quote perfectly embodies the view Tim O’Brien has on courage‚ as he eloquently demonstrates in his book The Things They Carried. Although all the characters of this novel display O’Brien’s point of view‚ the three shining examples of this are Norman Bowker‚ Jimmy Cross‚ and Tim O’Brien himself. Tim O’Brien is fairly conscious of the difference between cowardice and bravery. To him‚ courage is not fulfilling what is socially accepted‚ but continuing to uphold one’s own morals even against adversity
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reason as to why the men joined the war. Jimmy Cross explores the unwanted burden placed on a Lieutenant of the platoon member’s responsibility. Further O’Brien explores the affect of the Vietnam War on the soldiers on their wellbeing through Norman Bowker‚ who suicides as he is unable to deal with the memories and the pressure faced due to the war. the emotional burden from the memories‚ physical weight ‘humped’ by them during the war and the mental pressures enforced upon them are the different
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Samantha Schulz Mrs. Nilles English 12-5 05 November 2012 O’Brien’s Theme of Rejection and Disconnect Why does O’Brien use the theme of rejection to convey his experience in war? In the book‚ The Things They Carried‚ Tim O’Brien writes about his experience in the Vietnam War. He uses many themes to show how the war has changed the soldiers and how the citizens perceive the war. Throughout the book‚ he uses the theme of rejection to show the disconnection between the soldiers at war
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push people that are close to them away. Norman Bowker‚ the main character in the short story “Speaking of Courage” by Tim O’Brien‚ lost his close friend in Vietnam‚ faced the realities of war‚ and believes no one will understand the torment he went through since they did not experience what he did‚ as a result‚ he feels detached from his home town. Tim O’Brien describes Bowker’s detachment from his home through the descriptions
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The book The Things They Carried‚ written by Tim O’Brien is about the account of himself and his fellow soldiers who served with him at the Vietnam war. The book starts with O’Brien describing everyone around him and just like the title reads listing out everything they carried‚ standard military issued equipment and few small personal belongings they got from the people close to them. Later in the story he talks about the life they have after the war and how the war affected everyone differently
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Truth and non-truth are several aspects emphasized in Tim O’Brien’s novel The Things They Carried. Throughout the novel‚ O’Brien “[blurs] the lines between fiction and nonfiction” (Smith)‚ and explores how using fiction to convey the war affects the readers more as they learn about the soldiers. By using juxtaposition and by incorporating fictional parts in the novel‚ O’Brien shows how truth is less important in war stories than non-truth since non-truth makes the reader look at war stories at a
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The Things They Carry is a very interesting book telling of war stories which may or may not be true.As the stories go on it tells some things about the soldiers and the things they carry.I believe in the story that everything they carry are either very meaningful to themselves or a necessity.Everyone carries something. Jimmy cross carries his photos of Martha‚ The men carry can openers‚ Knives‚ Kool-Aid‚ and water‚ but almost everyone humps (carries) photos of girls‚ of family‚ and of friends.Although
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only by its raw power to destroy.”(AOW) Water is life giving‚ but it’s actually not always pure and about resurrection and purification. It can be equally as pathetic and just sad. For instance‚ Norman Bowker looking for purification in the lake but finding nothing. After returning from the war‚ Norman Bowker drives around the lake near his home countless times. He circles the lake trying to find purity in a place‚ which was “often filthy and algaed”(132). One of his last remarks he makes is about “That
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The Effects of War on the Mind and Body All around a person can easily hear or read a story about a soldier of war and how that person is forever scared mentally or physically‚ by the things he or she encountered or saw in their time of duty. Demonstrated in the movies all the time are veterans having flashbacks back to the war or often how a loud sound easily frightens them conveying the permanent effects of war on a person. Not only are the repercussions of war mental though; physical effects
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lavender death. Surviving the war wasn’t as an accomplishment as everyone thought. Jimmy Cross figured it out the hard way. Norman Bowker was a man who represents the damage that a war leaves in a soldier after the war . Norman Bowker’s sorrow and confusion are so powerful that they prompt him to drive without direction around his hometown in “Speaking of Courage”.Bowker also wrote a seventeen-page letter to Tim O’Brien explaining how he never felt right after the war in and to hang himself at
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