disorder. In the novel The Things They Carried‚ written by Tim O’Brien‚ the author paints a portrait in the readers mind of all the realities of the war atrocities. O’Brien tells a different short story each chapter about characters and all the struggles and difficult encounters they face. Each character carries three things during the war. The first thing the soldiers carry is the physical items necessary for survival: M-16‚ M-60‚ grenades‚ ammo‚ etc. The second thing they carry are personal items
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O’Brien characterizes the soldiers as reluctant to kill‚ dying dreadfully when he says‚ “Men killed‚ and died‚ because they were embarrassed not to.” (#) In plain text‚ this quote explains that men killed and died because they would feel a sense of shame if they did not. However‚ by providing embarrassment as an explanation for killing and dying‚ the reader is challenged to consider each soldier as an individual who chose to kill people and chose to die. Generally‚ a war itself is considered responsible
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Assignment 1 In Tim O’Briens The Things They Carried‚ the character of Mary Anne‚ in the chapter Sweetheart of the Song Tra Bong serves as a metaphor for the loss of innocence that the soldiers lose during their time in the war. “The guys sometimes liked to kid her...- but Mary Anne would just smile and stick out her tongue”(96). As a child‚ you would stick out your tongue to make fun of someone or use it as gesture towards someone who was making fun of you. In the beginning‚ when Mary Anne
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The Things They Carried‚ written by Tim O’brien is a novel‚ which depicts the Vietnamese war‚ specifically experiences of the soldiers during and after the war. Youth is portrayed in the novel as a significant factor‚ which influences not only the idea represented in the novel but also the author himself. Although this is no explicitly stated throughout the book‚ there are a couple of characters that are more significant to Tim O’brien than others. These characters are Linda and Kathleen. By analyzing
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Meanings of Play Titles Authors who choose creative titles to draw in readers in are some of the most creative and intelligent people. Titles require a lot of thought to make them interesting to people. One might even go as far to say that more thought is put in to the title versus the story. While story titles are important play titles are even more important it must draw people in to the theater to watch. Two play titles that are very intriguing are Trifles and a Doll House‚ because of how they
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One of the main themes of the novel is the allure of war. This trope‚ common in war literature‚ is made more complex here as O’Brien adds the layers of a Conrad-esque “heart of darkness” fascination in the character of Mary Anne. The seductive allure of war is inextricably linked to the tendencies of human nature in O’Brien’s novel. War‚ more specifically the act of killing‚ acts as a catalyst for some individuals‚ causing them to become primal versions of themselves‚ to become less human‚ to
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To be raised in a barn often means you lack the mannerisms deemed acceptable by society. To be raised by the circus means your mannerisms are only slightly more acceptable than one who was raised in a barn. Riley’s situation was the later. The story begins when two lovers Kwangsoo and Sohee Ahn had ran away from Genao to Reno in hopes to start a new life together. Trouble was to arise as Kwangsoo neglected to tell Sohee his grave secret. Fearing for the fate his child ‚ Kwangsoo tried to explain
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plants the seeds of terror in the young man by imposing him his radical‚ yet catchy theories of life. In the beginning of the book‚ when he meets Dorian‚ he tells him "[An influenced person’s] virtues are not real to him. His sins‚ if there are such things as sins‚ are borrowed. As Lady Narborough notes to Dorian‚ there is little (if any) distinction between ethics and appearance: “you are made to be good—you look so good.” Lord Henry‚ his corrupter. The Supremacy of Youth and Beauty
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slang‚ O’Brien doesn’t make the conversation sound formal. He avoids making the conversation sound scripted. Journal Entry #18 A.) Simile‚ page 151. “Her eyes were as fluffy and airy-light as cotton candy.” B.) A simile is a comparison of two things using the words ‘as’ and ‘like.’ Here‚ the author is comparing the appearance of cotton candy and eyes. C.) O’Brien compares the fluffiness and airy-light appearance of cotton candy to the subject’s eyes. By doing so‚ he illustrates to his audience
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significance of the title. In addition to their gear‚ the soldiers carry such qualities as distrust of the white man‚ all they could bear‚ grief‚ terror‚ love‚ fear. How does O’Brien use so many abstractions in these stories? a. The title of Tim O’Brien’s novel‚ The Things They Carried‚ paints a vague mental image of people carrying something – an image that is not yet complete for the reader to grasp the purpose of the novel. ‘Things’ are often assumed to be physical‚ in this novel‚ the ‘things’ that the
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