Preview

The Things They Carried Essay Example

Good Essays
Open Document
Open Document
1020 Words
Grammar
Grammar
Plagiarism
Plagiarism
Writing
Writing
Score
Score
The Things They Carried Essay Example
Kiowa Kiowa is a very unique character in the book The Things They Carried he seems to be the "ideal" soldier. He is very full of life and caring. Even in horrible situations, he knows the right things to say. For example in the chapter "The Man I Killed" Kiowa knows just what to say to O'Brien while he is in shock after killing a young man. "All right let me ask a question… You want to trade places with him." Turn it all upside down- you want that. I mean, be honest." p 126 Unlike Azar who is making fun of the dead body, Kiowa respects what O'Brien is going through and tries to help him cope with the situation. Kiowa goes through as many obstacles and challenges as the other soldiers. "Take it slow. Just go wherever the spirit takes you." p 126. Even though Kiowa goes through many hardships and sees many of his friends die and kill he always stays true to who he is. He stays true to his beliefs as well as his outlook on life. He shows bravery and loyalty by always sticking by his friends. He is caring toward his fellow soldiers and treats them with respect. Unlike Azar who kills Ted Lavender's puppy. Kiowa dies on the battlefield. He sinks into the deep muck of a shit field.

Norman Bowker was a young man when he enlisted in the army, and he only did it to make his father happy by winning a few medals. During the war, he is a brave and great soldier, and he has his medals to show for it. "And his father would have nodded, knowing full well that many brave men do not win medals for their bravery, and that others win medals for doing nothing." p 141. The only reason Norman was so worried about winning the medals was so his father would be proud of him. Most of Norman's story starts after the war is over. Everything he thought would stay the same has changed. He thought he could just pick up where he left off. But unfortunately, he finds out that is not the case at all. Everyone has moved on with their lives and he finds it
Continue Reading
View Writing Issues

You May Also Find These Documents Helpful

  • Good Essays

    The Things They Carried By Tim O Brien: Chapter Analysis
    • 1545 Words
    • 7 Pages

    The Things They Carried By Tim O Brien: Chapter Analysis

    the memory of their friends who were killed at war. O'Brien carried Kiowa as well as the other soldiers…

    • 1545 Words
    • 7 Pages
    Good Essays
    Read More
  • Good Essays

    The Effects of the Vietnam War Through Tim O, Briens Novel: the Things They Carried
    • 690 Words
    • 2 Pages

    The Effects of the Vietnam War Through Tim O, Briens Novel: the Things They Carried

    Many others lived a life of regret after the war. The most common reasons are seeing people die or killing people. Although, for Norman it was different. His regret was for the fact that he didn’t win the Silver Star. He just wanted to prove himself to his father. For example, Tim O’Brien also had some regrets. He saw many people die and even killed someone. He said it happened so fast he didn’t even realize it. It was just an automatic response. Then his daughter asked him if he had ever killed someone. He wanted to tell her, but he knew she was just too young. He regretted not telling her because he didn’t want her to think he was a coward, and now he hopes she will ask again someday when she is older.…

    • 690 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Good Essays
    Read More
  • Powerful Essays

    The Things They Carried by Tim O’brien
    • 1604 Words
    • 7 Pages

    The Things They Carried by Tim O’brien

    A deeply religious American Indian soldier in Alpha Company who is respected and loved by the entire platoon. His death deeply affects O’Brien, as well as other soldiers.…

    • 1604 Words
    • 7 Pages
    Powerful Essays
    Read More
  • Good Essays

    Theme Of War In Tim O Brien's The Things They Carried
    • 1360 Words
    • 6 Pages

    Theme Of War In Tim O Brien's The Things They Carried

    The theme that war changes a person is evident throughout almost every short story in the book The Things They Carried. Some are changed for the better, and some, not so much. Tim O’Brien used the characters he has built up to show the effects of war on different people. Out of the many themes included in this book, this is a very important one. Any situation will change you if you keep at it long enough, and that is just what happens to each and every person involved in a war.…

    • 1360 Words
    • 6 Pages
    Good Essays
    Read More
  • Good Essays

    Correlation EssayThe Things They Carried and Full metal Jacket
    • 268 Words
    • 2 Pages

