Ghost Soldier

O’Brien understood that Rat Kiley wasn’t the only one that was terrified of seeing the dead bodies and being in war. He knew that the other soldiers felt the same way and empathized with them as well. For O’Brien, as “the nights got freaky,” “it was a sad to watch”(210) the soldiers trying to survive. Rat Kiley could no longer hold in the pain and hurt he was feeling which led to him shooting himself in the foot. O’Brien was understanding and didn’t blame him though. He understood that everyone was afraid, not just Rat Kiley. The other soldiers were just better at coping with the

With the use of repetition, O’Brien accomplishes to show the connection between the Vietnam soldiers and the

Quotation Analysis "This whole war,' he said. ' You know what it is? Just one big banquet. Meat, man. You and me.

1. How did the narrator react to the fact that he killed another human being? What evidence in the story leads you to this conclusion? The narrator was shocked and felt guilty. You could tell that he feels bad because he is thinking about all the stories and lessons the boy would have been taught. O'Brien is just staring at the dead body and not speaking, which shows he's traumatized. Kiowa

World War II General George S. Patton reflected, “These men suffered enough for a hundred lifetimes, and no one in this country should be allowed to forget it.” The men he is referring to were part of a tactical unit called the Ghost Army. They all could have died if even one thing went wrong. The Ghost Army was part of the 23rd Headquarters Special troops. This organization was top secret until 1996. These men and missions are still spoken of and remembered to this very day (“23rd Headquarters Special troops”). The Ghost Army spent a long time making a plan that would lead the Allied troops to victory. They mapped out everything and made sure everything was perfect. They all had their special strategic skills.

The novel itself is a flashback to the pass of a nightmare that he will never forget. O’ Brien is still alive, I cannot imagine having flash backs to the past and being reminded of a frightening nightmare. The best flashback in the novel reads “his right arm was gone… At his face there were already many flies and gnats.” O’Brien then revisits his childhood: “Linda was nine then, as I was, but we were in love…. she died of course. Nine years old and she died.” This situation in the time of war brought him to think of someone he truly loved. Flashbacks are

Tim O'Brien provides his audience with a very descriptive image of both the physical and mental "things" the characters in the story carried. He gives the reader insight as to how the characters are physically and mentally dealing with the turmoil of the war. However, in the end of the story - Jimmy Cross - a round character, reacts to the death of Ted

O’Brien always questioned the idea of “enemies”. Throughout the book he questioned in many ways and asked why were they enemies. What have they done to make them enemies, he sought for answers to his questions and eventually justified them by “if I don't kill them then they will kill me”.He was afraid of both killing, and dying but he knew that if he didn’t kill then he himself would be dead. These experiences and suppression of ideas are what led O’Brien’s to write The Things They Carried. In real life, Tim O'Brien feared the war and wrote this book to persuade others and to plant an idea in their head about the horrors that they should not want to suffer. Tim portrays his fear of the war by sharing his experiences as stories. Tim portrays many of his fears

In Tim O’Brien’s The Things They Carried, he emphasizes a chapter on “The Man I Killed”, which describes the characteristics of a young Vietnamese man in which O’Brien may or may not have killed with a grenade. The novel is not chronologically sequenced, which leaves more room for the reader to engage in a critical thought process that fully bridges the author’s mind to their own. In O’Brien’s chapter, “The Man I Killed”, he attempts to humanize the enemy in a way that draws little separation between the enemy and himself by relating the enemy’s life prior to the war to his, and illustrates the war through the eyes of the soldiers who fought it.

This helped us see that the narrator thought the war was traumatizing. To begin, O’brien used the literary device, Man vs. Self, to relay that war is a traumatizing experience. One thing he said that shows this is, “when I’m reading a newspaper or just sitting or just sitting alone in a room I’ll look up and see the young man coming out of the morning fog.” He is trying to cope with it everyday that he had to kill a man that had done no harm to him. He sees the young man walking past him often as constant reminder.

The chapter “Ghost Soldiers” the theme morality was evident. In the chapter, the medic Rat Kiley had left the war and Bobby Jorgenson filled in. While he was the medic Tim O’Brien was shot and Jorgenson did nothing to help him. When O’Brien was in the hospital he plotted revenge against Jorgenson. When he attempted to get revenge the plan failed but Jorgenson and O’Brien formed a truce. “What is real he said. Eight months in fantasyland, it

The new soldiers’ resistance was usually followed by an attempt to flee which brought shame and embarrassment to both the new soldiers and their families. Subsequent to the attempt to flee came a final adoption to the war in which O’Brien and many others tried so hard to get out of. O’Brien uses elements such as conflict, imagery, and tone to help convey his

O’Brien briefly relives the night in My Khe. He had been on watch after midnight. He saw the young man emerging from the mist, carrying a gun. He grabbed a grenade and threw it without really thinking. Right after he threw the grenade, he felt guilty. But it was too late. The grenade dealt a fatal blow. And, twenty years later, O’Brien is still living with the guilt. He doesn't want to tell her truth just yet. After he killed the soldier Tim stated,"Even now I haven't finished sorting it out. Sometimes I forgive myself, other times I

On page 190-191, O’Brien states, “I turned mean inside...a deep coldness inside me...capable of evil...need for revenge kept eating at me.” His newfound hatred changes him into a different person than he was before the war, a person that seeked revenge. The anger and hatred O’Brien experiences gives off a resentful and bitter tone toward Jorgenson’s failure of being prepared to provide first aid to his wound.

In this passage O’brien demonstrates his own character traits. As a writer, he has a strong ability to understand what others are feeling and sympathize. When he kills the young soldier, he creates a story around him, imaging the soldier as having similar struggles to his own. He deeply regrets the soldier's death because he feels that neither of them really wanted to be fighting in this war and relates his own life story to the fictional one he creates for the soldier.