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
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Themes and Dialogue of O’Brien in The Things They Carried War has done many horrible things to many people throughout time all over the world. War experience filled with death‚ suspense‚ and constant fear has swept through millions and millions of people who are still scared by the horrific experience. To some so horrific that a normal life‚ post war‚ was almost unbearable. But some were able to take the experience and share it to the world. Tim O’Brien is a perfect example of this. O’Brien was
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The excerpt of “The Things They Carried” inspired me to write about minimalism and the burden that excessive amounts of possessions can create and how ultimately it can weigh down an individual’s happiness. It inspired me to write about this topic by listing off all the things the soldiers in the story had to carry and how much each thing weighed. It made me think about how unhappy carrying the heavy equipment might have made each soldier and how unhappy I was with the things weighing me down. To
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A reoccurring theme throughout the book is expressed by the title. What else does the novel aim to represent? Discuss The Things They Carried is an anthology written by Tim O’Brien‚ which outlines and showcases the harsh realities of war. In The Things They Carried‚ O’Brien often focuses on how the men in his stories‚ even if they volunteered to fight‚ joined the army because of the unspoken pressure to fulfil their obligations as citizens and soldiers. These social obligations range from that of
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The Things They Carried Essay Questions Directions: Choose one of the following essay questions to respond to and develop a critically thoughtful‚ analytical essay. 1. Tone is an important aspect of writing in war literature. Examine the stories again and analyze the most prevalent tones O’Brien uses throughout the book. How does the use of these tones help to establish the meaning behind these stories and an overarching theme to this collection? 2. Consider the role of the narrator throughout
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The role of symbols in The Things They Carried Symbolism in O’Brien’s The Things They Carried runs rampant and plays a part in conveying the author’s message. O’Brien uses symbols to link ideas together. Symbols can be decrypted by the reader to unearth the true essence of the work. Symbols appear in all forms in the work‚ recurring as both tangible and intangible. O’Brien chooses to embed symbols everywhere in the text‚ in the structure‚ the characters. Some symbols are more discreetly
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In The Things They Carried‚ Tim O’Brien uses many such techniques to provide more depth to his book. Four literary techniques used by Tim O’Brien are symbolism‚ pathetic fallacy‚ irony‚ and juxtaposition. One literary technique prominent in The Things They Carried‚ particularly in the story by the same name‚ is symbolism. Throughout this story‚ O’Brien mentions all the things that the soldiers carry with them‚ both physical and emotional. However‚ the physical items that the men carried is more
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little do most Americans know that soldiers during the Vietnam War were corrupted by the conditions of the war and left with no choice but to use hard drugs such as heroin in order to cope with their pain. Looking through Tim O’Brien’s The Things They Carried the troops in his novel were guilty of using hard drugs in order to cope with the war. The Vietnam war was a highly disputed war in the United States many Americans were against the fact that we were participating in this war in the first place
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story‚ “The Things They Carried” by Tim O’Brien‚ we see a parallel being drawn contrasting and comparing the similarities in the physical burdens that the soldiers carried on their backs with the emotional burdens each man carried in their minds. I see the author showing us that the psychological burdens that each man carried were as heavy as or heavier than the physical burden of the material items that they carried. We can understand many of the articles that these soldiers carried were for
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Reading Response Summary: The Things They Carried‚ by Tim O’Brien at first seemed to be just another war story. As I started reading I thought I was not going to have any interest at all in the story however after I got into the story I found myself more interested than I thought I was going to be. This story is an excellent depiction of war itself. It is very realistic and easy to relate to even without any personal experience with war. The title itself paves the way for the entire story
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