Summary Of The Things They Carried By Tim O Brien

In The Things They Carried, author Tim O’Brien lists various people, places, and things that would prevent him from leaving his life in the United States. He describes “a hallucination” that is filled with an amalgam of people, from old high school buddies and cheerleaders with pompoms to Abraham Lincoln and “Jane Fonda dressed as Barbarella” (O’Brien, 58). My own list is not as diverse as O’Brien’s, primarily listing all the food that I would miss. However, both of our lists do share one thing: a representation of family. Each lineup leads with our family members. O’Brien begins his vision with his parents shouting to him from a distance, before seeing his brother and sister Likewise, I pictured myself walking out of my room at home and seeing my mom and dad’s and my brother’s room a
Tim O’Brien’s and my list are different in various ways, though they both begin with some sort of representation of family, showing that kin are highly regarded for each. While both of our lists share this familial aspect, they are more different than alike. First, O’Brien’s and my definitions of home contrast in that he describes home as his entire town whereas I depict my actual home. In The Thing They Carried, he depicted his version of home through the townsfolk and the people he grew up with. He mentions his “old teachers and girlfriends and high school buddies” (O’Brien 58). From his portrayal, it seems that he would miss the place where he grew up with all the memories and people that it has that have previously affected his life. On the other hand, I illustrate home in a different way, describing various aspects of my room and my