Tim O’Brien’s The Things They Carried is a very uniquely written book. This book is comprised of countless stories that‚ though are out of order‚ intertwine and capture the reader’s attention through the end of the novel. This book‚ which is more a collection of short stories rather than one story that has a beginning and an end‚ uses a format that will keep the reader coming back for more. Typically‚ a novel contains four basic parts: a beginning‚ middle‚ climax‚ and the end. The beginning
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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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often feel hopeless‚ and yet‚ many somehow find it in themselves to push onwards. This motivation of a soldier’s mindset is key to survival‚ and many store this instinctive effort to persevere in the items that they carry. Tim O’Brien‚ the author of 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
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War The Things They Carried by Tim O’Brien represents the epitome of dehumanization that war inflicts on people. Each character is involved in a short story that makes up the entire novel; their different traits make up not only their personality but their entire persona and how their social role contributed to the overall message. The characters participation in the war leads to many tragic fates such as absurdity‚ trauma‚ and suicide. In the novel‚ Mary Anne‚ Tim O’Brien‚ and Norman
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Tim O’Brien walked through Vietnam as an infantryman during the Vietnam War. A war that took place 50 years ago now; a great majority of the population was not even born during the time of the war. It is easy to forget an event from such a long time ago‚ but O’Brien‚ it seems‚ can never forget. And he doesn’t want to forget. And he doesn’t want anyone else to forget. He wants the world to understand the war‚ and the toll it had. For that reason‚ he writes novels and stories chronicling the war‚ specifically
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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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for people to understand and internalize their emotions. Tim O’Brien expands upon this idea of coping with hardships in his novel The Things They Carried. With the setting taking place on the battlefield of the vietnam war‚ the way these men cope becomes one of the most prominent motifs in this novel. Every man in The Things They Carried has a different way of coping with the ramifications of war. This makes O’brien’s The Things They Carried the perfect read to analyze and understand how
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like‚ but that awful song just keeps playing over and over and over‚ in your mind. Now imagine that song as your most horrific memories‚ and it never stops. This is how Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder makes most people feel. The author of The Things They Carried‚ Tim O’Brien‚ is one of the men who was with the other soldiers‚ meaning that he experienced the events in the story first-hand. He himself also suffers from PTSD‚ and has chapters about his thoughts‚ feelings‚ and family intervention when he
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before having a formal introduction to the subject at hand. Due to this fact‚ people emphasize the importance of one upholding a respectable reputation‚ One of the central themes in The Things They Carried‚ is that fear of ruining one’s reputation served as motivation to the soldiers during the Vietnam War. Tim O’Brien conveys this theme using anecdotes about Curt Lemon‚ Rat Kiley‚ and himself as examples. Curt Lemon’s experience with the dentist during the war shows that his fear of losing his
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Commentary on Ambush by Tim O’Brien Contradiction in the mind‚ we struggle between decisions. Whether it is correct or not‚ it leaves an indelible memory. In Tim O’Brien’s confessional writing‚ Ambush‚ he creates a flashback and recalls his memory in Vietnam. With detail descriptions‚ Tim O’Brien expresses his guilt towards killing an innocent young man. Furthermore‚ reinforcing his opposition against war with the writing. In paragraph 2 and 3‚ Tim O’Brien has created a flashback to present his
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