Civil War General Sherman once said‚ “War is hell.” He was right. In the short story “The Things They Carried‚” Tim O’Brien shows us the hell that our soldiers suffered. The narrator shows us a captivating‚ and up-close story about our soldiers in the Vietnam War. While the title relates to the story about things carried‚ but the soldiers carry more than just the physical burdens-in many cases‚ they are weighed down by emotional baggage. The emotional baggage that lies heavy in their hearts
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Absolute Justice in Tim O’Brien’s "The Things They Carried" In society today‚ we live by tired clichés‚ swearing that “justice is blind” and preaching “equal justice under law” at every opportunity. We accept justice as something both natural and deserved‚ assuming that being fair is the same thing as being right‚ but only rarely do we realize the idealism of this mindset. Try as we might to ignore it‚ universal justice cannot exist in and of itself—there is no natural law that mandates an action
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thought to be a horrid war. The things that the American soldiers saw and experienced were unlike any other experiences. These experiences are shared in Tim O’Brien’s book‚ The Things They Carry. Although many of these stories seem to be war stories at a first glance‚ they can actually be seen as love stories because of the emotional connection each character has with each other. First Lieutenant Jimmy Cross is a good example of how the stories in The Things They Carried are love stories. Lieutenant
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“The Things They Carried” by Tim O’Brien Due Friday‚ October 31‚ 2014 @ 11:59 p.m. on Schoology Questions for Discussion and Style & Structure or aguilar.english@gmail.com. *Please type your answers. Complete sentences and thoughts is always expected. Questions for Discussion 1. The story begins with a paragraph about Jimmy Cross and his relationship with Martha. What does Martha represent to Cross? Why might it be significant that Cross obsesses about whether or not she is a virgin? How
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In “The Things They Carried‚” O’Brien takes us back to the Vietnam War. He demonstrates to the reader that not only does each United States soldier carry something physical with them‚ but they also carry an emotional burden as well. What each man carries is a combination of thoughts‚ emotions‚ and past experiences. Every soldier carries the standard military issued equipment with them‚ which is their physical burden. Their emotional burden is very individualized. For instance‚ “Lieutenant Jimmy
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called The Things They Carried uses a lot of nonfiction stories within the novel. O’Brien also uses characterization of the soldiers in the platoon to illustrate the emotional weight that they carry. Tim O’Brien in The Things They Carried mentions‚” By and large they carried these things inside‚ maintaining the masks of composure”(21). He focuses on Jimmy Cross‚ Mark Fossie‚ Kiowa‚ Curt Lemon and several other soldiers in the platoon including himself. The novel The Things They Carried by Tim O’Brien
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The Things They Carried Tim O’Brien First Lieutenant Jimmy Cross carried letters from a girl named Martha‚ a junior at Mount Sebastian College in New Jersey. They were not love letters‚ but Lieutenant Cross was hoping‚ so he kept them folded in plastic at the bottom of his rucksack. In the late afternoon‚ after a day’s march‚ he would dig his foxhole‚ wash his hands under a canteen‚ unwrap the letters‚ hold them with the tips of his fingers‚ and spend the last hour of light pretending
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The story I chose is “The Things They Carried” by the author Tim O’Brien. In the course of this essay I will highlight the physical and intangible “burdens” required by a soldier to overcome war which are of vital importance to inhibit the outcomes of a state of devastation. The story gives us insights about what each soldier carried to the combat zone and this was largely determined by necessities‚ but each man differed in their necessity. It gives a picture of the things a soldier needs to meet his
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“The Things They Carried.” There are many ways shame can show itself during war although you wouldn’t think so since they are serving our country. It drives them to do things that they wish they had not. O’Brien really brings all of the possible shameful acts to the reader’s attention. Shame is the reason that Tim O’Brien decided to go to Vietnam. Many of the characters feel shame as a primary motivator‚ too. Not only does it lead them to war‚ but it keeps them there. It is the one thing that
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burn Martha’s letters at he end‚ how has he changed by the end of the chapter? After the death of fellow soldier‚ Ted Lavender‚ Lieutenant Jimmy Cross convinced himself that his thoughts of Martha distracted him to a point where he led his own men astray‚ resulting in Lavender’s sudden death. Cross doesn’t want men to perish because of his own incompetence and recklessness‚ so he sacrifices the one thing loved – Martha‚ for the sake of his troops. Cross emerges from a man obsessed about returning
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