The Things They Carried’ by Tim O’Brien Essay - 1233 Words

‘The Things They Carried’ by Tim O’Brien provides a insider’s view of war and its distractions, both externally in dealing with combat and internally dealing with the reality of war and its effect on each solder. The story, while set in Vietnam, is as relevant today with the conflicts in Iraq and Afghanistan as it was in the 1960’s and 1970’s in Southeast Asia. With over one million soldiers having completed anywhere from one to three tours in combat in the last 10 years, the real conflict might just be inside the soldier. O’Brien reflects this in his writing technique, using a blend of fiction and autobiographical facts to present a series of short narratives about a small unit of soldiers. While a war story, it is also an unrequited†¦show more content†¦The use of pathos and ethos in tandem strengthens his writing, but also leads to some parts being almost tedious. â€Å"As PFCs or Spec 4s, most of them were common grun ts and carried the standard M-16 gas-operated assault rifle. The weapon weighed 75 pounds unloaded, 8.2 pounds with its full twenty-round magazine. Depending on numerous factors, such as topography and psychology, the riflemen carried anywhere from twelve to twenty magazines†¦Ã¢â‚¬  (O’Brien 1990). This paragraph almost drones on losing the reader in a myriad of technical mumbo jumbo and measurements before getting back on target with the story of the soldier’s life in the field. The organization of the text can be hard to follow when he goes on about the equipment. On the other hand O’Brien takes the role of narrator; clearly he is invested emotionally in the story. However, the drama of the moment can be diluted with too much fact and not enough emotion. Taking each character and peeling back the soldier layers to expose us to the person underneath, he also creates moments that are poignant and riveting. â€Å"For the most part they carried them selves with poise, a kind of dignity. Now and then, however, there were times of panic, when they squealed or wanted to squeal but couldnt. When they twitched and made moaning sounds and covered their heads and said Dear Jesus and flopped around on the earth and fired their weapons blindly and cringed and sobbed and begged for the noise to stop and went wild and madeShow MoreRelatedThe Things They Carried by Tim Obrien1426 Words   |  6 PagesThe War at Home The Things They Carried, by Tim O’Brien, transports the reader into the minds of veterans of the Vietnam conflict. The Vietnam War dramatically changed Tim O’Brien and his comrades, making their return home a turbulent and difficult transition. The study, titled, The War at Home: Effects of Vietnam-Era Military Service on Post-War Household Stability, uses the draft lottery as a â€Å"natural experiment† on the general male population. The purpose of the NBER (National Bureau of EconomicRead MoreThe Things They Carried by Tim O’brien1610 Words   |  7 PagesThe Things They Carried by Tim O’Brien Plot: 1. RISING ACTION †¢ In the summer of 1968, Tim O’Brien receives a draft notice. Despite a desire to follow his convictions and flee to Canada, he feels he would be embarrassed to refuse to fulfill his patriotic duty and so concedes to fight in Vietnam. CLIMAX †¢ During their tour of duty, the men of the Alpha Company must cope with the loss of their own men and the guilt that comes from killing and watching others die. FALLING ACTION †¢ After he returnsRead MoreThe Things They Carried by Tim OBrien1156 Words   |  5 PagesIn Tim O’Brien’s novel, â€Å"The Things They Carried,† imagination is seen to be both beneficial and harmful. This novel consists of a story truth and a real truth. Tim O’Brien writes the book about the Vietnam War based primarily on his memory of the war. He does not remember every detail of the war, thus he makes up some false details to make the story seem more interesting. He does not only describe his own experiences, but also describe the experiences of other characters. He wants the readers toRead MoreThe Things They Carried by Tim OBrien1154 Words   |  5 PagesThe novel The Things They Carried by Tim OBrien begins by Mr. OBrien describing his dramatical events that happened during the middle of his Vietnam experience while he was fighting in the war. Mr. OBrien received his draft notice in the month of June in the year of 1968. When he received this notice Mr. OBrien had feelings of confusion, and that drove him to go north to the Canadian border, and it had him contemplating if he wanted to cross it or not because he does not want to be forced toRead MoreThe Things They Carried by Tim OBrien793 Words   |  3 PagesIn the novel, The Things They Carried, by Tim O’Brien there is an ambiguity assigned to the life of a soldier in the Vietnam war, an ambiguity that represents no clear moral victor, no clear heroes, and seemingly no end. In the movie, Platoon, written and directed by Oliver Stone, the same ambiguity is depicted, with no clear moral direction, no clear heroes, and no clear resolution. In the short story, â€Å"How to Tell a True War Story,† O’Brien talks in great detail about how a true war story, andRead MoreThe Things They Carried by Tim O’Brien550 Words   |  2 Pagespersonnel documents are in order. These are just a few items that need to be checked off of a to-do list, or inventory if you will. In â€Å"The Things They Carried† by Tim O’Brien, the main character, First Lieutenant Jimmy Cross, runs through a series of events that he had his squad carried, both on their person and in their minds. â€Å"The Things They Carried† is about Cross and the soldiers under him and their activities in Vietnam during the war. The story begins with Cross introducing the objectRead MoreThe Things they Carried by Tim OBrien529 Words   |  2 PagesIn the story The Things They Carried Tim O’Brien didn’t mention anything about traditional war heroes. I think this was a great idea, because there are no traditional war heroes. A traditional war hero is someone who is fearless and someone who can’t be harmed mentally or emotionally. But in The Things They Carried the soldiers out on the front lines were emotionally and physically scarred. Tim O’Brien didn’t write about traditional war heroes, O’Brien wrote about normal people, people with differentRead More The Things They Carried by Tim O’Brien580 Words   |  2 Pagesbook, The Things They Carried, author Tim O’Brien tells the captivating story of soldiers and everything they ha d to go through during the Vietnam War. He tells of the many things that change a person during a war and what helped many to get through it. One of the main things that helped them to get through was women. While women did not play a huge role in this book, they did play a very important role. Women were the†¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦ Martha was the lady that Lieutenant Jimmy Cross loved. He carried letters andRead MoreOverview: The Things They Carried by Tim OBrien1510 Words   |  7 Pages The Things They Carried is a novel written by Vietnam Veteran Tim O’Brien. The Vietnam War took place between 1955 and 1975. Most of the soldiers fighting were young teenage men around the age of eighteen and nineteen years old. Like O’Brien many of these young men were pulled away from their families and life to fight a war they didn’t approve of or even know about. This had a strong affect on most of these men and O’Brien uses different ways to show how the Vietnam War affected them both physicallyRead MoreThe Things They Carried by Tim OBrien580 Words   |  2 Pagesdaydreaming and felt the pain of Lavenders death. He came to realize he was to blame for the death of Ted Lavender. Lieutenant Jimmy Cross’ mind was mixed with the emotions of both Martha and the death of Ted Lavender. While Lavenders body was being carried to the chopper, all Lieutenant Cross could think about was Martha. He was thinking about how he loved her more than anything, even more than his men. He believed Ted Lavender was dead because he loved Martha so much and could not stop thinking about