The Things They Carried: A Brief Analysis

Tim O'Brien does a fantastic job of blurring the lines of what is true and what is fiction in The Things They Carried. In fact, he often points out that he has made entire stories up, after the fact. He defends his decisions by proposing that what he has done is, in fact, not lie, but rather tell a story-truth. He argues that his reason for doing this is to bring the story to life more than it could live through the happening-truth. 'I want you to feel what I felt. I want you to know why story-truth is truer sometimes than happening-truth' (O'Brien, 183). O'Brien believes that, when accompanied by vivid details which essentially make the reader view the scene as a dream, story-truths can carry greater emotional truths than ever possible to

In The Things They Carried, Tim O’Brien tells the tale of not about war, but rather about war’s effect on one’s mentality. Ultimately, this novel is built on a foundation of the items that the soldiers of the Vietnam War carried. Whether it was the way Jimmy Cross uses the pebble to escape from his duties as a soldier or when Norman Bowker realizes that courage comes form within, not from receiving a Silver Star; O’Brien uses baggage as a symbol throughout the book to teach that war does in fact change people. These possessions were not just materialistic, they made up the soldiers’ attributes, made up the soldiers’ persona and made up the soldier.

In the list of all the things the soldiers carried, what item was most surprising? Which item did you find most evocative of the war? Foot powder was most surprising to me. This also shows us how much these soldiers had to travel in the war.

In The Things They Carried, every soldier carried something different; different equipment, different memories, and different guilt. Their equipment would change as they travelled through the book, but one common thing that the soldiers would all be forced to carry is the weight of losing one of their own. Though it might weight differently from man to man, changing depending on how well they knew the soldier, it is a weight they all felt. Though several soldiers died in The Things They Carried, the loss of a soldier named Kiowa was different from the others. But why? What impact did Kiowa have in The Things They Carried, and why did his death affect the other characters differently than the previous deaths in the novel?

In the novel The Things They Carried by Tim O'Brien the author tells about his experiences in the Vietnam war by telling various war stories. The quote, "It has been said of war that it is a world where the past has a strong grip on the present, where machines seemed sometimes to have more will power than me, where nice boys (girls) were attracted to them, where bodies ruptured and burned and stand, where the evil thing trying to kill you could look disconnecting human and where except in your imagination it was impossible to be heroic." relates to each of his stories.

War , like love, is always present can be a person’s worst nightmare, since it always finds ways to emotionally or physically impact one’s life. Mary Anne and Norman Bowker in Tim O’Brien’s The Things They Carried both possess a strong sense of self certainty, however the war challenges their beliefs by forcing them into extreme situations and thus making them more physically and mentally attached to the war. Mary Anne is seen as a happy and

Psychological burdens of war were just as real as the physical burdens of the soldiers. Those who were blessed enough to survive the war, struggle with confusion, anger, guilt, and lack of resolution. “They all carry ghosts”, (O’Brien, 1990) created by the fickleness of war including the “burden of

The Things They Carried, a novel written by Tim O’Brien leads the readers to believe that a soldier’s imagination is a double-edged sword, both harmful and beneficial. This captivating story takes place during the Vietnam War. Through the story's narrator, Lieutenant Jimmy Cross, readers get a feel for what the soldiers at that time had to endure. The book speaks of the mental and physical changes that happen to soldiers as days turn into months and months into years. Although the story occurs in Vietnam during the 1960s and early 1970s, its relevance is still apparent today with the conflict in Afghanistan and Iraq. In fact, the Department of Veteran Affairs stated that between 1990 and 2007 nearly 74,000 Americans died during

The passage from the story of The Lives Of The Dead, gives O'Brien's views on storytelling and how he pushes fiction within his short novel. Furthermore, this passage starting from the bottom of page 230 going to 231, allows the reader to not only get a general feel as to what O’Brien means when he refers to storytelling, but also how he feels when he recalls his memories and how he writes them on paper. To start off, the passage begins with O’Brien’s views on storytelling stating that “you dream it as you tell it, hoping that others might then dream along with you” (O’Brien pg 230). This statement very much shows how O’Brien pushes fiction, even though he does not formally state it. He mentions dreaming and how your story is based on your

The story suggests that the things that the soldiers carry back is emotional and physical burdens. The soldiers are physically carrying items that they acquired from home and mean a lot to them. The emotional burden that they carry back home is emotional burdens that include grief, guilt, depression, and fear. These emotions are with the soldiers the whole time they are in Vietnam. However if they make it home, the emotions also continue once they get home and become civilians.

