A big challenge that I have faced since the day I was born is being Autistic, throughout my life this has affected me, it has affected the way people judge me, what classes I am put in, and of course has affected me mentally, but during around middle school I began to slowly transition out of being ‘blissfully autistic’ and truly began to realize the world around me, though this was followed by a spree of depression due to that.…
The main reason why I was so nervous is because the school I was coming from was very small and private. I went to Our Lady of Grace from kindergarten to eighth grade. The student body there was around two hundred and fifty at the time. There was only one teacher and class of about thirty students for every grade. There wasn’t a student or teacher that I didn’t know by name and because I had been going there since I was five years old, I really didn’t know any other way.…
The short story, “The Things They Carried”, by Tim O’brien, was my favorite reading of this week. The author states what the company is carrying, as well as emotional burdens that they carry. I think that theme of this story can be summarized as “Don’t judge a book by its cover”. As I stated in the discussion, I think this story makes a profound point about trauma and emotional stress. Physical burdens are easily observable. For example, when people see someone in a wheelchair their thoughts are most likely automatically sympathetic. However, when people see someone having a panic attack they might just assume that the person is overreacting. Nobody knows what emotional burdens someone holds. Therefore, it is wrong to judge people on appearance alone and assume that one knows the full story.…
Do you think that all the soldiers just carried physical objects? Most people just think that all they carried are guns and such. But they carried must more than physical objects. They carried intangible items. There were many tangible and intangible items they carry. But the most important items are the intangible ones. There are many intangible items they carry. But some of the most important are love, memories, and fear.…
The main topic of this novel is burdens. O’Brien is writing about what burdens the soldiers and he had to carry throughout war, physically and emotionally. One way I know is because of the title- “The Things They Carried.” This title almost summarizes the whole book. O’Brien frequently showed and explained the burdens that were inner conflicts of his and outer conflicts too. In the chapter “The things They Carried,” O’Brien showed an emotional burden that he carries about him loving “Martha more than his men and as a consequence” his friend Lavender got killed. O’Brien described this emotional burden as “something he would have to carry like a stone in his stomach for the rest of the war.” Also, how the soldiers “carried all the emotional baggage of men who might die. Grief, terror, love, longing-these were intangibles, but the intangibles had their own mass and specific gravity, they had tangible weight.” Another way I know that burden is the main topic of this novel is because of the way O’Brien describes the way that Jimmy Cross is physically responsible for the lives of the soldiers and how that can be such a burden. When Kiowa died, Jimmy Cross felt that “there had to be blame.” He said that “A moment of carelessness or bad judgment or plain stupidity” of his when leading the men “carried consequences that lasted forever.” This shows that he carried physical and emotional burdens. The physical burdens that he had to carry was to make the right decisions and lead well to keep the lives of the soldiers while the emotional burdens were when he had gone wrong and had to carry the burden that it was his fault that some soldiers lost their lives because of his leading. The soldiers “carried all they could bear, and then some, including a silent awe for the terrible power of the things they carried.”…
“The Things They Carried” was a story about soldiers caught in the confusion of the Vietnam War. There are a lot of apparent themes that are dealt with when writing a story about war, especially about death. I enjoyed reading this story; however there were some things about it that I was concerned about. I would like to discuss the author’s style of writing, his meaning of the title “The Things They Carried” and the way the author and his characters deal with death. This story was written with a variety of styles, and it was in a non-traditional format. The main style seems to be a third person, limited omniscient story. However, this story also includes elements of flashback. In a traditional flashback however, the character having the flashback usually is telling the story, the flashback or past events is told only once, and then we view the character or characters revelations afterwards. This story breaks all of the rules of the traditional flashback. In the story, a comrade dies, Ted Lavender. The event of his death is retold 4 or 5 times within the story, from all different angles. For some readers who read this for the first time, especially myself, this was very confusing. It’s almost as if the story is being told as a movie, where we are supposed to have some visual reference as to where we are in the story.…
The Things They Carry is a very interesting book telling of war stories which may or may not be true.As the stories go on it tells some things about the soldiers and the things they carry.I believe in the story that everything they carry are either very meaningful to themselves or a necessity.Everyone carries something. Jimmy cross carries his photos of Martha, The men carry can openers, Knives, Kool-Aid, and water, but almost everyone humps (carries) photos of girls, of family, and of friends.Although the men carry these things they also carry things based on superstition.…
I figure I’m going to try to improve my life and remove negative self-talk that are preventing me from doing that cause it doesn’t make much sense to be around people who are still stuck in the same old way in which I am trying to move on from people who are holding me back will be a big weight lifter off my shoulders. I have notice that when I move on from a specific aspect of my life that are…
Transitioning from a Catholic grade school to a public school high school was not an easy task, especially after recovering from a concussion. Upon entering my first year of high school, I did not know anybody in the district- not a teacher, not a parent, not a student, and I felt completely lost. I was placed in all academic classes to ensure that I did not fall behind among my peers due to my previous…
The fear of going to school, and facing my classmates gave me panic attacks. To skip school, I made phony excuses such as pretending to have stomach aches. I stopped paying attention in my classes, and as a result, my grades dropped. Every time, my teacher picked on me to read in the class, I stuttered, and everyone laughed at me. Up to this day, I have glossophobia also known as speech anxiety. At the end of my grade school, I failed, and was not able to advance to fifth grade. My parents were disappointed in me. They had high hopes for me, and I shattered their…
The Things They Carried by Tim O’Brien and The Road by Cormac McCarthy both deal with the profound affects that memories have upon the actions and understandings of men. In both novels memories weigh heavily on the main characters’ souls, but each man carries that burden differently. The results may vary but the impact of what has happened and what is remembered changes their perspectives and ultimately leads to a unique ending for each man. Do the memories that are carried shape or change the people involved and the understanding of the certain situations?…
Shame is a reoccuring theme throughout The Things They Carried. Shame makes people do things they don’t want to do just so they can get rid of the fear of shame. It drove soldiers to do acts they would’ve never done. Many of the characters have shame as a primary motivator. It leads them to war and it keeps them there. It is the one thing that keeps them from shooting themselves in the foot so that they would be discharged from the army or some similar such act. But some characters, like Curt Lemon, think that shame impels them to heroism, not stupidity. The feelings of shame and guilt consume the soldiers, and make them do irrational and crazy things. Shame motivated men to go to Vietnam.…
In those moments, we begin to lose hope in ourselves. From failing on a Pre-Cal test, to not having a prom date. From not having enough time to spend with your friends to not placing in a competition you worked so hard on. All, in the bigger picture, petty things, but in that moment, they carry enough leverage to pull us down.…
Standing up in front of the class, our palms sweat and we struggle on our words. We don't know what to say with all of those eyes on us, but we continue to talk and present anyways because it is what is required of us. People can understand things such as ADHD, but when it comes to anxiety disorders, it's all about "getting over it".…
Change can be difficult part of a person’s life, oftentimes quite harrowing. Some may find change to be a good thing. I, on the other hand, find it to be more than former. This great change in my life was when my family was forced to move to a new city when I was fourteen. Not only, was I facing a great change, but it would be a change that would affect me for the rest of my life. When I found out that we were moving, I was frightened. I was going to lose all of my friends. I was going to have to start over. That was scary. Being the new kid in school is awful and upsetting, and I was not looking forward to that at all. Already being a shy person who has trouble connecting with new people, being forced to start at a new school was absolutely terrifying.…