respectable reputation‚ One of the central themes in The Things They Carried‚ is that fear of ruining one’s reputation served as motivation to the soldiers during the Vietnam War. Tim O’Brien conveys this theme using anecdotes about Curt Lemon‚ Rat Kiley‚ and himself as examples. Curt Lemon’s experience with the dentist during the war shows that his fear of losing his honorable reputation motivated him to take a risk that he normally would not take. Throughout his time as a soldier‚ Curt Lemon
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truth in a war story does not matter; only the emotions that the story is trying to relay matters. In the beginning of the passage O’Brien starts with a story about the death of a soldier‚ Curt Lemon. Lemon was playing around with his best friend‚ Rat Kiley‚ when he stepped on a hidden mine and was blown away. After the death of Lemon O’Brien brings up the idea that in a war story it is nearly impossible to separate “what happened from what seemed to happen” (128). When Lemon died everyone there witnessed
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In the short story‚ "The Things They Carried”‚ Tim O’Brien writes about the soldiers of Vietnam and the burdens they had to carry with them. In this story‚ O’Brien uses symbolism‚ irony and the theme of burden and guilt to portray how the war has affected the men and the ways they cope. O’Brien’s usage of these literary devices serves as a remembrance of what the soldiers have left behind and a false sense of security about the violence and death that surrounds them. We are able to see the way each
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The Things They Carried‚ more like the things that I will carry forever‚ if there is any book I would say is the worst‚ is this book. BUT‚ it’s bad for all the GOOD reasons. I’ve read other war books that are good and EASY in making me put myself in the main characters position‚ but this book is definitely the opposite. Author Tim O’Brien continuously purposefully betrays his audience in order to construct a ‘truthful’ war story that makes the readers WISH to be in the characters position‚ not because
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Andre Dubus’ “Killings” and Tim O’Brien’s “How to Tell a True War Story” both deal with violence and the moral ambiguity surrounding it‚ although the authors employ different approaches based on the emotional response they are trying to create in the reader. Because the stories are set in dissimilar environments‚ the way in which the authors depict violence is geared to the setting in which it occurs. However‚ the harmful effects of violence on the human psyche are portrayed in similar ways in
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Utkarsh Jain War is one of humanity’s oldest vices. The keystone elements in human history are how soldiers respond to armed conflict and the stress of the war. The harsh conditions of war puts serious pressure on soldiers. Fighting a war is not a typical job that most of us go through. The soldiers are putting a very high risk to their own life and that is the biggest factor causing stress. They are not aware if the next bullet has their name of it. The knowledge and guilt of killing someone is
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True War Story” It’s about all these stories that his friend rat told and how some of them might be real our fake. There was one story that they heard the jungle talk. “And every night they keep hearing that crazy ass gook concert.” People think they were hallucinating and heard the jungle talk and play music. There was also a story about this guy’s best friend died and to take his anger out he shot to pieces a water buffalo. “Rat Kiley had lost his best friend in
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Psychoanalytic Criticism of The Things They Carried Within the book The Things They Carried‚ Tim O’Brien said‚ “A true war story is never moral. It does not instruct‚ nor encourage virtue‚ nor suggest models of proper human behavior‚ nor restrain men from doing the things men have always done. If a story seems moral‚ do not believe it.” O’Brien is a Vietnam veteran who does not consider himself a hero. This is interesting because while growing up in the United States of America‚ people have learned
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As quoted by Albert Einstein‚ “the only source of knowledge is experience.” Our experiences in life are what shape us into who we are. Human experience is the one thing that everyone has in common. We all may have different experiences‚ but the fact that we all experience situations (death‚ birth‚ love‚ etc) makes the world go round. Without some of my experiences‚ I would look at the world in a different perspective. My experiences‚ whether it was my younger sister with special needs being born
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Lieutenant Jimmy Cross is reminded of his love for a girl named Martha by the multiple memories he has of her. He carries pictures of Martha as well as the letters she has written him. Jimmy remembers their first and only date to the movies and is heartbroken that the love he feels for Martha will never be mutual. The narrator then starts to explain the things the men carry. Most are things that would be needed for survival during a war‚ like compasses‚ raincoats‚ mosquito spray‚ and tents. Others
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