Tim O 'Brien's The Things They Carried'
“The Things They Carried”
Thesis Statement: In “The Things They Carried,” the soldier uses physical objects to calm their secret fears. This symbolizes emotions, spiritual burdens within the objects that symbolize times, places, and also what they feared. Another thing we are not aware of is when the author mentions dust which is a constant reminder to the soldiers that they are not safe.
In this short story the narrator wanted to express the loneliness the soldiers felt and distressed because of the lives lost in this War was catastrophic. The narrator also uses his own personal experiences from Vietnam, thus allowing him to cope. Later on in the story you also see the slight psychological damages the soldiers will have.
When referring to the items in the story the narrator uses them to symbolize, the characters, photos, and letters. “The items structure both the story and the book.”(Henningfeld 1) Allowing a great deal of vision in the story, the narrator shares his stories and as well as other characters who also tell their stories. Soldiers items that they are carrying is more of a metaphor because what each soldier is actually carrying is fear, the feeling of being alive, and his haunting memories.
The place in which this particular story takes place is in Vietnam. On April 16 the narrator mentions this particular date because it is …show more content…
For example the photographs in the story that Cross carried with him tells his mental state; this tells you know the distance between home and Cross. Kiowa’s Bible represents his religious background that gives him a sense of security and also reminds him of home. A soldier named Dobbins carried his girlfriend’s pantyhose with him because it gave him a sense of security when he was scared. Rat Kiley carries comic books to represent his age and how it was the only thing that reminded him of his
Thesis Statement: In “The Things They Carried,” the soldier uses physical objects to calm their secret fears. This symbolizes emotions, spiritual burdens within the objects that symbolize times, places, and also what they feared. Another thing we are not aware of is when the author mentions dust which is a constant reminder to the soldiers that they are not safe.
In this short story the narrator wanted to express the loneliness the soldiers felt and distressed because of the lives lost in this War was catastrophic. The narrator also uses his own personal experiences from Vietnam, thus allowing him to cope. Later on in the story you also see the slight psychological damages the soldiers will have.
When referring to the items in the story the narrator uses them to symbolize, the characters, photos, and letters. “The items structure both the story and the book.”(Henningfeld 1) Allowing a great deal of vision in the story, the narrator shares his stories and as well as other characters who also tell their stories. Soldiers items that they are carrying is more of a metaphor because what each soldier is actually carrying is fear, the feeling of being alive, and his haunting memories.
The place in which this particular story takes place is in Vietnam. On April 16 the narrator mentions this particular date because it is …show more content…
For example the photographs in the story that Cross carried with him tells his mental state; this tells you know the distance between home and Cross. Kiowa’s Bible represents his religious background that gives him a sense of security and also reminds him of home. A soldier named Dobbins carried his girlfriend’s pantyhose with him because it gave him a sense of security when he was scared. Rat Kiley carries comic books to represent his age and how it was the only thing that reminded him of his