Understudies learn in various ways. Educators should know how every understudy learns best by knowing which kind of learning style, every understudy underpins and give educational programs and Guidelines to meet the understudies adapting needs. Utilizing techniques, for example, setting objectives, focused on input, and quality practice to frame the most astounding demonstrating that they comprehend what they are realizing. Educators must give careful consideration to understanding that every understudy is extraordinary and independently distinctive with his or her outside impacts, for example, their experiences, social contrasts, and encounters. Each of these can and affects how learning will happen. The accompanying situations are a genuine

The Things They Carried, by Tim O’Brien is about the war, how some people got drafted to serve their country, which many of them didn’t want. Tim O’Brien tells stories about these people that had to fight in the war and he told it as if he was actually part of the war. When I read his story I felt how he felt; like I was right next to him when it happened and when he lost someone dear to him, I couldn’t help but cry on the inside because I knew that what he went through had to be hard for him. In his two stories, “How to Tell a True War Story”, and “Sweetheart of the Song Tra Bong” he tells us about the hard struggles of war but doesn’t want us to believe it.

"The Things They Carried," reflects the saga of drafted soldiers during the Vietnam era who were sent to the Vietnam War. The author, Tim O’Brien, describes the things that the men carry during their tour of duty. The items carried are both physical and impalpable items and what these things are is subject to the individual soldier. They carry the necessities for survival in the jungles of Vietnam as well as the personal things each soldier feels necessary to make life as comfortable as possible. Additionally, each of the men carries the memories and fears of past and present experiences. The heaviness of the impalpable items is as tangible as that of any physical object, and not so easy to cast away. The literary argument in which the

In “The Things They Carried”A team of Soldiers In the jungle of Vietnam, team was Jimmy Cross,Norman Bowker, Rat Kiley,Mitchell Sanders, Henry Dobbins, and Kiowa.Brien talks about how enemies and friend are alike and different and a friend in the campo curt lemon who made the dentist pull a good tooth out,And with Henry Dobbins smelled his girlfriend pantie hoes because it reminds him of memories. O’Brien never really went to church he believed but never wanted to go.O’Brien talked about the man he killed with the man's jaw in his throat and cheek with with three slashes into it the boy was laying in tiny blue flowers. With killing a man come the guilt but tries to forgive himself.Later O’Brien’s Daughter Asked him if he ever killed anyone

The things they carried was a very interesting book that was filled with various stories. They all took place during the Vietnam War and follow multiple protagonists that reappear in later stories. Throughout the story, there is a vast number of themes and symbolism. One theme I found interesting is the theme of physical and emotional burdens. This was especially noticeable in ‘’The Things They Carried’’, where they were carrying both literally and figurative. ‘’ They carried the common secret of cowardice barely restrained, the instinct to run or freeze or hide, and in many respects this was the heaviest burden of all, for it could never be put down, it required perfect balance and perfect posture.’’ (pg. 77) Sure enough, soldiers have to endure walking miles upon miles with a heavy backpack along with war equipment and standard m-16’s and such, but it becomes evident that the emotional burdens on their shoulders weigh more than the physical objects. These burdens come in the form of grief, sadness, and a vast number of what is mostly negative emotions. Jimmy Cross, the protagonist of this short story, is a perfect example. He got extremely distracted from his duty as a lieutenant. He even lost one of his men. And yet he could not stop thinking about his love for someone who clearly didn’t love him back. It’s times like that, especially in a war, that require you to put