Preview

The Things They Carried Cultural Analysis

Good Essays
Open Document
Open Document
1196 Words
Grammar
Grammar
Plagiarism
Plagiarism
Writing
Writing
Score
Score
The Things They Carried Cultural Analysis
Amid the Vietnam War, soldiers were not presented to the conventional ways of dealing with stress of our American culture, as showed in Tim's O'Brien's, "The Things They Carried." These men were compelled to find and create better approaches to manage the pressures of war, utilizing just their assets while as a part of the Vietnamese wilderness. It was impractical for any soldier to convey numerous things or burdens with them, however, in the event that something was a need, a way was found to convey it, and ways of dealing with stress were a need to survive the war.
Today, antidepressants, therapists, massages...there are a wide range of things offered in American culture today to help people battle the anxiety of life. Individuals are willing
…show more content…
Dobbins carried a couple of his better half's pantyhose around his neck every time he went to battle. Kiowa carried with him generally a Bible from his dad, a need to get past every day. During this war, men couldn't stand to carry anything that was not important to their survival. O'Brien illustrates to us the need for every man to be associated with their previous lifestyle, telling a story of Mark Fossie flying in his girlfriend to facilitate and ease his loneliness. Every soldier wound up confronting outlandish boundaries all through the war, and these little impacts and ways of dealing with stress were frequently the main need that would give them motivation to return home once more. They required individual techniques for adapting to the war, and this antiquated survival was the best way to remain a …show more content…
Ordinarily this additional anxiety would come after a soldier killed someone, and felt overpowering blame for taking another human life. In “The Things They Carried,” there are not a large number of cases of this type of death, however, we are made mindful of one particular story. O'Brien lets us know about the man he killed, and the trouble in discharging his blame in this matter. He more than once portrays the man in extraordinary detail, practically endeavors to get the event out of his mind. This is a period when the best method for dealing with stress the men have is time and open ears. As they drag Tim far from the scene subsequent to giving him a couple of minutes to acknowledge and prepare the death. This is the main way he can inevitably freed himself of the repulsions of this event, and he should be supported as of now by those in his company to have the capacity to survive. This is an event no individual can escape from without anyone else, and the only way Tim can adapt to it is to converse with somebody who will comprehend his grief. This is the main component accessible to him right now, and it is substantial that he utilizes it to ease the anxiety he is feeling and proceed with his occupation as a

You May Also Find These Documents Helpful

  • Good Essays

    the memory of their friends who were killed at war. O'Brien carried Kiowa as well as the other soldiers…

    • 1545 Words
    • 7 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    Each soldier carried at least twenty pounds of supplies, weapons, and rations on their backs. They would walk all day, and all night. They didn’t even know where they were going or where they would stop. The things they carried were largely determined by necessity. Tim O’Brien writes “Some of the necessities were P-38 can openers, pocket knives, heat tabs, wristwatches, dog tags, mosquito repellent, chewing gum, candy, cigarettes, salt tablets, packets of Kool-Aid, lighters, matches, C rations and two or three canteens of water. By necessity, and because it was standard operating procedure they all carried steel helmets that weighed five pounds. On their feet they carried jungle boots, which weighed two pounds. They also carried a steel-centered nylon covered flak jacket which weighed seven pounds” (O’Brien 266). Besides the three standard weapons- the M-60, M-16, and M-79, they carried whatever they thought appropriate. The men would sometimes discard ammunition during the day along the trail to lighten their weight. They did this because the choppers would be coming the next morning to give them more ammo. They often smoked dope together and picked fun at one another during the evening to pass the time.…

    • 1684 Words
    • 7 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    Since each of the soldiers is not accustom to their new environment, they have many physical obstacles that they need to overcome. “The things they carried were largely determined by necessity” (page 1300). Because they were grunts, meaning they traveled by foot, they need to make sure that they carry enough food…

    • 611 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    Every soldier carries the standard military issued equipment with them, which is their physical burden. Their emotional burden is very individualized. For instance, “Lieutenant Jimmy Cross carried letters from a girl named Martha” (O’Brien 493). He wished that they were love letters, but they were not. “More than anything, he wanted Martha to love him as he loved her” (O’Brien 494). Cross is becoming more and more obsessed with…

    • 909 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Powerful Essays

    In Vietnam veteran and author Tim O’Brien’s The Things They Carried the reader is given a list of both the physical and mental items that a soldier has to carry during war. The way O’Brien incorporates these lists into his writing indisputably makes the events and stories conceivable for the reader because each item defines the nature of the men in alpha platoon. O’Brien’s depiction of the men in alpha platoon does more than define each man’s personality but it enables a reader with no knowledge of war to experience the reality of it. O’Brien’s obscures the definitively drawn line between socioeconomic classes by way of war. The Vietnam War was the first war broadcasted on television and it was also a war where those on the battlefield were…

    • 1209 Words
    • 5 Pages
    Powerful Essays
  • Good Essays

    Based on the cultural lens in the book The Things They Carried by Tim O’Brien, the stories “Field Trip”, “The Man I Killed” and “On the Rainy River” shows how a community can expect some of the men to go to war and how the men are ashamed or embarrassed not to go to war like others because of the stereotypical pressure of the community. The men felt like they had to be in war and as a result losing who they are once they experience war. The examples from the chapters shows how the stereotypical expectation in society make the men ashamed and/or embarrassed and how they feel like they have to go to war.…

