In chapter nine of Tim O'Brien's The Things They Carried, O’Brien tells a second-hand story of a girl, Mary Anne. The story is set a few months prior, when Rat Kiley is assigned to a small medical camp, which is referred to as “ideal” (87), because there is never strenuous work to be done. This undemanding atmosphere prompts a soldier to jokingly wonder if a woman can be snuck in, but another, Fossie, takes his remark seriously and writes to his girlfriend back home. Six weeks later, a young, effervescent blonde arrives. At first, many of the men objectify and belittle her because of her gender, but she proves them wrong when she take genuine interest in combat and the culture around her. As the weeks pass, Vietnam changes Mary Anne. She transitions…
1. O’Brien’s story, “The Things They Carried,” is about a Lieutenant named Jimmy Cross mesmerizing and describing the memories he had of his fellow soldiers. Throughout the story, O’Brien talks about the love Lieutenant Cross had for a girl named Martha and the past stories of Lieutenants fellow soldiers. O’Brien went back and forth with Martha and the soldiers but most importantly, he described all the things the fellow soldiers carried with them before, through and after the Vietnam War.…
O'Brien, on pages 80 and 8, talks about how people don't understand the full meaning of the truth behind a war story. There are so many things that go into a war that people and readers don’t understand,which is why he tries to explain why the “truth” and analyzing the meaning is so important. All of the things O’Brien describes in his stories aren't “true” per say because those are not what the story is about. In the end he tries to convey the fact that all are about prejudice. The stories are in fact about cheery subjects like: love, memory, happiness, old times, and no reader will ever understand because they themselves misunderstand. In “Sweetheart of the Song Tra Bong” Rat Kiley goes on about the story of Mary Ann. Rat Kiley warns his…
Furthermore, “Sweetheart of the Song Tra Bong” shows how quickly a person can go from being good to being bad. To begin, the dynamic character Marry Anne Bell is described as a sweet girl in the beginning, but in the end is revealed to have a dark side. When Mary Anne first arrives in Vietnam she is this sweet innocent teenage girl who wears pink sweaters, short shorts, and makeup, but then she begins to change into someone new. The first real sign that she changed was she stopped wearing make up and her sweaters and begins learning how to assemble guns and operate on the wounded. She also begins to go on missions in the jungle with the…
It is a well known fact to all, that experiencing traumatic war events and sights that aren’t pleasant, changes people. There is an innocence that is forever lost. An innocence that can never be gained back. Change is inevitable. Change, in Mary Anne Bell’s case, is here to stay. It has its way of affecting each and every person it encounters. In the book The Things They Carried by Tim O’Brien, he incorporates an innocent city girl into the wild jungle of war in Vietnam; Mary Anne Bell. Because Mark Fossie decides to take a drastic measure and fly his girlfriend to Vietnam during one of the most brutal wars, she gains the soldier’s sympathy and soon becomes the “not so innocent blonde” new to the territory; she is simply an entirely renovated girl living in a whole new world.…
Tim O’Brien brings the characters and stories to life in The Things They Carried. He uses a writing style that brings stories to life by posing questions between the relationship of reality and fiction (Calloway 249). This is called metafiction and it exposes the truth through the literary experience. Tim O’Brien uses metafiction to make the characters and stories in The Things They Carried realistically evocative of the Vietnam War.…
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.…
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.…
The Things They Carried, written by Tim O’Brien, recounts the horrible experiences of soldiers at war in Vietnam. Throughout the novel, the author not only tells war stories, but tales about his own life, often referencing and dwelling on those who have made an impact on his life. He stresses the importance of these people and stories, often referring to them as “war stories” although many of these are not true. They serve as an outlet for O’Brien, allowing him to let go of these horrible memories but also letting him keep the importance that they had on his life. These stories and messages are emphasized through the symbols displayed in the novel, the imagery used throughout, and the anecdotes that recount his memories.…
Tim O’Brien’s story about vietnam war is The Things They Carried. This work tells what the soldiers went through the time during Vietnam. As the story begins, it focuses on the Alpha Company is sent to fight in Vietnam war. The soldiers carry goods and personal items to be able to survive. Lieutenant Jimmy Cross carries letters and pictures from a female named Martha. The first casualty for the company is Ted Lavender, shot dead. Cross blames himself for the death because he thinks he was too busy thinking about Martha to properly take care of his troops. O’Brien received a draft letter and he is not looking forward to going into war because he had just graduated Harvard for graduate school. He was stuck between wanting to run or doing what everyone expected which…
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.…
I enjoyed reading "Sweetheart of the Song Tra Bong" because I can relate with Mary Anne. There were two part of the chapter that caught my attention the most. The first was when the Rat was describing the changes in Mary's look. It doesn’t take long for someone to adapt to war, its not so much they want to its more that they need to. To survive someone must worry about what’s outside the walls and the soldiers you work with, not so much your personal preferences to hygiene or material possessions. The second part I liked was when she was talking to Fossie and describing how she truly feels about the country and the situation she has been put in. She describes how much she has learned about herself and how when she is out on mission she can feel her body working. War is like no other experience, your body is on a constant adrenaline rush and all your senses are heightened. It’s a feeling not many understand, nor want to but once you've had it you don’t want any less.…
Tim O'Brien was an infantryman in during Vietnam War. He used those experiences to write many short stories including The Things They Carried. The story portrays how, "the things they carried" were weightless in comparison to their feelings of love and loss, fear and shame, and the torturous memories of death. "They all carried 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."…
Mary begins to get hysterical by the girl's imitation of her. While it is obvious to the outside reader that the girls are only pretending, it truly affects the person that they are pretending to be. By only repeating exactly what Mary is saying, the girls affect her rational thought and…
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.…