The Things They Carried Essay

In "The Things They Carried," O'Brien made reference to the Vietnam war that was closely associated with the physical, psychological, and emotional weight the soldiers beared.  The overall method of presentation of this story incorporated many different outlooks on the things the soldiers carried, dealt with, and were forced to adapt to.  In addition to this, O'Brien showed us the many reasons why and how the soldiers posessed these things individually and collectively and how they were associated directly and indirectly.  The strong historical content in "The Things They Carried" helped emphasize the focus of the story and establish a clearer understanding of details in the

“It is sweet and right to die for your country,” is a statement that Tim O’Brien, the main character, would have strongly disagreed with before and after entering war. The Things They Carried by Tim O’Brien is a novel compiled of short stories, all linked to the Vietnam War, depicting the experiences of several soldiers. Soldiers emerge from war with a fresh perspective, having revelations about issues such as the impact of war on a person, the meaning of life, and how to move on with life after returning from war. Aside from the heavy arsenal that O’Brien used during the war, a pen and paper are his literary weapons. Recalling his memories and even creating his own fictional stories about war, he published these narratives in hopes of keeping war alive in his present, not just his past.

Tim O’Brien’s, The Things they Carried is a riveting tale of struggle and sacrifice, self indulgence and self pity, and the intrapersonal battles that reeked havoc on even the most battle tested soldiers. O’Brien is able to express these ideas through eloquent writing and descriptive language that makes the reader feel as if he were there. The struggle to avoid cowardice is a prevailing idea in all of O’Brien’s stories.

In The Things They Carried the idea of spinning, in various forms captivated me the most. From the start, I knew I wanted to display the young girl from “Style” in my collage since I thought it would be the best way to insert myself into the piece. I wanted to express how war spins from hell and violence, to beauty and peace. O’Brien tells many stories that seem terrible, but end with some beauty or peace behind it. O’Brien juggles the idea of spinning, from the girl dancing surrounded by wreckage, to O’Brien’s mind spinning out of the control of rational thought as he wonders what could have been of the man he killed, and to the beauty O’Brien found in his dream with Linda, turning Linda’s traumatic death into a peaceful

The new medal for military service is called the medal of preserving innocence. In the book The Things They Carried, war is viewed as an event that steals youth and innocence away from many, but with the many that have their innocence stealing, they preserve the innocence of many back home. The qualities of the recipient include but are not limited to: stopping the truth of war actions from spreading back home, taking action to stop the enemy from invading territory, and performing heartless acts to see a fellow solider make it home alive. The medal includes many symbols. The heart is there to show that it takes a lot of love for someone to shield them from the truth of the war. The crest of the eagle is to show that bravery does not always

For Vietnam, they went to war because they wanted independence from France, in addition to all European influence. But it soon morphed into a war to stop the spread of communism. Allow me to introduce the Domino theory: the Domino theory concluded that if Vietnam won the war and became a Communist country, so would the rest of Asia, which was not great. Similarly, the colonies yearned for independence from Great Britain. So, after consideration, they declared independence from Great Britain. As I stated before, both the Vietnam and the colonies had allies to aid and help them. The colonies had France, Holland and Spain help them. On the other hand, Vietnam had China and Russia help them. Above all, both wars had been fighting over government and politics, and to achieve independence.

The text, ‘The Things They Carried', is an excellent example which reveals how individuals are changed for the worse through their first hand experience of war. Following the lives of the men both during and after the war in a series of short stories, the impact of the war is accurately portrayed, and provides a rare insight into the guilt stricken minds of soldiers. ‘The Things They Carried' shows the impact of the war in its many forms: the suicide of an ex-soldier upon his return home; the lessening sanity of a medic as the constant death surrounds him; the trauma and guilt of all the soldiers after seeing their friends die, and feeling as if they could have saved them; and the deaths of the soldiers, the most negative impact a war

     In Tim O’Brien’s novel, The Things They Carried, numerous themes are illustrated by the author. Through the portrayal of a number of characters, Tim O’Brien suggests that to adapt to Vietnam is not always more difficult than to revert back to the lives they once knew. Correspondingly the theme of change is omnipresent throughout the novel, specifically in the depiction of numerous characters.

How can two stories be so different yet so similar at the same time? In The Things They Carried by Tim O’Brien, the author depicts the life of the soldiers as they are in Vietnam. He writes about what the soldiers carry in their bags, but he gives it a deeper meaning. He writes about the soldier’s life, all the emotional baggage they carry with leaving their loved ones and the pain of losing a fellow soldier. In “The Lone Ranger and Tonto fistfight in Heaven” by Sherman Alexie, Victor goes through different encounters where he experiences racism. He ends up going back to his reservation and getting a job. These two stories are similar through the freight, “any load or burden” (YourDictionary.com), the characters carry and how the characters are seen as the enemy. Although they have these similarities, they also have their differences. Their differences are the main character’s conflict with their

“The Things They Carried” by Tim O’ Brien is a story in which the author details the possessions the emotions and the memories which were carried by the soldiers into the Vietnam War. The accuracy fact fullness and the attention to details make this story a truthful experience, riding on a thin line between fiction and a reality. It embodies the transformation that a soldier in a war zone undergoes. The author being a war veteran himself captures the events in a vivid manner. The two works of literature serve as an authentic and knowledgeable depiction of men fighting a war. They not only carry the weight of weaponry and ammunitions and supplies needed but also the weight of the struggle and the violent deaths that surround them which weigh heavier than the items they carried. The outcomes of war for the side that wins or loses results in devastation of the people but the soldiers are the ones who carry with them the memories of pain and struggle long after the war ends. Every war is partly fought on the ground and partly in the mind of soldiers.

The novel The Things They Carried by Tim O’Brien is about the emotional effects the war has on soldiers and the reality vs expectation upon soldiers. O’Brien tells this story from his perspective as a young man and how he struggles with even the idea of war. He talks about what soldiers overcome throughout it. O’Brien describes what it is like for the soldiers to always have a constant worry that they could die at any time and not go home to their family.

“War is hell, but that’s not the half of it, because war is also mystery and terror and adventure and courage and discovery and holiness and pity and despair and longing and love. War is nasty; war is fun. War is thrilling; war is drudgery. War makes you a man; war makes you dead.” (80)

In the novel The Things They Carried by Tim O'Brien the author tells about his experiences in the Vietnam war by telling various war stories. The quote, "It has been said of war that it is a world where the past has a strong grip on the present, where machines seemed sometimes to have more will power than me, where nice boys (girls) were attracted to them, where bodies ruptured and burned and stand, where the evil thing trying to kill you could look disconnecting human and where except in your imagination it was impossible to be heroic." relates to each of his stories.

Written by author Tim O’Brien after his own experience in Vietnam, “The Things They Carried” is a short story that introduces the reader to the experiences of soldiers away at war. O’Brien uses potent metaphors with a third person narrator to shape each character. In doing so, the reader is able to sympathize with the internal and external struggles the men endure. These symbolic comparisons often give even the smallest details great literary weight, due to their dual meanings. The symbolism in “The Things They Carried” guides the reader through the complex development of characters by establishing their humanity during the inhumane circumstance of war, articulating what the men need for emotional and spiritual survival, and by revealing

The United States entered Vietnam’s civil war in 1965 and US involvement continued until 1975. One of the major causes for American involvement was communism as North Vietnam was supported by communist countries like China and the Soviet Union. South Vietnam was supported by the anti-communist countries of America, South Korea and other nations. This war was very unpopular in America and many citizens wanted an end to American involvement, which lead to protests involving thousands of people across the country. The Vietnam War protests are an example of mob mentality because of the large amount of violent protestors.