The reports in this novel are prefaced with a quote by Robert Shaplen, which sums up the feelings of those Americans involved in the Vietnam conflict. He states, "Vietnam, Vietnam . . .. There are no sure answers." In this novel, the author gives a detailed historical account of the happenings in Vietnam between 1950 and 1975. He successfully reports the confusing nature, proximity to the present and the emotions that still surround the conflict in Vietnam. In his journey through the years that America was involved in the Vietnam conflict, Herring "seeks to integrate military, diplomatic, and political factors in such a way as to clarify America's involvement and ultimate failure in Vietnam."…
I think that the first section of the book is very well written, and you really do get the sense that the author knew what was happening on the wide-scale. In some books, the author can only focus on 1 small element, whereas the introduction to this gives a broad sweeping overview of so many different things - many of which made it into the movie; the new Air-Cavalry concept, the emphasis placed on small-unit and larger-unit training exercises, the command structure being shifted to allow for the loss of leaders, the President's idea not to declare a state of emergency, and then the background of the conflict in Vietnam, including troop movements by the North Vietnamese forces, the tactics they used, and a look at their equipment.…
This novel is very different from the others that I have read. Tim O’Brien wrote this book to show how it was at Vietnam and what soldiers have to go thru. However he wrote this book under the genre of fiction because this way he could write things that were not true and still make it billable to the reader. Rather than him just saying things as they are. Perhaps if he told things as they really happen then the reader might not be interested of what was going on. Now the author wrote this book for two reasons.…
Let's just get this clear, I love war books, I love history in general. This made an easy depiction of what the Vietnam War was like. It was easy to read, and it wasn’t even confusing. My least favorite part of this whole book is that before Morris and Moses got in that huge battle in the delta, Moses showed Morris a picture of his baby back at home. When the battle was over and they were picking up debris, Moses all of a sudden got shot by a sniper. This made me so mad because now his son will never get to see his dad and Moses will never get to see his son but with the only one picture he has of him. I wanted to throw my book at the wall.This book was brutal, I have to be honest,”I cut off almost his whole head. I did that. Me. I never could have done that back home, that's for sure."(167) It was full of friendships, full of deaths, and full of fighting. The ending was ok, I say this only because it’s a series and every book is from the perspective of either Ivan, Beck, Morris, or Rudi. I think it could've ended a little better. It ended with Moses death, which again, made me very mad. It was very predictable, one friend always dies in a war movie of book. The theme for this book is also the last sentence of the book which is, “if friendship has an opposite, it’s…
These men fight many battles throughout the Vietnam War. In the book and real life men go through what all the characters in The Things They Carried did. They lived the life of depression, PTSD and withdrawal from drugs. The burdens that they went through were as real as it gets and the fact that Norman Bowker committed suicide shows how difficult the Vietnam War really was and how the social expectations put on these men broke them…
Twin brothers Ronald "Ronnie" Kray (24 October 1933 – 17 March 1995) and Reginald "Reggie" Kray (24 October 1933 – 1 October 2000) were English gangsters who were the foremost perpetrators of organised crime in the East End of London during the 1950s and 60s.…
Novel without a name by Duong Thu Huong provided a real insight on war from the Vietnamese point of view. Readers are able to contemplate with the themes that reoccur, what the war truly is like, and the effects it causes on the people, society, and the individual. Three main reoccurring themes of this novel were disillusionment of the war, betrayal, and the loss of innocence that the war causes on a human being.…
Tim O’Brien recoils when he receives his draft notice in the mail. He is shocked and believes that he is too smart and young to go to war. Before the war he would spend many nights driving around, thinking: “about the war and the pig factory and how my life seemed to be collapsing toward slaughter. I felt paralyzed. 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” (O 'Brien 41). This is a very difficult time in Tim’s life and he begins questioning everything. He almost flees to Canada and leaves his family, friends, and home to escape the draft. This shows how someone is willing to change his life so that he…
Being away at war is something you can not truly understand unless you have experienced it first hand. But through the excellence of war stories, a common-day person can not only learn about war, but also tune into the feelings that affect so many lives in our world today. The stories brought back to our homeland allow Americans to inhibit a sense of patriotism for our country and those who serve in it. But, not every story that is written about war is effective, there are many qualities that go into these stories that make them leave a mark on the reader. For example, In The Things They Carried, O’Brien reveals to the reader important qualities that make a war story genuine. He says, “In many cases, a true war story cannot be believed…often…
Patrick deWitt’s novel, The Sisters Brothers, tells the tale of two brothers, Eli and Charlie, who make a living together as professional assassins. Right from the start, it is evident to the reader that Eli does not share his brother’s appetite for killing. Despite this, Eli has never known anything else. As the novel progresses, Eli becomes familiar with his sensitive side. He starts watching his weight, searching for love, and brushing his teeth. Finally, Eli solidifies his separation from murder, when he is searching for gold with Herman Kermit Warm. This is the first time he has been exposed to something created and acquired solely by the genius of the human mind, and not by brute force. Over the course of the novel, Eli transforms from being a cold blooded murderer, into a sensitive man, who appreciates the small, intelligent things in life. However, a sensitive man is not the impression the reader first receives of Eli Sisters. In fact, Eli and his brother, Charlie, are murderers for a living. As a result, it is logically hard to imagine how a man who makes a living by ruthlessly taking the lives of other men, can be sensitive. Nevertheless, this is what makes Eli’s personality special, and different. Dewitt makes this clear to the reader by including many hints to Eli’s repressed sensitive personality, right from the start. The first hint to this side of Eli, is on the second page of the novel. In it, Eli empathizes with his horse Tub, who he does not like to whip because his horse may think that he is cruel and that life is sad. This is not how one would expect a murderer to act. Other hints to Eli’s sensitivity include his dislike for lying, his sympathy towards others who are sad, and the list goes on. All these small traits eventually climax,…
Each persons deffinition of rich is different. In The Rich Brother, Pete valued material things and felt that he had prospered while Donald hadn't because the only thing Donald valued was his soul and Pete couldn't understand that. I think that Pete's treatment of Donald stemmed from their childhood and the feelings of jealousy towards Donald that Pete had. Both, Pete and Donald seem to resemble the author Tobias Wolff and his brother Geoffrey in ways. Pete and Donald were completely different in everyway but, I believe Donald was the richer of the two and not Pete.…
Peter DeWitt novel “The Sister Brothers” is set in western frontiers of America in 1850’s. Eli and Charlie Sisters are notorious professional killers, are on their way to California to kill a man named Hermann Kermit Warm. Charlie makes money and kills anyone who stands in his way. While Eli on the other hand has doubts about what they do for a living and falls in love easily. In “The Prince” by Niccolo Machiavelli he says the best way to manipulate people and gain power is through Intelligence, fear and emotion. In the novel “The Sister Brothers” Charlie the eldest brother employs all of these tactics to control his brother and those around him.…
Write only one slogan on one sheet. It should be hand written and well presented. Calligraphy will be…
Once upon a time, there were two brothers Shankha and Likhita, who were Munis and used to live in their Aashramams on the banks of the river Baahudaa. One day, the younger brother, Likhita, went to the Shankha’s aashramam and on not finding his brother, sat under a mango tree. He started eating one of its mangoes, without taking the permission of the owner of the tree (Shankha).…
Having studied the protagonists journey I have gained many insights into how isolated children can be despite having a privileged background, isolation and control his mother had over him was a major obstacle, with the support of friendship obstacles can seem meaningless, psychology and Alec’s coping strategies, the impact the journey had on the protagonist and how people dealt with the trauma of war differently.…