The Things They Carried
May 12, 2013
Period 1
Prompt #2
Escaping War War is an amazing, yet horrifying experience for the soldiers. Many of them come back with little change in their personalities, but most of them come back traumatized from the horrible experiences in war. In the story “The Things They Carried” by Tim O’Brien, O’Brien describes a few ways a soldier might try to use in order to escape the harsh realities of war. He demonstrates soldiers trying to escape reality by describing what they did mentally, physically, and emotionally to forget. A way O’Brien describes the soldiers trying to escape their reality is by recalling memories. Soldiers might use their happy and relaxing memories to escape the fact of how terrifying war actually is. In O’Brien’s story the character Lieutenant Jimmy Cross uses his memories of a woman he loved to escape his reality. When O’Brien says, “A dark theater he remembered, and the movie was Bonnie and Clyde, and Martha wore a tweed skirt.”(O’Brien 4) Jimmy uses it to forget the things in his present reality. This memory does help him forget his present reality, but it makes him sad because he knows that’s the closest he’ll ever be to her. Another way Tim O’Brien expresses some characters trying to escape their reality is by carrying special objects that remind them of home. “Ted Lavender Carried 6 to 7 ounces of premium dope, which was a necessity for him.”(O’Brien 3) he also carried horse tranquilizers to help him get by all the traumatizing experiences. Another soldier named Rat Kiley from O’Brien’s book uses the things he carries to help other soldiers forget their reality instead of his. The story says, “As a medic, Rat Kiley carried a canvas satchel filled with morphine and plasma and malaria tablets and surgical tape and comic books and all the things a medic must carry, including M&M's for especially bad wounds.” (O’Brien 5). He carries all the normal stuff a medic might carry except for the M&M’s. The M&M’s might not
Period 1
Prompt #2
Escaping War War is an amazing, yet horrifying experience for the soldiers. Many of them come back with little change in their personalities, but most of them come back traumatized from the horrible experiences in war. In the story “The Things They Carried” by Tim O’Brien, O’Brien describes a few ways a soldier might try to use in order to escape the harsh realities of war. He demonstrates soldiers trying to escape reality by describing what they did mentally, physically, and emotionally to forget. A way O’Brien describes the soldiers trying to escape their reality is by recalling memories. Soldiers might use their happy and relaxing memories to escape the fact of how terrifying war actually is. In O’Brien’s story the character Lieutenant Jimmy Cross uses his memories of a woman he loved to escape his reality. When O’Brien says, “A dark theater he remembered, and the movie was Bonnie and Clyde, and Martha wore a tweed skirt.”(O’Brien 4) Jimmy uses it to forget the things in his present reality. This memory does help him forget his present reality, but it makes him sad because he knows that’s the closest he’ll ever be to her. Another way Tim O’Brien expresses some characters trying to escape their reality is by carrying special objects that remind them of home. “Ted Lavender Carried 6 to 7 ounces of premium dope, which was a necessity for him.”(O’Brien 3) he also carried horse tranquilizers to help him get by all the traumatizing experiences. Another soldier named Rat Kiley from O’Brien’s book uses the things he carries to help other soldiers forget their reality instead of his. The story says, “As a medic, Rat Kiley carried a canvas satchel filled with morphine and plasma and malaria tablets and surgical tape and comic books and all the things a medic must carry, including M&M's for especially bad wounds.” (O’Brien 5). He carries all the normal stuff a medic might carry except for the M&M’s. The M&M’s might not