Literary Devices In The Things They Carried

A literary technique is a device employed in literature to add depth to a writer’s work. These techniques can be obvious, such as the technique of rhyme in a poem, or subtle, such as juxtaposition, which can go unnoticed by the reader. In The Things They Carried, Tim O’Brien uses many such techniques to provide more depth to his book. Four literary techniques used by Tim O’Brien are symbolism, pathetic fallacy, irony, and juxtaposition.

At the same time, O’Brien struggles with destructiveness of the conflicting images of violence and peace in death through the juxtaposition of the imagery of the dead man. While “his one eye was shut, the other eye was a star-shaped hole.” The dead man has one shut eye that resembles a peaceful sleep, while the other side is obliterated by the grenade into a star-shaped hole. The image of the star-shaped hole in the dead soldier’s eye represents the hopes that he once had when he was alive: “He hoped the Americans would go away. Soon, he hoped. He kept hoping and hoping, always” (119). Furthermore, “his right cheek was smooth and hairless,” an image of untouched innocence that contrasts with his left cheek, which was “peeled back in three ragged strips,” destroyed by the violence O’Brien inflicts upon it. The juxtaposition of the butterfly that settles on his chin and the fatal wound on his neck, “open to the spinal cord…blood…thick and shiny” illustrate the complexity and ambiguity of the unnaturalness of war, depicted by the image of the dead man’s wrung neck, contrasted with the ironic peace and naturalism of death in the image of the fragile butterfly. These select images are also those that O’Brien chooses to fixate upon and develop throughout the chapter as he struggles to comprehend the moral implications of his actions. The innocence of the “slim, dead, almost dainty young man” is further reinforced when O’Brien describes his wrists as “wrists of a

Most authors who write about war stories write vividly; this is the same with Tim O’Brien as he describes the lives of the soldiers by using his own experiences as knowledge. In his short story “The Things They Carried” he skillfully reveals realistic scenes that portray psychological, physical and mental burdens carried by every soldier. He illustrates these burdens by discussing the weights that the soldiers carry, their psychological stress and the mental stress they have to undergo as each of them endure the harshness and ambiguity of the Vietnam War. One question we have to ask ourselves is if the three kinds of burdens carried by the soldier’s are equal in size? “As if in slow motion, frame by frame, the world would take on the old

Tatyana Smith 1363908 English III Honors Jody, Hollis Seminar: The Things They Carried O’Brien, Tim. The things They Carried. New York: Houghton Mufflin, 1990.Print. 1.

In The Things They Carried two stylistic devices are frequently used to give information to the reader, or remind the reader of past information they already knew. One of the stylistic devices that O'Brien uses is repetition. O'Brien frequently repeats occasions, usually adding additional detail with each repeat. One example of this is the moment of when Kiowa died. He retold this story five times, this is the center of most of the novel's action and the motivation for most of the characters' development.

The Things They Carried by Tim O'Brien expresses the importance of a story-truth, as opposed to a happening-truth by use of literary elements in his writing. The novel is about war and the guilt it leaves on everyone involved in the war. Story-truth is not exactly what happened, but uses part of the truth and part made up in order to express the truth of what emotion was felt, which an important thematic element in the novel is. The three literary devices he uses to express this are diction, imagery, juxtaposition, and hyperbole. All of these elements allow the reader to identify emotion that is expressed in each story, as though that were the complete truth.

            Tim O’Brien brings the characters and stories to life in The Things They Carried. He uses a writing style that brings stories to life by posing questions between the relationship of reality and fiction (Calloway 249). This is called metafiction and it exposes the truth through the literary experience. Tim O’Brien uses metafiction to make the characters and stories in The Things They Carried realistically evocative of the Vietnam War.

