In And After The War
Young men who are sent to a war learn the reality in a very harsh and brutal way. Both the stories, ‘The Red Convertible’ and ‘The Things They Carried’ portray the life of a young soldier and how he psychologically gets affected from all the things he had seen in the war. Tim O’Brien’s ‘The Things They Carried,’ is more specific on the experiences of a soldier during a war where as Karen Louise Erdrich focuses more on describing the post war traumatic stress in her short story ‘The Red Convertible’. One thing similar in both the narrations is the Vietnam War and its consequences on the soldiers. From the background of both the authors it’s easy to conclude that Tim O’Brien being a war veteran emphasizes more on the
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In Karen’s ‘The Red Convertible,’ the story is narrated by Lyman Lamartine who is the younger brother of Henry Junior who had just got back from Vietnam after the war was over. The whole story is narrated in a flashback unlike Tim’s ‘The Things They Carried’ where the story moves back and forth in time. For example when the author describes the things that the soldiers carried in the very beginning of the story, he mentions Ted Lavender carrying six or seven ounces of premium dope until he was shot. Karen emphasizes more on the relationship between brothers and compares the state of mind in which they were before and after the war. The younger brother Lyman hadn’t changed much where as the elder brother Henry was completely a different person after he got back from Vietnam. In both the stories authors have successfully shown the life of a young and happy bachelor until he was drafted to the war and then things changed drastically. In ‘The Things They Carried,’ author narrates Lieutenant Jimmy Cross as a romantic young boy who would carry letters from a girl named Martha. He knew there was no such thing as love between them but he would still be hopeful that things might work out his way after the war is over and when he is sent back home. In the later part of the story after one of his soldier dies, he blames himself for what had happened. Though it can be argued that it wasn’t completely his fault but that’s what being in war can do to you. Whereas in ‘The Red
The fascination of Marilyn Monroe and Audrey Hepburn still stays strong to this day. We often find ourselves loving the idea of these two flawless icons. Everyone wanted to be them then, and it is still true today. They were two major icons in the 1950’s. They were two beautiful, inspirational women. Marilyn Monroe and Audrey Hepburn really did live the lifestyles of the rich and the famous. Most people only see the similarities, but in fact, they are more different than some may think.
begins this writing from when she was eleven years old. Her mom and Granny were very
There are many roads to go down in life, and nobody knows what road to go down until that time has passed and a new time has come. The book The Things They Carried by Tim O’Brien, was written to explore the purpose of storytelling itself. It is also written in a non chronological order to show and tell the meaning of the story. The best way to tell a true war story is not by putting the story in order, but by telling the meaning of the book even if it does not make sense. Tim O’Brien uses the themes shame/guilt and storytelling/memory to show the feelings and look back on life from the soldiers who fought in the Vietnam War.
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
In the novel The Things They Carried and the documentary Regret to Inform, people that were involved share their recollection of events that occurred during the Vietnam War. Consequently, both works also share the underlying idea that people are affected by the war even after it is done. They convey this meaning through the stories of mental and physical harm each witness deals and dealt with because of the war.
Though each story was written to convey the miseries associated with war, they convey the effects of such psychological wounds differently. In, “The Red Convertible, we understand Henry’s struggles through the eyes of his brother, Lyman. As a result, the reader doesn’t have a clear understanding about the tribulations Henry actually faced during the war. Instead, we see how his relationship with his younger brother has been altered. Contrastingly, in, “The Things They Carried”, we are able to gauge the struggles faced by soldiers firsthand. What I thought was interesting about O’Brien’s work is that the events were not laid out chronologically, unlike the other story. I feel that this style choice is meant to coincide with what it is actually like to be placed in a high risk situation, such as war. During a stressful event, people tend to act impulsively and, or, irrationally. They’re not thinking about
Growing up, many young boys idolized the war heroes in movies such as Saving Private Ryan and American Sniper. However, the glorified heroism that is depicted in these films is far from the reality that is war. A more realistic rendition of war is seen in Tim O’Brien’s short story, The Things They Carried. Throughout the story, O’Brien uses metafictional characters to portray the physical and emotional burdens carried by American soldiers who were forced to conform to societal expectations upon being drafted for the Vietnam War. The literary elements O’Brien uses throughout the story to convey this theme are symbolism, imagery, tone, and inner conflict of the protagonist.
Brent Staples of “Just Walk On By”, Judith Ortiz Cofer of “The Myth of the Latin Woman”, and Alice Walker of “Beauty: When the Other Dancer is the Self” had discovered their personal/cultural knowledge and identity through their experiences. They might have different experiences in different situation or incident it has the same concept. Brent Staples and Judith Cofer had similarly uncovered how they are being alienated especially in their foreign place. They both had experienced to be mistaken as somebody else. Brent Staples was once mistaken for a burglar in a magazine company and a mugger in a jewelry store. Cofer was also mistaken as a waitress by an old woman while she was holding her notebook which an old woman thought a menu
Richard Rodriguez and Amy Tan are two bilingual writers. Rodriguez comes from a Latin background where both his parents speak Spanish. Tan is a child of Chinese parents. Though they share some of the same situations; each has a different way of portraying it. This gives the readers two different aspects of being bilingual. Rodriguez told his story in Aria: a Memoir of a Bilingual Childhood. Tan told hers in Mother Tongue. In spite of the fact that they both wrote about their experiences of being bilingual, they told their stories were for very different reasons.
The act of being habitually and carefully neat and clean can make for an interesting topic in a comparison and contrast essay. Dave Barry compares the differences of how women and men clean in his compare and contrast essay, Batting Clean- Up and Striking out. In Suzanne Britt's compare and contrast essay, Neat People vs. Sloppy People she compares the differences of personalities between Sloppy people and neat people. Both essays compare cleanliness in one way or another however they both have differences regarding their use of humor, examples, and points made in their thesis.
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
A vignette from The House on Mango Street, "Those Who Don't," by Sandra Cisneros, the poem "My Parents Kept Me from Children Who Were Rough," by Stephen Spender, and another poem "We Real Cool," by Gwendolyn Brooks share many similarities and differences. These three pieces of literature talk about racism and rough children. "Those Who Don't" is about racism and how people think about others without getting to know them. "My Parents Kept Me from Children Who Were Rough" explains how a good child wants to be like other children who are bad. "We Real Cool" talks about pool players who are bad. These pieces of literature compare and contrast between figurative language, point of view, and theme.
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
By definition; love is a profoundly tender, passionate affection for another person. Love can be interrupted in many ways. Were we ever taught love or is it just a natural feeling towards a person? Some say you'll know the meaning of love when you fall in love, yet some don't believe in love at all.