Point Of View In O Brien's The Things They Carried

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

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.

Point of view is one of the most important literary elements in stories. If you do not have a clear point of view, or if the point of view is constantly changing, it can be rather difficult to follow and fully understand the story. John Updike uses first person point of view in the short story A & P in order to help the reader better understand the story from the narrator’s standpoint.

I really like your point about the way how we remember and how we interpret history. I think in the context of the war the way, how the stories are told, is influenced by the subjective view of soldiers. Most of the soldiers in Vietnam were really young and the war is traumatic in itself and it influenced their perception of some situations. As O'Brien describe in his book The Things They Carried, the death of Curt Lemon, how he does not remember if it was true or not. "In any war story, but especially a true one, it's difficult to separate what happened from what seemed to happen (O'Brien, 67)." However, even the description of the stories is not exactly true, the war changed their lives significantly and what happened them in Vietnam is something

When the speaker presents the action, dialogue, reports the thoughts and reactions of the characters, it helps to understand the overall setting of the story while also giving the reader the feeling of being an onlooker to the event. The point of view is used to conceal

In conclusion, Point of View is an essential part of every story. It’s used, not only to build character's background and perspectives, and give an idea of the kind of world they’re living in, but to also build up conflict (whether it be between two characters, or a character and their society), which is also important to all

Different points of view help readers to understand the story in several different ways. Reading a story in third-person is very different than reading a story in first-person. With the diverse point of views, the reader can see the different thoughts of the characters within the story.

Point of view is the way a story is told through a character's perspective. This is important since a character's perspective can affect the accuracy of the story. Different topics such as biased view, a character's experience on a topic, how they stand on a set topic or what side they are on as well as other character interactions can all affect a character's perspective as it is told throughout the story. This is when compared to someone else telling the story who hasn't had the same experiences through their point of view. The opinions of the narrator throughout the story and the different events that happen through their point of view can affect the reader's view of the topic that is being discussed within the story. In the book To

Point of view is an integral tool that is used by authors to express an individual’s feelings, emotions, and thoughts throughout the story. It gives the reader an understanding of a character’s development. The first person point of view is limited to one character as it draws the reader into the mind of one character’s thoughts and emotions. Third person narration may be omniscient or limited. The third person omniscient tells the story in which the narrator is aware of the thoughts and feelings of all the characters, while limited third person is restricted to the thoughts of certain characters. The use of the first person narration and third person limited omniscient may at first seem restraining because it only presents one or a limited number of character’s thoughts and feeling. However, the use of first person narration in “Cathedral” and the use of limited third person perspective in “The Handsomest Man Drowned in the World,” is effective because both provides a deeper insight into character’s feelings, thoughts, and opinions. These choices of narration also aid a reader in relating to the characters, and helps convey the central theme of the story.

Seeing from many point of views can help the reader and characters in the story learn in

The point of view that a story is being told can have a major effect on the amount of information the readers/listeners are given causing the event to be misinterpreted. Similarly, The Storm and The Story of an Hour both written by Kate Chopin, are intriguing because both short stories are narrated in third person point of view which helps the readers understand all the characters’ point of views this also allows Kate Chopin to tell a full story that isn’t limited to a protagonists’ point of view. Point of view contributes to the story’s overall meaning because the information given to the reader can be from either one character or all the characters which determines the amount of information given. Using third person omniscient to narrate a novel is more effective because the narrator allows the reader to know every feeling, thought, objective, and action of all the characters rather than one character.

Point of view is an important element when reading any type of story. Point of view tells the reader about who tells the story and how it's being told. There are three different types of point of view which would be first person, third person limited, and third person objective. First person is defined as the author disappears into one of the characters, who tells the story in the first person. Third person limited the story is told in the third person, but from the viewpoint of one character in the story. Lastly, third person objective the narrator disappears into a kind of roving sound camera. They can go anywhere but can record only what is being seen and heard.

“The Things They Carried” by Tim O’Brien may seem like a classic narrative story that is composed of numerous lists, outlining what each soldier carried during the Vietnam war. But this is merely a surface level interpretation and there is more to the story than just lists. Once the reader deciphers what is being said between the text and carefully analyzes the short story on a deeper level, it reveals how the many parts of the Vietnam war have had a lasting and extensive impact on the soldiers. The story emphasizes the idea of how the items they carry exemplify a greater significance than simply their physical characteristics, such as a gun used to kill the enemy. The items hold an emotional and psychological connection with every veteran as each object is unique to the individual. The symptoms of post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) reflect how it contributes to the structure of the short story. The sudden shifts and constant altering of going back and forth from events echo key symptoms that veterans experience subsequently after a war. Even though there is a distinct correlation between the physical objects that the soldiers carry, it is unequivocally evident that the intangible “things they carry” have a greater implication on their personal life. These objects provide the reader with a valuable insight into the true struggles the veterans faced during the war and after as a result of post-traumatic stress disorder.

Point of view is the perspective a piece of literature is being narrated from. In first person point of view, the writer writes as if the person who the book is about wrote the book, using words like ‘I’ and ‘me’. Second person point of view uses word like ‘you’, as if the author is talking to you and directing you what to do. Third person point of view is when the author writes as if they are a spectator of the book, using words like ‘they’ and ‘she’ and ‘he’. There are three different types of third person point of view. The first on is Limited third person point of view. The author writes from an outsider’s perspective, and knows what the main character is thinking, but is limited to that one character. It is almost as if the author lives in the brain of the person. Third person Omniscient point of view is different. The author is watching from an outside view and isn’t part of the story. This time though, the author isn’t limited to one character’s thoughts. Instead, the author jumps from character to character’s minds, as if they document what happens in one person’s mind, and switches to the next when the chapters change or the paragraphs end. The last point of view is Objective point of view, which is used rarely except in children’s books. It is when the author is completely detached from the character, only narrating what they see.

The point of view being 3rd person omniscient develops the theme because when you know the characters thoughts and feelings you know more, than if there was just dialogue. The reader knows more than if there was just dialogue. The reader knows how scared each boy is by it being 3rd person omniscient. An example of the reader being able to see