Emotional Experiences in Tim O´Brien´s The Things They Carried

Tim O’ Brien wants the reader to feel what he felt going through this nightmare. The device he uses is imagery and this is important because the reader can feel like they are a part of the war. He gives an account of the nightmare : “His entrenching tool like an ax, slashing.” I can imagine an angry lumber jack cutting deep into tree, which in his case represented his emotional feelings for the love he had for Martha. Martha was a young, beautiful girl with whom he was so in love, but Martha only…

what comes to mind is death, torture, and destruction. War instills fear since everyone dreads involvement in the ordeal (Mazlish 10). The experience of war leaves people with physical and psychological scars. Tim Obrien in “The Things they Carried” brings to light the tribulations faced by the soldiers in their quest to restore peace. He asserts, ‘war is hell (Brien 8).’This is an exhilarating story that brings to light the fact that, despite their participation in the war, soldiers are still human…

War and the Tenuousness of Morality in Tim O’Brien’s “The Things They Carried,” “How to Tell a True War Story,” and “Style” In the novel The Things They Carried, Tim O’Brien demonstrates how exposure to the atrocities of nations at war leads to the soldiers having skewed perspectives on what is right and wrong, predominantly at times when the purpose of the war itself appears elusive. The ambiguity that consumes the stories of “The Things They Carried” and “How to Tell a True War Story” is…

Tim O’Brien’s “The Things They Carried” is about the famous Vietnam War. The book includes many stories which does not require to read the chapters in chronological order. O'Brien was drafted in the war in 1968, which was the year the war peaked. O’Brien was set for life with scholarships from Harvard. He didn’t believe in the war which made fighting the war that much harder. O’Brien includes stories from before, during, and after the war; however he doesn’t write the story with the “before, during…

Symbolism In "The Things They Carried" In Tim O'Brien's story "The Things They Carried" we see how O'Brien uses symbolism in order to indirectly give us a message and help us to connect to what the soldiers are thinking and feeling. During a war soldiers tend to take with them items from home kind of as a security blanket. The items they normally take with them tend to reveal certain characteristics of their personality. Henry Dobbins is the guy who loves to eat so he made sure he took some…

kicked the buffalo, it was as though Rat was lying there in place of the buffalo. Rat Kiley’s presentation of compassion, hostility, and acceptance promoted the idea that witnessing death caused him to become drawn into the war emotionally. The emotional involvement challenged the notion that after witnessing a traumatic event one become’s numb and blocks all feeling. By looking at Rat’s actions merely as an expression of his emotion, it made the situation more bearable. It allowed others to accept…

What is “truth”? In The Things They Carried, the reader has their eyes opened to a new kind of “truth”; a “truth” that is not based on the honesty of events, the “happening-truth”, but the honesty of human nature, the “story-truth.” The novel itself, The Things They Carried, is comprised of many different stories based on the author Tim O’Brien’s service in the Vietnam war. Recalling from memories of his service, Tim O’Brien intricately weaves fact and fiction into his novel to force the reader…

The Study of “Things They Carried” by Tim O’Brien George Carlin, during the early 80’s, had a routine that was a witticism on the importance of having "personal effects". These “personal effects” or items that a person accumulates through life symbolize their identity. The impractical things carried in pockets, purses, bags and suitcases that make people feel "as themselves" while in strange surroundings. These things are so essential to identify the person these “personal effects” represents. If…

something that not many Vietnam soldiers expected to ever see again. The Things They Carried by Tim O’Brien, portrays his experience in the war along with his fellow squad members, in their fight for survival against the Vietcong. In The Things They Carried, each character carries a physical or emotional weight, whether it be a memory, story, or object, to comfort them and guide them in their struggle to find hope during the war. Tim O’Brien, the author, carries undoubtedly the most important weight…

In the book “The Things They Carried” four female characters played an important role in the lives of the men. Whether imaginary or not, they showed the power that women could have over men. Though it's unknown if the stories of these women are true or not, they still make an impact on the lives of the soldiers and the main narrator. Martha, even though she is only ever mentioned in the beginning of the book, still plays a huge role in the lives of the soldiers. In some ways, she is a large part…