Tim O'Brien Research Paper

Eyes of a Soldier Due to the rise of reform and fear of communism undulating throughout the United States during the 1960’s, Americans had gradually begun to transition from traditional values. Unequal rights had finally come to a conclusion legally and the voice of young Americans grew audaciously. At that time war also plagued the nation with polarization as result of media exploitation and political corruption. The young Americans spoke out against the miserable Vietnam War that had drafted numerous American men into both a violent and ambiguous battle against a foreign third world country. Also a young American, the veteran, Tim O’Brien elaborated much of his experience in the Vietnam War through his short stories. Mr. O’Brien illustrated in words his side as a surviving American soldier who trudged through a war he also disfavored. Significant experiences from Tim O’Brien’s past had influenced him into a writing career. Born the first of October in 1946, the author grew up far away from the urban cities in a rural town of Minnesota called Worthington. The highly celebrated occasion, ‘Turkey Day’, was a local tradition that first sparked the taste for writing during his childhood (Shuman 1120). Just as an annual trip to the carnival may inspire some artistic children at an early age, this event greatly opened his imagination. It wasn’t until after his graduation from Malacaster College in 1968, that his draft into war ignited his drive to write (Williams 1790). At this point during the revolutionary sixties, society began to see a new trend in literature as seen from O’Brien. This new trend became as vivid and engaging as the time of the Gilded Age in America regarding the birth of realism and local color. War, which had been seen plenty throughout the century, tended to provoke those effected by expressing themselves. For some there may have been those who painted out their feelings regarding the lingering impact of war. For those who were severely

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