    • 851 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Powerful Essays

    The Things They Carried by Tim O’Brien is a semi-autobiographical novel based on O’Brien’s experience in the Vietnam War. In the book, O’brien tells about the events leading up to him being drafted, war stories, and some narratives about his comrades. He says that he did not join the war because of morals, but because he was scared not to. Throughout the book, the characters have been coping with death/mortality, social obligations/pressures, guilt/shame, and moral conflicts. O’Brien shares his thoughts on what makes a “true war story” which is very interesting. Overall, O’Brien induces thought and feeling through the interesting medium of stories and language.…

    • 1065 Words
    • 5 Pages
    Powerful Essays
  • Good Essays

    In The Things They Carried, characters experience many signs of weakness and embarrassment. These characters experience the feeling of worry, guilt, and nervousness throughout the story because of what they all have to go through or have been through. Tim O’Brien ended up at war because he thought it through and did not want to let anyone…

    • 500 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Satisfactory Essays

    One motif that I found prominent in "The things they carried" was the motif of Solitude/ loneliness. These two words correspond to each other in the fact that they are each associated with the act of being left to dwell in the unknown parts of one’s self and “The Things They Carried” was no exception. In the story O’Brien makes it evident that solitude/loneliness is just as big a threat as ammunition or the enemy. He stressed the preeminence of the thought that a soldier being left alone to his thoughts and phobia’s is a dangerous thing. The motif is also presented through Sanders story about how the imagination can destroy a soldier from the inside out. This creates a negative connotation between paranoia and solitude which stresses the theme…

    • 221 Words
    • 1 Page
    Satisfactory Essays
  • Good Essays

    O’brien repeatedly states what each soldier is carrying for two reasons. The first reason is character development. The more the reader knows about a character’s possessions the more he/she effectively knows about the characters themselves. An example of this would be how Cross carries a picture of a girl, fantasizing whether or not she is a virgin. Dobbins carries extra rations and his girlfriend’s pantyhose around his neck. This implies superstition and an above average weight. Ted Lavender carries weed and tranquilizers to placate his anxiety. This suggests an inability to cope with death or violence; perhaps wartime as a whole. Finally Kiowa carries an illustrated copy of the new testament and a knife given to him by his father. These possessions allude to the fact that he is a man of god with a respect for his father. I think it id ironic, though, that all of these men’s non-military items are of no real consequence in the war. They don’t do anything. It could be argued…

    • 1168 Words
    • 5 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    In the story “The Things They Carried”, by Tim O’Brien, the author uses symbolism to show the physical and emotional burdens the solder carry with them. Throughout the story we hear just about everything that just about ever soldier carried. And no matter how random it be, whether it be a condom, a gun, letters a pebble or a bible it still gave those emotional men hope and comfort in that they…

    • 702 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    “The Things They Carried,” by Tim O’Brien, brings to light the psychological impact of what soldiers experience during times of war. We learn that the effects of traumatic events weigh heavier on the minds of men than all of the provisions and equipment they shouldered. Wartime truly tests the human body and mind, to the point where a few men return home completely destroyed. Many soldiers have been driven to the point of mentally altering reality in order to survive day to day. Furthermore, an indefinite number of men became numb to the deaths of their comrades, and yet they each individually harboured a desire to die and bring a conclusion to their misery. Over all, this story allows us to observe changes within the mentalities of army officers.…

    • 1001 Words
    • 5 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Satisfactory Essays

    The Things They Carried

    • 269 Words
    • 1 Page

    1. Lt. Cross is a weak leader because the traditional training he received is at odds with what he faces in-country. His training forced him to be concerned more with marching in line, following fixed maps, and keeping guns clean rather than adapting to his environment and the attitude of his men. Lt. Cross attempts to persuade himself of his own ability by relying on typical operating procedure after Lavender is killed to exonerate himself from feelings of personal blame in Lavender's death as well as his pitiful want for Martha's love. Lt. Cross’s concerns unifies the story because of his strong love for Martha, who maintain a strong link to love and his life at home.…

    • 269 Words
    • 1 Page
    Satisfactory Essays
  • Good Essays

    War evokes many different emotions for some soldiers. Some are drafted and demanded to serve, others volunteer their lives for the sake of not being titled as cowards. Some get to fight another day, some don't, others get captured and become prisoners or hostages. But one thing is certain, for those who have experienced war know first hand that it has the power to change you as a person. In the short stories “Guests of the Nation“ and “The Things They Carried,” authors Frank O’Connor and Tim O’Brien share the same central idea of the horrible effects of war. Both stories are about a young male soldier who faces the true reality of war as well as the emotional and impacts these experiences leave with them. Though the…

    • 1040 Words
    • 5 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Satisfactory Essays

    The Things They Carried

    • 987 Words
    • 4 Pages

    The author is Tim O’Brien The Things they Carried written in 1986. The story is told by the author almost 20 years after the Vietnam war, it tells a story of men in combat and the things they carried before, during and after the war and how many of the things the soldiers carried help to shape and define their lives. In life people are defined by the things they carry like social class, education or lack of; race, religious belief, what we possess, while the author states “it is determined by necessity”(637), while necessity does dictate and define our everyday lives, like school after the age of 30, some do it for career advancement, some do it to re-enter the job market, whatever the reason necessity dictates that it must be done.…

    • 987 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Satisfactory Essays