Figurative Language In The Things They Carried By Tim O Brien

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

This book is an actual war story where it has numerous of stories about his experiences. But under all those harsh stories and events lies one of the most powerful forces, and that is love. Could it be that instead these stories are based on love and not war? When I say love I do not mean that they are all homosexual but rather they are best friends, battle buddies, loyal to each other. They may get into fights but they all have each others back at the end of the day and I’m going to go through three characters and how they connected with the author, Tim O’Brien.

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.

Emotions show from many people in the story, The Things They Carried, ranging from distant memories, such as Tim O’Brien’s 9 year old crush, Linda, to the deaths of Kiowa, Curt Lemon, and other fellow soldiers in the war. Tim O’Brien would surely disagree with what was asked on statement 5 saying, “Physical injuries are more painful than mental or emotional injuries.” To show evidence that was stated in the book, the first example is brought up on page 28, when Lavender had died and Jimmy had kept a picture of his crush, Martha. Jimmy Cross stated, “Well, I did--- I burned it. After Lavender died, I couldn’t.... This is a new one. Martha gave it to me herself” (Cross 28). Lavender had just died while in battle and most would consider it both

At the beginning of the chapter I believed that the protagonist was Fossie, however, it wasn’t it was Mary Anne. Throughout the chapter it was shown how she was changing form a kind and goofy girl that just seemed to be there for her boyfriend, to a heartless and fearless woman that wanted to kill and be part of the war. O’Brien uses figurative language to add description within his paragraphs and stories. He uses imagery to describe specific things in detail such as a necklace, “ At the girl’s throat was a necklace of human tongues. Elongated and narrow, like pieces of blackened leather, the tongues were threaded along a length of copper wire, one tongue overlapping the next, the tips curled upward as if caught in a final shrills syllable,”

In the novel The Things They Carried by Tim O’Brien, many literary devices are used to tell the tale of a Vietnam War experience. Many of these devices are used repeatedly, and can be identified through close reading. A particular excerpt located in “The Things They Carried” section uses repetition and simile to give the reader an idea of the mental and emotional affect of the death of a companion.

In Tim O’Brien’s short story, “The Things They Carried”, a young man is leading a troop of men in the Vietnam War and is having an internal conflict with missing a woman back home. He becomes so distracted by the woman that he loses focus on keeping his men safe. However, when one of his men gets murdered by a sniper, he soon comes to the realization that he cannot afford to dream because it can cost the lives of the men surrounding him. O’Brien uses many literary elements in his writing. These elements include tone, symbolism, and irony. O’Brien uses tone, symbolism, and irony to prove that distractions come with a price.

It took Tim O'Brien 20 years after the war was done for him to write the novel The Things They Carried. When O’Brien wrote the novel the things they carried, he had to relive everything he went through. The purpose of writing this novel was to let everyone that was not there themselves know what it was like on a person. O’Brien was the protagonist and the antagonist is the war in Vietnam. When O’Brien wrote this novel his intended audience was people that were not in the Vietnam War. The novel was more mortality and death but, also has shame and guilt a lot throughout the story.

War changes everyone, and it can turn even the most innocent into warriors. Mary Anne Bell is whisked to Vietnam when her lover Mark Fossie arranges for her to do so. She becomes everyone’s favorite, and only, “cheerleader” for the medics and soldiers, but the war ends up changing her in ways that make the reader question the real effects of Vietnam. In The Things They Carried, O’Brien uses Mary Anne’s transformation to explore innocence in Vietnam.

In the previous chapter that I have read in the novel “The Things They Carried” by Tim O’Brien, the chapters that seem to be talking about after the war and seem like actual war stories would be “Speaking of Courage”, and “Notes.” Those two chapters stand out more, where the previous talk about life during the war and what is going on.

The Things They Carried by Tim O’Brien is truly a storytelling masterpiece that has hidden life lessons surrounding the entire novel. Throughout the book, O’Brien uses several rhetorical devices in order to successfully capture the attention of his reader, and thoroughly rein them into the story by their emotions. O’Brien has the marvellous effect of allowing his words to place the reader in the events he is describing alongside with him, whether it be by feeling the emotion he’s feeling, or seeing the things he’s seeing. The chapter “Love” within the novel, The Things They Carried, is a perfect example as to how O’Brien’s storytelling pulls readers into his writing by their emotions. “Love” shifts from a calm, refreshing tone, to a depressing,

“The things they carried” by Tim O’Brien is a short story that depicts the events of a group of soldiers during the Vietnam War. In it they discuss the various items that the soldiers carried, from their weapons to survival gear even down to the intangible items like what weights on their hearts and minds. These descriptions express the symbolism of the name “the things they carried” as the emotional baggage that comes with fighting a war. The split between leaving the life you knew behind, and encountering a new world of unknown outcomes and terrors. What happens when you witness the devastation of battle surrounding you, the loss of your fellow brothers of arms, and the power it takes to trudge on.

The literal meaning of this passage is just how it sits. These men are thrown into war and are set with these ideals that it is not okay for them to express emotion towards what they are faced with on a daily basis. Although each and every one of those men were impacted by those gruesome sights and feelings, it was just an accepted way that things were. Real men were not supposed to be affected by their experiences. The greater significance it that it is everyone in life is changed somehow and influenced by each sight they see. One should not feel ashamed for letting an experience find it was truly into their heart and letting it take a role in their life. O’Brien is trying to highlight the plethora of things that each person carried beyond

Tim O’Brien wrote a collection of related short stories titled The Things They Carried, that follows a platoon of American soldiers in the Vietnam War and when they return to their homes. Throughout the novel, O’Brien uses real names and includes himself, as the protagonist, to create a style that ebbs and flows from fiction to non-fiction without realization. According to Kathleen Laura MacArthur, it is “through this process and these stylistic innovations, the reader might then experience this trauma secondhand and, perhaps, relate this trauma to one’s own personal traumatic experience” (26). At first, the reader is introduced to the narrator First Lieutenant Tim O’Brien; he begins to talk about his love for a woman named Martha and how he carries her letters and good-luck pebble with him. As O’Brien continues, he explains all the various things the men of the company carry. In most cases, these “things” are physical objects and depend on factors such as the individual’s priorities and necessities. In addition, he talks about items that are universal among the men, such as mosquito repellent, chewing gum, matches, C rations and a multi-use poncho. These possessions serve as an opportunity for us to see into the emotional burdens each soldier carries. As the title of this novel refers to the things, or “weight,” the soldiers carry, the soldiers are changed from lively, young people to hardened and cold throughout the war by the tragic events they go through, tasks they must

In Tim O’Brien’s, “The Things They Carried” is centered around a group of U.S. soldiers and their experiences in the jungles of Vietnam. The main character Jimmy Cross leads his platoon through the jungle but is constantly distracted by the women he perceives to be his lover (Martha). Many of the soldier’s fear death, so they keep superstitious items such as rabbit’s feet or severed thumbs of the enemy soldiers. After the death of one of his squad mates Ted Lavender, Cross begins to take things more serious and begins to push his thought of Martha away.