to honor the draft and serve his home…
On October 1, 1946 the author William Timothy O’Brien was born. Born and raised until he was ten, O’Brien lived in Austin Minnesota. Conceived by insurance salesman and an elementary school teacher who were both in combat themselves would soon reckon with Tim later in life. Then when he was ten years old he and his family moved to the “Turkey Capital” (0 of the United States, Worthington, Minnesota. O’Brien lived the classic, stereotypical Midwestern childhood. He played three sports; one of which was baseball where his father was the coach. After his high school career he attended Macalester College where he majored in political science and was also the Student Body President his senior year. Two weeks after graduation and life seems to be going well and then O’Brien gets his draft notice stating that he must fight in the war no one wanted to be part of, Vietnam. “I went to my room in the basement and started pounding the typewriter”. (0…
As explained his own book, The Things They Carried, O’Brien was enjoying his post-graduate freedom, a steady job and a girlfriend at home during the summer of 1968 when he received the draft letter from the army. He describes how he reacted to receiving the letter: “I remember opening up the letter, scanning the first few lines, feeling the blood go thick behind my eyes… It couldn’t happen. I was above it” (O’Brien, Carried 41). His reaction shows that he, as an anti-war, educated liberal, felt a sort of entitlement and had decided that he would not be chosen to fight due to the content of his character. He most likely expected to live through the wartime years on American soil, while assuming that the government knew he was not an acceptable fit. Unfortunately for him, this was not the case. O’Brien was shipped to Vietnam the same year, where he saw his first taste of combat within a few…
In this true story, Salva started off as a young boy who thought he would be coming home from school everyday to have a fresh bowl of milk and spend time with his lovely family. He never thought that one day he would not be coming back home. In the nonfiction novel, A Long Walk to Water by Linda Sue Park, the author focuses on how Salva Mawien Dut Ariik survived his treacherous journey, how his character changed from a young boy to a young adult, and how he worked toward his goal step by step and never gave up. Salva was just an ordinary boy until war struck and he was separated from his family.…
The nature of Vietnam, these chapters of the tell you how bad it is in Vietnam I could just tell how awful it was just by Tim describing the things they had to do and what they did just to try to stay sane. Most of these war veterans came home with PTSD and it has messed them up since. The first story tries to tell you what they been through the things they did. Just think of your best friend dying in front of your eyes and you couldn’t do anything to stop it. That’s how the war was you friend just slowly dying and you can’t stop it.” Curt lemon stepped from the shade to a bright…
When one thinks of war, the general thought is that it inspires acts of patriotism and heroism. No one really looks deeper into the topic to find that along with patriotism and heroism there are often feelings of shame and loneliness. In The Things They Carried it is clear that most of the soldiers in the war do not come back with a sense of pride or honor. Most come back wishing they had never gone at all. Tim O'Brien reveals that because Vietnam precipitated such traumatic experiences, his storytelling is a great way to cope with his shame and loneliness, emphasizing that the war experience is not one of patriotism and heroism, but one of loneliness and guilt.…
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…
Tim O’Brien’s story about vietnam war is The Things They Carried. This work tells what the soldiers went through the time during Vietnam. As the story begins, it focuses on the Alpha Company is sent to fight in Vietnam war. The soldiers carry goods and personal items to be able to survive. Lieutenant Jimmy Cross carries letters and pictures from a female named Martha. The first casualty for the company is Ted Lavender, shot dead. Cross blames himself for the death because he thinks he was too busy thinking about Martha to properly take care of his troops. O’Brien received a draft letter and he is not looking forward to going into war because he had just graduated Harvard for graduate school. He was stuck between wanting to run or doing what everyone expected which…
wrong he experiences during his time as a member of the military. From the moment he is drafted, O’Brien is against the war. He knows it is his duty to go to the Vietnam and fight for his country, but at the same time he makes obscene posters in his basement declaring the war, the draft, and his town with their support are evil (pg. 20). While talking to a Chaplain O’Brien reveals his true problem with war is not one of fighting, but one of fear and intellect and being considered a hero (pg. 56). At basic training, he participated with one hundred percent from crawling under wire to chanting along with his fellow soldiers to convince himself that he is doing the right thing. At night, however, his thoughts overtook him and plans for an escape filled his head. He had papers prepared along with a bus ticket for Canada ready. Once the opportunity came for him to escape, the thought of his country needing him to fight for them outweighed the thought of him needing to escape the evils he was participating in and he returned to basic training (pg. 67). O’Brien knew that this required courage and courage was more than just accepting the call to serve and facing the possibility of death, it was serving with his whole heart every second of his deployment (pg. 141). Yet, part of him still fought to go home, away from the…
In the story “ Rainy River” the author goes through a lot of discomfort, confusion, and anxiety. He intentionally chooses words and phrases to evoke those emotions in his readers. “In June of 1968, a month after graduating from Macalester College, I was drafted to fight a war I hated.” The author didn’t want to fight in the war. He believed that it was wrong. He goes on to explain these feelings by giving reasons why he shouldn’t have to fight in the war. The author also states “ I was wired and jittery. My skin felt too tight. After supper one evening I vomited and went back to my cabin and lay down for a few moments and then vomited again;” The author showed his emotions in this statement a lot because it shows how anxious he was. He is confused…
A 21-year-old man by the name of Tom O’Brien was drafted into the American War in Vietnam merely one month after graduating from college. Tom speaks of his journey of living with the shame of events that took place the summer of 1968. War to Tom is sickening and revolting; there was no unity or purpose. The 1960’s were a period of social disturbance with both the feminist and the civil rights movements occurring. In addition, the United States’ was divided by those who agreed and those who did not agree with the US’s involvement in the Vietnam war. When he received his inauguration, Tom was trapped and felt hopeless. “All around me the options seemed to be narrowing, as if I were hurtling down a huge black funnel, the whole world squeezing in tight. There was no…
O’Brien tells his story when he was in the Vietnam War though books that he has written. For example in “The Things They Carried” there is a character named Tim. One of the interviews from Library of Congress Tim O’Brien states that “he goes back and forth about Vietnam and also about his first girlfriend.” He was in 4th grade when he was in love and that using his girlfriend as an example that Vietnam was not that easy like losing his girlfriend at nine years old. In the story Bob Kiley was known as Rat. O’ Brien points out that Rat that had a good friend with him in the Vietnam War. They both were good soldiers and when Lemon would volunteer Rat would volunteer as well. He lets people know that his friend and he were goofing around like always. Lemon showed Rat that the war can be fun but also very serious. There will be times to goof around and there will be times to be services during the war. He tells people that when they were goofing around they felt like kids again. Lemon and Rat “were giggling and calling each other motherfucker”. They would go a nature hike in the woods and started messing around. They heard a noise and next thing a bomb killed his friend. Rat had taken his friend back with the other soldiers. Hs friend named was Curt Lemon. He told Sander and the other soldiers what happen to Lemon.…
As discussed in this course, classic children’s literature often involves some kind of journey for a character, in which they temporarily leave home, only to discover a self-truth and a new appreciation for that which they often took for granted. Kenneth Grahame’s “The Wind in the Willows” is no exception. The two animals that most notably go through a transformation as a result of leaving home are Mole and Toad. While their reasoning and experiences along the way differ, they both prove changed characters, and for the better.…