Summary Of The Things They Carried 'By Tim O' Brien

They carry many things, they carry a massive amount of weight on their shoulders. However, the heaviest thing that they carry cannot be touched. The intangible weight of fear, loss, anger, and guilt far outweigh any tangible item that they could possibly possess. The Thing They Carried is not only an eye-opening collection of war stories, but it is also a love story, a memoir, and a tribute to the unimaginable things that happen to our soldiers in war zones. War changes men, makes them different, and when they come home they are not the same person and they often have trouble readjusting to the life of a civilian.

Throughout The Things They Carried, Tim O’Brien demonstrates that mental fear is worse than physical pain. This is shown through the soldiers being so afraid and paranoid of being physically harmed, that it infected their minds to the point of mental deterioration. He shows this through Dave Jensen, who was so paranoid of Lee Strunk’s retaliation, that he broke his own nose to escape his mental anguish. Also, through Lee Strunk and Dave Jensen’s desire to die if their pain ever becomes too unbearable, and lastly through Tim O’Brien’s mental and physical harm caused by Jorgenson not healing him in time.

Many of the wives talked about the letter their husband/boyfriend sent home, and their inability to talk about anything other than the "weather". One particular wife stood out though for her husband's story. She said he husband left her a simple note that read “I love you sweetheart, but I can't take the flashbacks", before he went in to the garage and killed himself. In this case, it is obvious that whatever the soldier witnessed in Vietnam greatly affected him. He was unable to take seeing the atrocities that he witnessed in Vietnam anymore, he was willing to go to the extreme of taking his own life- dismantling not only his own life, but also his whole families- just to avoid seeing the visions anymore. This would lead many to assume that events the soldiers saw were horrific, and continued to affect them even after they had already returned home. One soldiers wife said "he lost his soul in Vietnam but it took 7 years for his body to catch up", soldiers were dehumanized by the things they had to in Vietnam and this cause them to "die" even though their hearts were still technically beating.

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.

Life is full of regrets, life is full of death, Tim O'Brien explains this in the book The Things They Carried. The Things They Carried takes place during the Vietnam War. Tim O’Brien is a sergeant during the war. This book shows O’Briens and his platoon mates hardships throughout the war. That one's life could be changed in a split second, or by one little mistake. In the book The Things They Carried by Tim O’Brien presented mortality and death and shame and guilt throughout the war towards people who want an entertaining take on the Vietnam War.

Historian Jacob Bronowski concluded that “War is a highly planned and cooperative form of theft.” In the book The Things they Carried, Tim O’brien portrays stories of his own time at the Vietnam War and the stories of his platoon members. During their time in Vietnam, the men of the Alpha Company must manage with the loss of their friends and guilt from killing and witnessing others die. There are three stories of theft and loss among the platoon members. The stories of Jimmy Cross, Tim O’brien, and Kiowa.

Martha was the lady that Lieutenant Jimmy Cross loved. He carried letters and two pictures along with his love for her around at all times. All of the letters from her were signed Love, Martha and he knew that that was the only a way of signing a letter but he still hoped that she loved him back. He was constantly thinking about her. He thought about her so much that when he was supposed to be destroying the tunnels his friend, Ted Lavender, was shot and killed. He blamed himself for the death of his friend, but even then all he could think about was being away from Martha. “He pictured Martha’s smooth young face, thinking he loved her more than anything, more than his men, and now Ted Lavender was dead because he loved her so much and could not stop thinking about her” (O’Brien 6.) The story of Martha and Jimmy shows the trials and tribulations of love during a war. He was responsible for the entire Alpha Company, for everything that they did and yet all he could think about was one women who was all the way across the world, safe at her home.

“The things they carried” by Tim O’Brien follows lieutenant cross and shows his deepest feelings for Martha. That he forgets he is in war and lets some of his soldiers die because he was in the clouds. Moreover, he notices that Martha is nowhere and that she doesn't love him like he does and decides to get rid of every attachment to her and focus on his real task. O’Brien also shows the other soldiers feelings and the things they carried, vital supplies to survive in the war but also items that they believe are luck and also make them feel comfortable or at home. However, those items don't make them forget about the reality that death can happen at any time. One can see the author having shame and guilt and morality of death.

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.

Throughout the story “The Things They Carried” the author Tim O’Brien constantly teeter tots on the concept of what is the truth. He contemplates whether it is possible to tell a true war story. Tim creates a story that makes the reader puzzle over what they can perceive as the truth and what is not. I believe that Tim wrote this story to expand upon the purpose of storytelling and to express this thought through a war story. When diving into the chapters “Notes” and “Speaking of Courage” Tim makes a clever use of literature to create a seamless reading that expands the way we understand the content. The seamless fit of the two chapters complement each other and construct a powerful message between them.

War is a time where soldiers lose themselves in the chaos that surrounds them. Soldiers have to immerse themselves in battle and always be ready for whatever comes their way. But when there is no conflict arising on the battlefield, soldiers have to reminisce on their pasts and think about their past experiences that shaped them into the person they have become. The Things They Carried is a memoir written by Tim O’Brien that takes place during the Vietnam War and talks about the experiences the soldiers of the war had experienced. O’Brien, the author of The Things They Carried, states that memories are experiences that blend over time into events to affect one’s emotions as they reminisce on events that happened in their life years ago.

Accepting the death of a fellow soldier is a very important process during war. In a war, death is almost as common as breathing. After Lavender is shot the men burn the city of Than Khe. The loss of their comrade makes then angry and they totally demolish the city. They smoke the rest of Lavender’s dope and wait for the plane to take him away. The platoon talks about the soldiers they hear about

The Things They Carried, is a story written about the experiences in Vietnam shared by the author Tim Obrien. The story centers around soldiers from Alpha company and the “things” they carried. In this story, I believe Tim O’Brien uses the “things” they carried in a literal and descriptive sense. Every solider was literally responsible for carrying large loads of gear and they also carried tremendous emotional loads. Each soldier carried personal items to remind themselves of life after war. I believe that the emotional burden carries these soldiers through the battles of war and they far outweigh the physical obstacles being thrown at them. These men are responsible for themselves, fellow soldiers and families back home. Henry dobbins is

In the class discuss there were multiple connections and perspectives of the war. They spoke about how like in the world we all have decisions to make and to see the impact you leave with whatever you do. Also, there was couple of symbolism thrown in the discussion, the symbol of the self harm happening with the soldiers. One soldier broke his own noise and another one wanted to take a perfectly working tooth out. Additionally, one thought is that the soldiers are trying to find a balance with all the war going on, wanting peace with violence all around them. The style of O’Brien in a chapter was repetitive and alliterate with his storytelling. He kept speaking about the story of the war and it was a way to explains how he feels. Moreover,

Tim O’Brien wrote “The Things They Carried” a collection of short stories made into a book about a platoon of American soldiers in the Vietnam War. His first original work was published in 1973. “His war experience inspired his first publication, titled If I Die in a Combat Zone, Box Me Up and Ship Me Home. His memoir incandescently reflects depression and misery wreaked on soldiers by Vietnam War. In fact his literary work, The Things They Carried (1990), is a blend of memoir and fictional stories” (O’Brien Famous Authors). His writing are a work of art and once he wrote one he knew many more were to come. While Tim O’Brien faces the accounts of his past in war he