While war stories come and go, there are a selected few that capture the reader’s eyes allowing the book to change form. In Tim O’ Brien’s fictional novel, The Things They Carried, he manipulates the Vietnam War with his own concepts in order to inform the reader of his views. What shows determination more than exaggeration? In in the field, page 109, O’Brien creates Lieutenant Cross as a sympathetic character. His use of hyperbole strengthens Cross’ need to find Kiowa’s body.

The symbols in Tim O’Brien’s “The Things They Carried” are essential to understanding the soldiers and their lives during the Vietnam War. At the opening of the story, Lieutenant Jimmy Cross would dig into his foxhole and read the letters while imagining romance with Martha; however, at the end of the story after the death of Ted Lavender, he “crouched at the bottom of his foxhole and burned Martha’s letters” (402). The inner feelings of Cross would be mistakenly ignored without the help of symbols throughout his travel through Vietnam. O’Brien uses the emotional and physical weight carried by the soldiers as a representation of their personalities and how they prefer to cope with the war. The

Tim O’Brien writes about both the physical objects they carry as well as their emotional burdens. The objects that these soldiers carry serve as a symbolism for what they are carrying in their hearts and minds. The soldiers carry items varying from pantyhose, medicine, tanning oil, and pictures. Jimmy Cross is an inexperienced sophomore in college, he signs up for the Reserve Officers Training Camp because his friends are doing the course. Jimmy Cross doesn’t want anything to do with the war or anything to do with being a leader. The item that Jimmy Cross carries with him are pictures of his classmate named Martha.

     In Tim O’Brien’s novel, The Things They Carried, numerous themes are illustrated by the author. Through the portrayal of a number of characters, Tim O’Brien suggests that to adapt to Vietnam is not always more difficult than to revert back to the lives they once knew. Correspondingly the theme of change is omnipresent throughout the novel, specifically in the depiction of numerous characters.

Real Life or Fantasy: The Repercussions and Advantages of Abstraction in the Vietnam War as described in the Short Story The Things They Carried by Tim O’Brien There is a man playing for the New York Mets, he is in the last inning and has one last chance to win. As the hitter and newest player, he is especially apprehensive, so much so that he is focusing immoderately on how he got there, how proud his parents must be of him for achieving his dreams, in hopes to soothe his nerves—he is not in the present moment. Then, without warning, the pitcher pitches the ball, knowing he is not paying attention, and the ball goes zooming past his head, he strikes out… he lost the game. Situations such as this occurred a superfluous amount of times during

1. How is the term common secret typical of the phrasing of this whole passage? How is run or freeze or hide also typical of the excerpt's phrasing? In which sentences does O'Brien's phrasing seem especially clear, direct, and simple, and why is such phrasing so effective? How would you describe the tone of this passage? How might the tone easily have been quite different? For instance, how could it have been highly emotional and melodramatic? Why do you think O'Brien chose to avoid that kind of tone?

We have read a lot this past year. Each piece varying in length, but yet each had its own way of showing us something we did not know or have else forgotten. We we shown powerful word choice through the Gettysburg Address said by Abraham Lincoln, we learned about the roaring twenties in The Great Gatsby by Scott Fitzgerald, and personal strength in The Old Man and the Sea written by Ernest Hemingway. We also learned more about irony in The Lottery and the realistically false tellings of the Vietnam War in The Things They Carried by Tim O’Brien.

By analyzing the deeper level meaning in the images presented, the reader’s sympathy increases. Primarily, Decaul uses the beginning of his poem to grasp the reader’s attention by explaining the tragic activity occurring on his birthday. In doing this he uses traumatic imagery, such as “black smoke rising” and “artillery strikes” to further describe the scenery upon his “birthday.” These meaningful descriptive images bring the reader in creating a connection between us and the inner feelings of the soldier. The idea of providing mental images, supports the distressing activities encountered on the soldier’s birthday. Even though the poem does not bluntly tell us Decaul is frightened at the setting, words, such as “tapping” and “reminds”, inform us of how he has taught himself to stay “safe.” Decaul has to