The Things they Carried is seen as one of the most honest depictions of the Vietnam War that has ever been written. Tim O’Brien has a way of creating Vietnam around the reader. However‚ despite the clear depiction of war‚ this novel raises the question‚ “What is true?”. Through analyzing this novel‚ it is clear the author believes that the happening-truth of a story is far less important than the emotional-truth. One of the central chapters of the novel is titled‚ “The Man I Killed.” However‚ only
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Duality: The Struggle of "weight" in Tim O’Brien’s The Things They Carried The Merriam-Webster Online Dictionary defines the word "weight" as "a mass or quantity of something taken up and carried‚ conveyed‚ or transported." Tim O’Brien’s war story The Things They Carried‚ published in 1990‚ explores the theme of weight and its importance to men at war in considerable depth. The opening chapter of this book‚ which was originally written as a short story‚ is comprised of a collection of lists
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There are many different controversies on the information in “The Things They Carried”. Some believe to tell a good story‚ there’s only facts and no truth‚ but some think that there needs to be all fictional elements and no facts to make a good story. A majority of people say that an excellent story starts with facts and adds in other elements like metaphors‚ symbolism‚ and imagery because visualizing the story helps the reader connect to the unfamiliar event. Using imagery is a smart way to engage
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Cited: O ’Brien‚ Tim . The Things They Carried. New York‚ NY: Houghton Mifflin/Seymour Lawrence‚ 1990. Print. “195: War Stories” This American Life. National Public Radio. 2001. Web. 28 September 2001. Transcript. Tom Paxton. Lyndon Johnson Told the Nation. 1965. Document.
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soldiers. It’s different from all the other cliché‚ patriotic war movies. Like Tim O’Brien writes “A true war story is never moral. It does not instruct‚ nor encourage virtue‚ nor suggest models of proper human behavior‚ nor restrain men from doing the things men have always done. If a story seems moral‚ do not believe it. If at the end of a war story you feel uplifted‚ or if you feel that some small bit of rectitude has been salvaged from the larger waste‚ then you have been made the victim of a very
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The Things They Carried” by Tim O’Brien will be used to explain violence in literature.Violence can show many different things in literature‚ for example‚ how cruel people can be. It can be towards a friend‚ an enemy or even oneself. Not all violence is intentional‚ one may not have a choice when harming one’s life. In the novel The Things They Carried‚ there are many examples of violence that contribute to the reader’s’ emotions. Violence in literature can involve many things such
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the story “The Things They Carried‚” recounts his experiences while touring Vietnam from 1968 to 1970 in the 46th Infantry Regiment. During the Vietnam War‚ O’Brien witnessed scores of American soldiers wounded or killed‚ along with others who had gone missing in combat‚ while fighting against the Viet Cong. This ongoing presence of horror greatly affected surviving soldiers‚ who felt depressed and unworthy of life after witnessing their friends perish. In “The Things They Carried‚” the author Tim
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war is personal to everyone. Based on what each of the soldiers carry with them‚ he is able to understand their fears and what is important to them. This concept is demonstrated when O’Brien says‚ “It was very sad‚ he thought. The things men carried inside. The things men did or felt they had to do.” This quote exemplifies the impacts of war on a person’s individualism by saying that during strife‚ people only did what they thought they had to in order to remain alive. Their own thoughts and ideas
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1302 10 March 2004 Jimmy Cross: Life Story There is something special about human beings. Human beings have the capacity to sacrifice themselves for others. Not all do it and many do just the opposite. In the story "The Things They Carried" by Tim O’BRIEN‚ demonstrates that statement. Jimmy Cross‚ who is 1st lieutenant of his platoon‚ is a man of integrity and grace which unfortunately starts to diminish throughout his journey. Jimmy begins to fantasize of‚ "love" which starts
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Burdens in The Things They Carried Contradictions‚ guilt‚ physical‚ and emotional burdens are pains that all human beings face throughout their lives. In Tim O’Brien’s novel‚ The Things They Carried‚ this is no different. This novel is a collection of the adversities he and his comrades face while fighting in the Vietnam War. This collection comes with accounts from various perspectives‚ but each story has argument that provides a deeper understanding of the stories. Each story in The Things They Carried
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