The Things They Carried, a novel by Tim O’Brien, is a collection of war stories told from a fictional Vietnam veteran’s perspective. O’Brien elucidates the physical and emotional barrier war creates between men and women to help demonstrate the frustration soldiers have with women in war.…
“The Things They Carried” was written through the eyes of the main character, First Lieutenant Jimmy Cross. Throughout the duration of this short story, Lieutenant Cross is battling with himself internally.…
A platoon of seventeen soldiers from America travel in booby-trap swamps and through the hills of Vietnam. “They been ordered to set ambushes, execute night patrols, and search out and destroy the massive tunnel complexes south of Chu Lai constructed by Viet Cong guerrillas” (McCarthy). On their voyage the men carry something with them; the things they carry have a meaning to each soldier which distinguishes them. The men are not completely prepared to deal with the stresses of war emotionally. The story circles around Lieutenant Jimmy Cross and the burden he feels for the death of Lavender, one of his soldiers. “The Things They Carried” reflects on each soldier and their way of trying to escape from the war. American writer Tim O’Brien had many outstanding works including “The Things They Carried”. This work illustrates O’Brien’s use of style,…
The short story "The Things They Carried" by Tim O'Brien takes place in Vietnam during the Vietnam War. In this story we are introduced to First Lieutenant Jimmy Cross and his platoon. They all differ in age and ethnicity, and have different views on the Vietnam War. One thing that they all have in common is that they bear the weight of their country on their back, but they also have different emotions weighing on their hearts at the same time. We see three different sides to Lieutenant Jimmy Cross, the soldier, the love stricken man and the leader that has learned a valuable lesson. Each of his characters carries something different.…
“Men killed, and died, because they were embarrassed not to.” This comes from the poem “The Things They Carried by Tim O'Brien. He uses imagery to explain how no one wants to be in the Vietnam War. Another poem that uses imager is “Here, Bullet” by Brian Turner. Tim O’Brien and Brian Turner both use imagery to show how upset and depressed they are.…
Tim O’Brien authored the novel “The Things They Carried” a novel filled with short stories about the Vietnam War. The first passage in the collection lists the numerous things the solders in O’Brien’s platoon carried. Varying from weapons, to thoughts of loved ones back home. Distorting the line between the tangible and intangible, O’Brien writes about the things like bibles, pantyhose, moccasins, and pictures. Things the men carried tangibly, but are used to give them something to think about other than the waning darkness of the war, that making them intangible. The intangible things are used to escape the war; weighing heavier than anything tangible possibly could. Specifically, they are burdened with death. The men carry the intangible burden of death, something always on their minds and weighing more than anything tangible they could ever carry. They did what they could not to acknowledge death, each using their own techniques try and put a spin on and lift the emotional baggage of war and war’s mortality.…
“The Things They Carried” is about the thoughts and actions of Jimmy Cross, a lieutenant of an Army unit on active combat duty in the Vietnam War. Lt. Cross is worried by thoughts of Martha, a young woman he dated before he joined the Army. He thinks about letters she wrote him, whether or not she is a virgin. And about how much he loves her and wants her to love him. Her letters do not indicate that she feels the same way. The narrator lists things that the soldiers carry with them, both tangible and intangible, such as Lt. Cross's picture of and feelings for Martha.…
Tim O’Brien’s, The Things They Carried, contained different memoirs that truly bring the actions of war to life for the reader. Obrien’s book expresses the real feelings a solider faces while getting ready to go into war, in war, and post war. Through his vivid descriptions the reader is able to emphasize with the emotional burdens and stresses solders must go through while on duty. We are able to observe the different coping mechanisms solders must endure, including, cutting them selves off from reality and preoccupying their mind with other, sometimes meaningless, thoughts .The chapter that had the largest impact on myself was “Night Life.” For me this passage truly depicted not just the physical, but mental battle soldiers must go through; and the extreme measures taken to relive themselves from the intensity of battle.…
A.) Periodic sentence located in page 86; first paragraph, second to last sentence. “ He had an opinion of himself, I think, that was too high for his own good.”…
The Things They Carried, written by Tim O’Brien, recounts the horrible experiences of soldiers at war in Vietnam. Throughout the novel, the author not only tells war stories, but tales about his own life, often referencing and dwelling on those who have made an impact on his life. He stresses the importance of these people and stories, often referring to them as “war stories” although many of these are not true. They serve as an outlet for O’Brien, allowing him to let go of these horrible memories but also letting him keep the importance that they had on his life. These stories and messages are emphasized through the symbols displayed in the novel, the imagery used throughout, and the anecdotes that recount his memories.…
In The Things They Carried, Tim O'Brien shares some of his chilling experiences in the Vietnam War using a rather unconventional form. He writes war stories and most of the ones in this…
In the novel” The Things They Carried” by Tim O’ Brien shows many characteristics of metafiction though out the novel. In the chapter the Notes shows metafiction an example would be when Norman Bowker write’s to Tim about the way he wrote the fields and Kiowa death. The narrator says, “I did not look on my as therapy, and still don’t. Yet when I received Norman Bowker’s letter, it occurred to me that the act of writing had led me through a swirl of memories that might otherwise ended in paralysis or worse” (O’Brien 152). The example is characterize to be metafiction by narrator commenting on his writing.…
The story of “The Things They Carried” took place during the Vietnam War. The author, Tim O’Brien describes each character by the things they carried. All of them carried necessary things which could help them go through the war – some were common, some were different, and depending on the soldier. Lieutenant Cross carried photographs of Martha, the girl with whom he fell in love. Due to an unclear relationship and a great distance, the more Lieutenant Cross thinks about Martha, the more he suffers from his unrequited love. As a teenager I was greedy, and gambling was a short and easy way to get money. I expected to make a lot of money but it turned out that I lost all of my saving, and I suffered from my greed. From “The Things They Carried,”, just like Lieutenant Cross coped with adversity by repressing his addiction of love for Martha, I learned my lesson by repressing my greed, I quit a gambling and being back on track.…
O’Brien stated, “To carry something was to hump it”. In “The Red Convertible” and ‘The Things They Carried’ these characters carried baggage that could not only been seen, but they also carried baggage that was internal. In these stories the author uses setting and symbolize to portray the growth of these characters throughout their journey in war, and also tells the story of the mental strain war can cause someone.…
In many respects, Tim O 'Brien 's The Things They Carried concerns the relationship between fiction and the narrator. In this novel, O 'Brien himself is the main character--he is a Vietnam veteran recounting his experiences during the war, as well as a writer who is examining the mechanics behind writing stories. These two aspects of the novel are juxtaposed to produce a work of literature that comments not only upon the war, but also upon the actual art of fiction: the means of storytelling, the purposes behind them, and ultimately the relationship between fiction and reality itself.…