Literary Analysis The Man I Killed

There are times when things can be characterized by one specific quality. An entity can be black or white with no gray space in between. However, war is a different story. To those involved in a war, it can be far more enigmatic than one may assume. In The Things They Carried by Tim O’Brien, the author’s structural choices convey the subjectivity of truth during the war.

During the story in “The Man I Killed” O’Brien’s use of such detailed imagery shows the reader that this experience has given O’Brien lots of emotional baggage. With all of this emotional baggage, O’Brien thinks very irrationally by explicitly remembering detail about his experience. O’Brien also tends to keep repeating phrases whenever this occurs. During the story about Norman Bowker in “Speaking of Courage” O’Brien again gives the reader very detailed imagery of the details in the story. The emotional baggage attached to Norman Bowker from his experience with Kiowa’s death causes him to act very irrationally by wading into a lake fully clothed, and later killing himself with no precursor or warning

O’Brien was confused about death when his girlfriend died, he felt so strongly for her even at a young age. He would daydream about her and this kept her alive in his mind. He realized that storytelling and imagination could keep the dead alive. The way he deals with her death helps him to deal with death during Vietnam and later the stories help him to deal with the difficulties he’s had in life.

For decades there had been people who were racist and others that felt better because of their skin color. In Truman Capote’s book In Cold Blood these characteristics are captured; however, since its publishing ideals have changed. Some believed that two killers were not given a truly fair trial. Furthermore there was a fight between the system and if the killers should be sentenced to death. This book although effective with style could have used fewer details.

O’Brien is interacting with his audience by saying the word “you” at the beginning of the passage. When he says, “I want you to feel what I felt” (O'Brien 171), it is making a personal connection between the reader and the author. The goal of these paragraphs is for O’Brien to tell the readers the difference between his happening-truth and story-truth. In a way, it is kind of a confession to his reader. A confession about how he may not be describing exactly what or whom he saw, but instead is saying something to fill the holes in his memories. With the words he is using like faceless grief and then going on to the harsh details about the body, it shows the contrast between both versions of the story. To help show the difference between

Power and control plays a big role in the lives many. When power is used as a form of control, it leads to depression and misery in the relationship. This is proven through the themes and symbolism used in the stories Lesson before Dying, The fun they had, The strangers that came to town, and Dolls house through the median of three major unsuccessful relationship: racial tension between the African Americans and the caucasians in the novel Lesson before Dying, Doll’s House demonstrates a controlling relationship can be detrimental for both individuals and The Stranger That Came To Town along with The Fun They Had show that when an individual is suppressed by majority they become despondent.

In the book Everything I Never Told You, there are many different elements and techniques used within the book. The technique that I want to go into more depth on is the use of symbolism. I specifically want to focus on the symbolism in regards to Lydia, Hannah, and Nath’s love of astronauts and space.

I believe us as humans only choose to conform for two reasons; first, is what we have to or should do, second, because we believe it will somehow support in the intentions of our own desires. I also learn that in the chapter “The Man I Killed”, Tim repeats himself multiple times of the man he killed with a grenade. He said “His jaw was in his throat, his upper lip and teeth were gone, his one eye was shut, his other eye was a star-shaped hole, his eyebrows were thin and arched like a woman’s, his nose was undamaged…” multiple times in multiple pages because this symbolizes that he wants to emphasize the point he is making (O’Brien 118, 120, 121, 122, 123, 124). The important use of repetition demonstrates how powerful the meaning of the text is, it also clarifies the point and lastly, the acceptance of an idea. This also ties with the psychological effect this has on Tim because he has the notion that the memory of the soldier is still fresh in Tim’s mind. As you can notice in this chapter, Tim doesn’t seem to talk at all, Azar and Kiowa are congratulating him, saying it was a “good kill” (123) and is told in a 3rd person view (O’Brien 119, 120). What made Kiowa say “Go away” to Azar is because he was milking it to Tim, saying things that Tim did not want to hear, such as saying that he killed someone when he already knows (O’Brien 119). Psychologically, Tim kept to himself because he

Poe uses first person narration all throughout this story. He does this by using past tense language as if he was telling you this in person. By using this element of first person narration it is able appeal more to the reader in an emotional way. The reader feels as if the protagonist is

Considering the fact that murder seems to be a big issue in today's world, it is something we need to talk about in many senses of the word. The number of homicides seem to be a record high, at least in Topeka, Kansas. In other places, murder, in many senses of the word, has been an issue. The new class Why People Become Murderers (or Resisting the Urge)  needs pieces of literature to help understand the topic of murder. Literature to consider at this point is “Killings” and The Cow. These are great literary examples to consider because of the contrasting viewpoints.

O’Brien add details to make the events real in the reader's mind and to make them feel how he felt. These story-truth he’s telling are fictional, but they hold truthful emotions. It is consisting of the misleading events that could have occurred to make it easier for the readers to feel what is going on and experience it for themselves. The examples he used were as follows: O'Brien expresses that "what stories can do, I guess, is make things present (O’Brien, Tim. “Good Form.” The Things They Carried, New York; Mariner, 2009 (172)”, and O’Brien say, "He was a slim, dead, almost dainty young man of about twenty. He lay in the center of a red clay trail near the village of My Khe. His jaw was in his throat. His one eye was shut, the other eye was a starshaped hole. I killed him (O’Brien, Tim. “Good Form.” The Things They Carried, New York; Mariner, 2009 (172)”. He made it possible for you to feel the blame or any feelings that he may have felt. The event that happened years prior can be made applicable again, the misery can be felt again, and the experienced by the individuals who never could encounter

William Faulkner began writing As I Lay Dying, his self-proclaimed “tour-de-force”, on October 25, 1929, the day after the stock markets crashed. As I Lay Dying is a piece of literature that exemplifies the beginning of the Modernism movement. At this point, traditional literary conventions and practices were boring and dated, and writers like Faulkner experimented with new writing techniques. The avant-guard methods and techniques are seen in As I Lay Dying with its fickle and sometimes vacillate plot, the constant shift in narrative voice, and ambiguous timeline, as well as in the stream of consciousness passages

In William Faulkner’s “As I Lay Dying” and Arthur Miller’s “Death of a Salesmen” there is Notable themes of gender role and gender identity. Faulkner’s Character Anse is Comparatively Similar but also Contrastingly different in the roles they both convey as head of their households, In their families and in society. Both Families can also be analyzed by their time period in which each piece of fictional literature took place. Faulkner’s novel “As I Lay Dying” was written in 1930 while Miller’s play was written in 1949.

Much can be interpreted by what people write.  The great thing about interpretations is that different writings can be interpreted differently.  Just like in the writings by Tim O'Brien.  His book titled "The Things They Carried," is a very deep and touching collection of stories about the Vietnam War.  The book is written, as a whole under the title "The Things They Carried," but is a collection of many people’s experiences in this destructive war.  One story that is a touching and very intriguing is titled, "The Man I Killed."  If anyone knows anything about Vietnam it is that many lives where lost in this disastrous war.

     Hemingway's "The Killers" illustrates that unexplained violence is an integrated part of society.  To acknowledge the cruelties of life is to come to terms with horrifying events that can not be denied.  A person may lack the maturity to cope with everyday life if they do not realize that evil can exist in any given society.