Guerrilla Warfare In O Brien's The 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.

Laurence Stern wrote, “ No body, but he who has felt it, can conceive what a plaguing thing it is to have a man’s mind torn asunder by two projects of equal strength, both obstinately pulling in a contrary direction at the same time.” By interpreting this quote, Stern says that no one can understand what it feels like for a man to have his mind torn apart by two equivalent forces that pull him apart in opposite directions inside. There was much underlying meaning and connection from Laurence Stern’s quote and to The Things They Carried. In The Things They Carried, Tim O’Brien is the author as well as the character who is pulled apart by two projects: war and morals. The war in Vietnam heavily impacts each soldier causing them to yearn for

O'Brien's The Things They Carried O’Connor remarks “The Things They Carried” is a short story that is written “as an experience not an abstraction” and that “the meaning has been embodied in it”. These quotations are truly pure in description and interpretation of the short story as the reader, must look beyond the crude physical properties of the objects and actions chronicled and focus more upon their hidden meanings and messages. O’Brien uses the physical characteristics of weight to make an impact upon the reader to relate with the men. In emphasizing the soldier’s everyday burden, the reader can easily relate to the situation in general. As the story progresses, the main attention of the

There are two kinds of violence found in literature: violence caused by other characters, and violence that the characters have no control over. Foster claimed “Violence is one of the most personal and even intimate acts between human beings, but it can also be cultural and societal in its implication (Foster 88).” The effects of violence caused by other characters and violence that the characters have no control over are different. Violence caused by other characters tend to be more personal, the character inflicting the violence would have more motivation because they feel they were insulted in a way. For example in The Things They Carried when O'Brien was shot for the second time and Jorgenson was unable to treat him O'Brien decides to

A natural behaviour for humans is trying to relate to other’s points of view, one thing most people do not realize is that when you actually experience the event, you will have a different point of view versus trying to relate to it. Tim O’Brien, the author of The Things They Carried, had a completely different point of view on war than others who just watched it on the news. The main character and the stories in the book resemble Tim O'Brien's life in many ways, one of which is how Tim and the main character both oppose the war but other’s point of view about the war makes them conform and go to war anyways. .The Vietnam war, which is the basis of this book, had two opposing groups like all wars. The first was the opposition to U.S

Tim O’Brien’s book “The Things They Carried” epitomizes the degradation of morals that war produces. This interpretation is personified in the characters who gradually blur the line dividing right and wrong as the motives for war itself become unclear. The morality of soldiers and the purpose of war are tied also to the truth the soldiers must tell themselves in order to participate in the gruesome and random killing which is falsely justified by the U.S government. The lack of purpose in the Vietnam War permanently altered the soldier’s perspective of how to react to situations and in most cases they turned to violence to express their frustration.

War is an objective obstacle that at most times can be avoided. Conversely, when it rears its ugly head it becomes bothersome and ends up dividing countries and families. One of the most memorable wars will be the Vietnam War. In “The Things They Carried,” Tim O'Brien uses contrast and contradictions to reveal the character’s feeling and the effect of war to bring about the theme of peace and war.

War is the story of the people lives who were lost throughout the war. This includes during and after. This is what I would believe the meaning behind war. I have a lot of reasons as to why this is which is backed up through behind the book The Things They Carried. TTTC goes through the life of an army platoon in the middle of the war in Vietnam. Many of the people that are included throughout the book includes Jimmy Cross, Ted Lavender, Mitchell Sanders, Kiowa and many other people in the platoon.

In the mental setting, “search[ing] the villages, . . . kicking over jars of rice, frisking children and old men, blowing tunnels, [and] sometimes setting fires” (O’Brien, 399) along with the constant reminder that it was kill or be killed wore down and weighed heavily upon the American soldiers. “They are asked to violate social norms, [to carry] out orders to fire upon the enemy [,] (MacLean, 564)” and commit other atrocities that corrupt their moral code. However, more daunting than the mental strife is the physical challenges the soldiers must overcome. O’Brien describes how on a daily basis the men could catch disease like “malaria and dysentery . . . [and] lice and ringworm (399)” and how the monsoons and the jungle threaten them. The physical setting is perhaps a secondary antagonist, respectively following the enemy soldiers and the war. The physical setting challenges the American soldiers and attacks in ways that differs from the enemy soldiers; the monotonous, never-ending jungle and terrain drains their energy, the monsoons threaten to drown them, and the threat of disease is almost as terrifying as a gunshot wound. The physical and mental challenges in Vietnam create insurmountable burdens for the soldiers to try to cope

When reading the first chapter of The Things They Carried, it is quickly understood that the soldiers mentioned are burdened to carry a great deal of baggage. This baggage does not only consist of guns, ammunition, protection gear, survival materials, and personal items—this baggage also includes the numerous emotions of grief, longing, guilt, shame, and fear of dying. In complete, soldiers from Vietnam were constrained to carry material baggage as well as mental baggage that varied from each individual. The outcome of this constraint seems to play a huge role in being a soldier, however, not each soldier may handle this constraint the same way. Some soldiers may drive their vehicle around aimlessly, like Norman Bowker, trying to forget the war. Others may decide the burden is too tough to carry and hang themselves, like Bowker eventually did (p.154).

The Vietnam War, as many know it as the secret war, because the United States consider it an “Extended Military Engagement”. It is the thread that stitch me to Tim O’Brien’s, “The Things They Carried”. The alliance of the Hmong’s to the American troops brought about the deaths of many, including my grandfather. My grandfather help guide the American troops through the jungle and as word got to the Viet Cong’s, they came for the whole village. They came in the still of night and raid the huts. The Viet Cong were after my grandfather and our family to punish them for being traitors. My father, the oldest and at 16 years old was now in charge. My father took my mother, my older sister, his mom, seven siblings and ran. My grandfather stayed

The Things They Carried is a story based on the experiences of young American soldiers fighting during the Vietnam War. The story begins giving you insight into the thoughts of the soldiers, describing to you what they humped along with them through their walk in the deep jungle of Vietnam. Some of those things were necessities P-38 can openers, pocket knives, heat tabs, wristwatches, dog tags, mosquito repellent, chewing-gum, candy, cigarettes, salt tablets (81) and some were objects to give them hope. Throughout the story you follow a young platoon of men on their journey through the jungle never knowing which day could be the last day of their lives. The author, Tim O’Brien, using very accurate description and detail gives us

In the story The Things They Carried by Tim O'Brien uses literary devices such as imagery and repetition to show how conflict impact humanity in ways of making people care for who they have and how long they have them.

“The Things They Carried” provides a personal view into the minds of soldiers, and tells us the emotional and psychological costs of war. The soldiers may have carried physical objects, but some of these objects connect to a deeper psychological weight most do not see.

Vietnamese cuisine can be very diverse due its geography and climate. There is no accurate average temperature for the whole country. The Vietnamese national culture emerged from a concrete living environment: a tropical country with many rivers and the confluence of great cultures (Vietnam Country). Vietnam is a long, narrow country in Southeast of Asia that borders south China, east of Laos and Cambodia. Vietnam is practically the size of Italy and Japan put together; and is divided into three regions: north, central, and south.