    Correlation EssayThe Things They Carried and Full metal Jacket

    After viewing the war film ‘Full Metal Jacket’ and while reading Tim O’Brien’s ‘The Things They Carried’ I noticed some similarities. The two were similar in various aspects but there were a few that stood out more than others. To start off, was the treatment of the enemy. In TTTC, they called them names and did cruel and grueling acts. In ‘Full Metal Jacket’, soldiers committed cruel and grueling acts as well, and they were heavily dissociated to the enemy. That led to such events as killing just for fun or taunting the already dead corpses. Another comparison would be the use of metaficiton in the two. In the novel the use of metafcition comes through the commentary of the reader and story tellers while in the film its seen through a character doing a documentary on the film.…

    • 268 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Good Essays
    Read More
  • Good Essays

    The Things They Carried Literary Analysis Essay
    • 501 Words
    • 3 Pages

    The Things They Carried Literary Analysis Essay

    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.…

    • 501 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Good Essays
    Read More
  • Satisfactory Essays

    The Things They Carried: Chapter Analysis
    • 480 Words
    • 2 Pages

    The Things They Carried: Chapter Analysis

    Most people don’t know what surrealism is. Surrealism is when things are real but exaggerated. For example when you watch a sci-fi movie not all of it can be true. Surrealism pertains to these chapters in” The Things They Carried” because it talks about war stories that might be true or have some facts that are stretched out.…

    • 480 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Satisfactory Essays
    Read More
  • Good Essays

    Tim O Brien's The Things They Carried
    • 765 Words
    • 4 Pages

    Tim O Brien's The Things They Carried

    When one thinks of war, the general thought is that it inspires acts of patriotism and heroism. No one really looks deeper into the topic to find that along with patriotism and heroism there are often feelings of shame and loneliness. In The Things They Carried it is clear that most of the soldiers in the war do not come back with a sense of pride or honor. Most come back wishing they had never gone at all. Tim O'Brien reveals that because Vietnam precipitated such traumatic experiences, his storytelling is a great way to cope with his shame and loneliness, emphasizing that the war experience is not one of patriotism and heroism, but one of loneliness and guilt.…

    • 765 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Good Essays
    Read More
  • Good Essays

    The Things They Carried Analysis Essay
    • 500 Words
    • 2 Pages

    The Things They Carried Analysis Essay

    Norman Bowkeris in “Speaking of Courage”, fears disappointing his father. This is because his father expected him to bring back some metals with him from Vietnam but he came back with none. A quote in the chapter to show this is, “He thinks also of this father, whose greatest hope, that Norman would bring home medals from Vietnam.” Norman feels that he let his father down because he didn’t have anything to bring back to show to his father.…

    • 500 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Good Essays
    Read More
  • Good Essays

    Essay On O Brien's The Things They Carried
    • 693 Words
    • 3 Pages

    Essay On O Brien's The Things They Carried

    Norman Bowker is just a microcosm of the 22 veterans that commit suicide every day. Like the rest, Norman Bowker just couldn't win the fight against the post traumatic stress he had gotten from his time in war, and ultimately he hanged himself in a YMCA in his hometown in Iowa. In a letter O’brien received from Bowker before his death in which he “described the problem of finding a meaningful use for his life after the war” (149). This represents the harshness about the nature of war and how people coming back from war feel lost and left fighting some of their toughest battles alone. This also shows something greater about American culture in relation to their war veterans. This is a common thing about American society in how we do a damn good job of taking a soldier and making a warrior out of him, but we don’t do as good of a job taking that warrior and reimplementing them back into society. In the U.S. we have a lot of the best resources to help these young innocent warriors coming back from war, but we as a society do a poor job getting them the help they need and not feel lonely in their toughest times. This part of Bowker's letter just shows how veterans struggle to survive in society post war in America, but his letter has many meaningful words regarding war culture and specifically the Vietnam…

    • 693 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Good Essays
    Read More
  • Good Essays

