tim obrien the things they carried

When I first started reading Tim O’Brien’s the things they carried his depth of description entertained me. After reading each paragraph I was able to visualize what I had read. I could see each soldier loaded down with all the necessities they felt they needed. I was introduced to each soldier by the things they carried with them, from village to village across Vietnam, during the war. Some of the items seemed frivolous, such as scarves and comic books, but I could see how it helped them cope with the situation that they were in. Early in the book he talks about his attempt to dodge the draft. He thought that abandoning his entire life and moving to Canada was possibly the best option for him, as he had absolutely no desire to go to war. He spent some time with an old man who let him stay in one of the cabins that he rented up north on a river. The old man said very little to Tim during his stay there. I began see how the confused young O’Brien found much guidance from the old man. At one point the two went on a fishing trip up river into Canada, the old man simply anchored out and started fishing giving O’Brien the chance he wanted to go to Canada and completely disappear. After much consideration of what he was about to do Tim chose to return to his home and fulfill his duty to his country and family. As O’Brien joins the war he and his comrades are constantly enduring the physical and mental struggles of war. They use all manors of colorful language and sometimes-even grotesque actions to hide their true feelings. Most of the soldiers were young men like Tim, and early on I had a strong impression that the soldiers would never be the same young men that came to war. It is hard to comprehend how traumatic the war really was for those men. Tim O’Brien touches on this matter often through out the book. He mentions that often there are no words to truly describe the horrors the witnessed and the demons they faced inside themselves. O’Brien does his