Symbolism In Tim O 'Brien's The Things They Carried'

Ashley Guevara
ENGL 2335-01
Professor Benavides
December 9, 2013
O達rien痴 The Things They Carried: The Man underneath the Helmet The American Flag has always been representative of the United States of America and the freedom it stands for. One could even call it a symbol, not only of freedom, but of the American people. There are men and women who use this to motivate themselves as they are miles away from their families, fighting for the freedom this flag symbolizes. There are many symbols to represent the american soldiers: the Purple Heart, camouflage, and artillery are only a few. Tim O達rien痴 The Things They Carried is a story about the soldier痴 humanity, and about how beneath the guns of war there is always the man - he shows us
It is a symbol that lies within each of these men, and what makes them more human than all can imagine. Many soldiers return from war with a respect of weapons they may not have had before. They know the power of everything they hold, and what any lone man can do with any kind of weapon. These men are no different. 典hey carried all they could bear and then some, including a silent awe for the terrible power of the things they carried(O達rien 640). These men are in awe. They are in awe of all the weapons and artillery they need to carry in order to survive, in order to ultimately kill other men. They are in awe of the war itself. They have a respect for everything they are doing, even though they are aware it could ultimately lead to their demise. They do what they need to do in order to protect and serve America and its people. These are true men, not machines of war. They think and feel just as everyone else does. This solidifies their humanity in one full swoop. They are in awe of all they are, and they should be. The author himself felt it right to speak on behalf of all the men who served, which included himself: 滴e served a yearlong tour of duty in Vietnam. This time provided a fertile ground for his writing life, it seems; his reputation as a vivid and honest writer has been forged in the fires of war(Toutonghi Par 2). The fact that O達rien made himself a character in the story that he wrote in order to honor the men he served with proves the fact that the men that go in and out of these wars are much more human than they can be seen as. Although they go to war, and sometimes forget themselves for a while, they are still deep down, men and women who are living breathing breakable human