history in which some great pieces of fiction were created. The Things They Carried‚ by Tim O’Brien is a great example of one of these pieces of fiction. A big part of this novel was O’Brien’s theme of metafiction. Metafiction is a type of fiction that self-consciously addresses the devices of fiction. This in another sense means that metafiction is the act of writing about writing. This literary device is used in The Things They Carried‚ as O’Brien’s method to systematically remind his readers that
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O’Brien’s The Things They Carried describes the many different things soldiers carried during the war. Of course they would carry items they would need to survive but not only that‚ they would also carry personal items. Some of the things the soldiers would carry were a little odd but would mean something to them. Ranging from Henry Dobbins’ girlfriend’s pantyhose to Mitchell Sanders’ condoms‚ the unit was filled with bizarre articles that held sentimental feeling. Lieutenant Jimmy Cross‚ however
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this impressionable era (nineteenth and twentieth centuries)‚ Williams wrote a play called A Streetcar Named Desire‚ which was ultimately considered a trademark modernist work. O’Brien‚ however was well known for his controversial novel‚ The Things they Carried‚ which was classified as “postmodern” after the Vietnam War. Interestingly enough‚ a closer look at the conceptual value of modernism and postmodernism can provide us with a deeper understanding of the novels and the movement that was at hand
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Defending your country is not an easy task. Having the determination to make it through the experiences of war is amazing at itself. While reading‚ The Things They Carried‚ by Tim O’Brien‚ it was acknowledged that men work through very tough situations for their country in Vietnam. The main characters in this novel show examples of the puritan work ethics due to the amount of strength they need to continue through tough times. The pride the men show off in the novel really shows
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life. To a normal citizen‚ death is often followed by sadness and grief. As portrayed in “The Things They Carried” by Tim O’Brien‚ a soldier has to deal with the situation much differently. Death is portrayed in a negative light due to the fact that soldiers are greatly fearful of it and that they are forced to be unaffected by death. In order to cope with all the deaths he witnessed‚ O’Brien uses the retelling of war stories to heal from these traumatic events. Throughout the novel‚ death
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"The Things They Carried" “War is hell‚ but that’s not the half of it‚ because war is also mystery and terror and adventure and courage and discovery and holiness and pity and despair and longing and love. War is nasty; war is fun. War is thrilling; war is drudgery. War makes you a man; war makes you dead” (76). According to Tim O’Brien‚ all of these generalizations about war are the truth. However‚ as O’Brien continuously reshapes readers’ concept of truth throughout The Things They Carried‚ one
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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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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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In Tim O’Brien’s story‚ The Things They Carried‚ the way the men idolize their possessions is directly related to the setting of the story. The men face a new and adverse environment when they are sent to Vietnam and carry many different sentimental objects in their packs. Lieutenant Cross holds himself responsible for the loss of one of his men and has his mind set to reform his team and not let the idea of a woman control his thought any longer. It is important to understand how much the setting
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