Analysis Of Tim O 'Brien'sThe Things They Carried'

In Tim O’Brien’s “The Things They Carried”, O’Brien created several allusions that each character endured during the Vietnam War. Throughout the story were vast representations of the things the soldiers carried both mentally and physically. The things they carried symbolized their individual roles internally and externally. In addition to the symbolism, imagination was a focal theme that stood out amongst the characters. This particular theme played a role as the silent killer amongst Lt. Cross and the platoon both individually and collectively as a group. The theme of imagination created an in depth look of how the war was perceived through each character which helped emphasize their thoughts from an emotional standpoint of being young men out at war.

Throughout the book, O’Brien repeatedly states his struggles in telling “a true war story.” One of the obstacle he faces in telling “a true war story” is the readers’ misconception that “truth” must be an event and not an emotion. To begin, O’Brien claims “A true war story is never moral… If at the end of a war story you feel uplifted… then you have been made the victim of a very old and terrible lie… you can tell a true war story by its absolute and uncompromising allegiance to obscenity and evil” (68-69) and “All of us… like to believe that in a moral emergency we will behave like the heroes of our youth” (38). In these two statements, O’Brien has shown us that people want not a

In Tim O’Brien’s novel The Things They Carried, the chapter “In the Field” O’Brien expresses how similar the shit field that Kiowa died in is a metaphor for war. Kiowa, a good man, drowned in the field can correlate to how many good men die in war and how for other people it stays on, they can taste it in their mouths and smell it for a long time afterwards, in the form of ptsd and the ecetera.

He states that “[He] would go to war- [He] would kill and maybe die- because [He] was embarrassed” (O’Brien 57). He soon realized that he should have escaped when he had the chance because it was better than experiencing the horrors and traumatic experiences that soldiers go through. Sometimes what society thinks can get the best of you and lead you to do things that are against your beliefs and morals. This is what Tim is trying to say through the book to the readers who might find themselves in similar situations.

He didn 't "kill" the man because he was in danger; he did it because he was scared. He was a coward. He tells us in the chapter "Ambush" that he 'was in no real peril ' and 'the young man would 've passed him by '. He knew that he wasn 't in danger but he "killed" the man anyway because that 's what you were supposed to do in war; you were supposed to kill. He wasn 't being brave; he was giving into the idea of war. He was doing something that he didn 't believe in.

1. “In any war story, especially a true one, it’s difficult to separate what happened from what seemed to happen. What seems to happen becomes its own happening and has to be told the way. “ (71)

There are two types of people that fight in wars; those who consider their patriotic duty an honor and those who entered the war by force. In 1990, twenty years after returning from the Vietnam War, Tim O’Brien published The Things They Carried, a disturbing and remorseful collection of short stories that gives detailed, yet fictional, accounts of the horrific events that occurred during the war. Later in 2012, after his tour of duty, Chris Kyle released American Sniper, a humble and passionate memoir that describes what Kyle had to face during his tour. While The Things They Carried utilizes symbolism and similes to inform the reader about the horrors of war, American Sniper uses flashbacks and imagery to demonstrate that some people “come alive” during the war.

Many may question the true meaning of love. However, there is not an exact description. According to Merriam-Webster, The full definition of love is “a (1): strong affection for another arising out of kinship or personal ties-maternal love for a child (2): attraction based on sexual desire: affection and tenderness felt by lovers (3): affection based on admiration, benevolence, or common interests”. Love played a role in Tim O’Brien’s The Things They Carried. First Lieutenant Jimmy Cross is the platoon leader. While stationed in the Vietnam, Lieutenant Cross was infatuated with Martha. He used his memory and imagination to escape from the scenes from the war.

     How does death affect the behavior of people? Although death affects everyone's behavior differently, knowledge of one's imminent death is a main force behind behavioral changes. This knowledge causes emotions that motivate people to act in ways that they normally would not. In Tim O'Brien's 'The Things They Carried,'; the knowledge of death and its closeness causes the men in the story to alter their behavior by changing they way they display power, modifying emotions to relieve guilt, and by exhibiting different actions to ease anxiety.

In “The Things They Carried” Tim O’Brien uses this story as a coping mechanism; to tell part of his stories and others that are fiction from the Vietnamese War. This is shown by using a fictions character’s voice, deeper meaning in what soldier’s carried, motivation in decision making, telling a war story, becoming a new person and the outcome of a war in one person. Tim O’ Brien uses a psychological approach to tell his sorrows, and some happiness from his stories from the war. Each part, each story is supposed to represent a deeper meaning on how O’Brien dealt, and will deal with his past. In war, a way to

He chose war and went home. “I feared war, yes, but I also feared exile”(O’Brien 42). O’Brien considered himself a coward because he chose war, but above all, he feared that his family would dishonor him. He was embarrassed not to go to war and ended up putting others’ morals before his own.

“The Things They Carried” by Tim O’Brien is a short story written about the Vietnam War. The title has two meanings. The first is their duties and equipment for the war. The second, the emotional sorrows they were put through while at war. Their wants and needs, the constant worry of death were just a few of the emotional baggage they carried. During the Vietnam War, like all wars, there were hard times. Being a soldier wasn’t easy. Soldiers always see death, whether it be another soldier or an enemy. In “The Things They Carried,” Tim O’Brien explores the motivation of solders in the Vietnam War to understand their role in combat, to stay in good health, and accept the death of a fellow soldier.

Death and violence occur almost in every chapter of the novel “The Things They Carried” by Tim O’Brien. One of the major death events happens in the first chapter, “The Things They Carried” and in the chapter “How To Tell a True War Story”, where Curt Lemon was blown up by grenades, “I remember the shadows spreading out under the trees where Curt Lemon and Rat Kiley were playing catch with smoke grenades.” In the first chapter “The Things They Carried”, Lavender was shot and killed in the first week of April, “In the first week of April Lavender died. In “How To Tell a True War Story” an incident occurred when Rat and Curt shot a baby buffalo, “He stepped back and shot it through the right front knee.” All this death and violence in this little novel, so much has happened violence, and death has happened throughout this entire novel.

In the novel The Things They Carried by Tim O’Brien, O’Brien uses the experiences of characters such as Mary Anne, as well as others like O’Brien himself, Kiowa, and Bowker to define the meaning of courage. During the Vietnam War, many were forced to follow typical American standards of courage, that in order to be courageous, one must express heroism for others. However, others reject this societal ideal by having rare, unpredictable bravery in order to save themselves. Through Mary Anne’s reaction to the war, the reader can continue to define courage by considering the differences between Mary Anne and the men of the war, such as how their acquired morals, or lack thereof, and the expectations imposed onto them affect their war experiences.

The story of Things they carried written by author Tim O’Brien is the story of a group of young men who served during the war in Vietnam. The story explains the physical and mental burdens of war, carried by each individual, for the battle, their love, and their superstitious beliefs. Of the group, First Lieutenant Jimmy Cross, their leader, was a young man who carried the heaviest load. First Lieutenant Cross was often distracted by thoughts of a girl named Martha, whom he had met before the war. Martha was a college student in New Jersey who had sent Lieutenant Cross letters and good luck charms. Though Martha’s intentions were innocent, Lieutenant Cross never understood them that way, as a matter of fact, he often fantasized about Martha