    The Things They Carried: Norman Bowker
    • 890 Words
    • 4 Pages

    The Things They Carried: Norman Bowker

    “You can't patch a wounded soul with a Band-Aid.” Within a war, there are two battles fought: the battle inside each individual soldier, and then what is actual done on the battlefield. These internal and external conflicts are equally detrimental, the only difference between the two is that when the physical engagement is over, the gruesome battle with in the soldiers remains. War leaves numerous mental scars on any person who takes part in it: regret, depression, anxiety, fear, or post-traumatic stress disorder. In the novel The Things They Carried, written by Tim O'Brien, the author paints a portrait in the readers mind of all the realities of the war atrocities. O'Brien tells a different short story each chapter about characters and all the struggles and difficult encounters they face. Each character carries three things during the war. The first thing the soldiers carry is the physical items necessary for survival: M-16, M-60, grenades, ammo, etc. The second thing they carry are personal items such as pebbles, comic books, girlfriend's pantyhose, etc. The final thing each soldier carries are the mental burdens of the war, figuratively the heaviest and worst thing to carry. Tim O'Brien uses the character Norman Bowker to display the emotional weight that the war puts on soldiers and soldier's inability to accept the past.…

    • 890 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Good Essays
    Read More
  • Good Essays

    If I Die In A Combat Zone
    • 1332 Words
    • 6 Pages

    If I Die In A Combat Zone

    wrong he experiences during his time as a member of the military. From the moment he is drafted, O’Brien is against the war. He knows it is his duty to go to the Vietnam and fight for his country, but at the same time he makes obscene posters in his basement declaring the war, the draft, and his town with their support are evil (pg. 20). While talking to a Chaplain O’Brien reveals his true problem with war is not one of fighting, but one of fear and intellect and being considered a hero (pg. 56). At basic training, he participated with one hundred percent from crawling under wire to chanting along with his fellow soldiers to convince himself that he is doing the right thing. At night, however, his thoughts overtook him and plans for an escape filled his head. He had papers prepared along with a bus ticket for Canada ready. Once the opportunity came for him to escape, the thought of his country needing him to fight for them outweighed the thought of him needing to escape the evils he was participating in and he returned to basic training (pg. 67). O’Brien knew that this required courage and courage was more than just accepting the call to serve and facing the possibility of death, it was serving with his whole heart every second of his deployment (pg. 141). Yet, part of him still fought to go home, away from the…

    • 1332 Words
    • 6 Pages
    Good Essays
    Read More
  • Satisfactory Essays

    Things They Carried Literary Analysis
    • 108 Words
    • 1 Page

    Things They Carried Literary Analysis

    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.…

    • 108 Words
    • 1 Page
    Satisfactory Essays
    Read More
  • Better Essays

    Free Things They Carried Essays: Psychoanalytic Criticism
    • 1616 Words
    • 7 Pages

    Free Things They Carried Essays: Psychoanalytic Criticism

    There is a part in the story when O’Brien talks about how after the war, Norman Bowker drives around the lake imagining what his father would be saying to him. He imagines that his father is telling him that it is okay that he didn’t get a silver star. Jacob Dvorak, author of the presentation called “Psychology in The Things They Carried,” argues that this moment is demonstrating the Oedipus complex. Dvorak says that Norman Bowker looks to his dad as a comforting partner. I completely disagree with Jacob on this point. I think that this is more denial in the sense that Bowker is creating his own reality to cope with the actual reality of the situation. His dad is not with him, he is just driving around by himself but, he is imagining that his dad is present. All Bowker wants to do is make his dad proud, till the point he hallucinates conversations between them. On page 136, O’Brien writes about the dialogue between Norman Bowker and his imaginary father, “‘You have seven medals.’ ‘Sure.’ Seven. Count’em. You weren’t a coward either.’” This is key proof that Bowker just doesn’t want to let his father…

    • 1616 Words
    • 7 Pages
    Better Essays
    Read More
  • Powerful Essays

    Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder: Gateway to Suicide
    • 1575 Words
    • 7 Pages

    Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder: Gateway to Suicide

    Dangling lifelessly in the locker room of a YMCA in central Iowa, Norman Bowker 's life tragically ended. Tim O 'Brien tells the story of Norman Bowker in the chapter "Speaking of Courage" of his book The Things They Carried (137-154). Once Bowker came back from the war, he spent his days alone circling a lake in his father 's Chevy. After a while, he would head down to the A&W to order a burger and fries hoping to find a friend, or just someone to talk to. Bowker had flashbacks of the war, recalling how he let Kiowa go, swearing that he was still alive. Midnight sweats haunted Bowker as well, making it impossible to attain a good night 's rest. All of this contributed to the terrible event that took place in the locker room of the YMCA.…

    • 1575 Words
    • 7 Pages
    Powerful Essays
    Read More