“The Things They Carried” by Tim O’Brien is a short story base on the lives of a group of soldiers during the later years of the war in Vietnam. In this story‚ O’Brien examines the burdens of the soldiers and the effects that these burdens can have on man in life-threatening situations. The author describes these burdens referring to the weight that the soldiers carry. These soldiers have to go trough great physical strain but also mental and emotional difficulties that weigh them down immeasurably
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In the novel The Things They Carried the young soldiers are afraid of seeming weak. O’ Brien didn’t want to go to war. He was even considering fleeing to Canada. O’ Brien eventually decided to go because he was afraid of seeming like a coward to his family and town. He went to war out of fear of appearing weak to his peers. He believed it would be shameful if he didn’t go to the war. The soldiers in the novel were cautious to show any sign of fear. They were in an unpredictable and strange environment
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O’Flaherty and the poem “The Man He Killed” by Thomas Hardy are two pieces that deal with the issues of war‚ and in fact share many similarities and differences in the areas of plot‚ irony‚ and theme. Liam O’Flaherty
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Symbolism of Weight in “The Things They Carried” The title of Tim O ’Brien ’s collection of short stories employs the use of weight. However‚ this is both in the physical and psychological sense. This book‚ published in 1990‚ explores in depth the theme of weight in regards to physical objects such as rations and cigarettes‚ while delving deeper into the emotions of fear‚ reverence and admiration that “weigh” on these soldiers. O ’ Brien gives a considerable amount of space to amplify the weight of
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pagoda. I had to google what a pagoda was because I was unfamiliar with it. A pagoda is a Hindu or Buddhist temple or sacred building. In this pagoda‚ they found monks. This chapter was confusing to me at first because it was hard to find a reason for this chapter to be placed in this book. These monks aided to the soldiers; I assumed they did this because of their caring nature. I’m not sure if the monks quite understood why the soldiers were there because the monks did not speak English. I believe
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The Things They Carried by Tim O’Brien represents the epitome of dehumanization that war inflicts on people. Each character is involved in a short story that makes up the entire novel; their different traits make up not only their personality but their entire persona and how their social role contributed to the overall message. The characters participation in the war leads to many tragic fates such as absurdity‚ trauma‚ and suicide. In the novel‚ Mary Anne‚ Tim O’Brien‚ and Norman Bowker’s lives
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Tim O’Brien walked through Vietnam as an infantryman during the Vietnam War. A war that took place 50 years ago now; a great majority of the population was not even born during the time of the war. It is easy to forget an event from such a long time ago‚ but O’Brien‚ it seems‚ can never forget. And he doesn’t want to forget. And he doesn’t want anyone else to forget. He wants the world to understand the war‚ and the toll it had. For that reason‚ he writes novels and stories chronicling the war‚ specifically
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Essay on “The Things They Carried” In the story "The Things They Carried‚" by Tim O’Brien‚ discusses a group of American soldiers marching through Vietnam during the war. The narrator is describing the items that each of the soldiers carries with him during the march through Vietnam. The items that the soldiers carried with them are both symbolic and physical items and what these things are depends upon the individual soldier. They carry the basic necessities for survival and the bare minimum to
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Tim O’Brien constructs a meticulous narrative in order to portray a true representation of war through his writing. It is well known however that truth always becomes a casualty through war resulting in a challenging approach for O’Brien. Although deemed a work of fiction‚ many of the stories within The Things They Carried reflect an almost autobiographical outlook through the characters combined with metafiction. O’Brien does well to create a distinction between the truth of the narrative and that
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them? Millions of people were killed in wars because they followed the orders from their authorities. They didn’t even have an accurate reason to kill others‚ but they still did it as it was their missions. Obedience is a form of social influence where people follow an order from another‚ who is often their authorities. Obedience is depicted more clearly in the poems by Thomas Hardy and Robert Frost. In the poem “ The Man He Killed”(1902)‚ Hardy illustrates the man kills his enemy as it is his mission
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