The Things They Carried Why Does Tim O Brien Use Of Repetition

With the use of repetition, O’Brien accomplishes to show the connection between the Vietnam soldiers and the

Written by author Tim O’Brien after his own experience in Vietnam, “The Things They Carried” is a short story that introduces the reader to the experiences of soldiers away at war. O’Brien uses potent metaphors with a third person narrator to shape each character. In doing so, the reader is able to sympathize with the internal and external struggles the men endure. These symbolic comparisons often give even the smallest details great literary weight, due to their dual meanings. The symbolism in “The Things They Carried” guides the reader through the complex development of characters by establishing their humanity during the inhumane circumstance of war, articulating what the men need for emotional and spiritual survival, and by revealing

In Tim O’Brien’s “The Things They Carried”, O’Brien created several allusions that each character endured during the Vietnam War. Throughout the story were vast representations of the things soldiers carried both mentally and physically. The things they carried symbolized their individual roles internally and externally. In addition to symbolism, imagination was a focal theme that stood out amongst the characters. This particular theme played a role as the silent killer amongst Lt. Cross and the platoon both individually and collectively as a group. The theme of imagination created an in depth look of how the war was perceived through each character which helped emphasize their thoughts from an emotional stand point of being young men out at war.

Tim O’Brien’s novel, “The Things They Carried,” uses repetition to display the complicated lives of soldiers to readers. The Again & Again signpost reveals repeated moments in the story that help the reader undrstand the theme of Fear displayed throughout the story. Fear dictated almost every move these men made. O’Brien’s use of repetition reveals that fear of can be motivation or a hinderance to the soldiers.

The Things They Carried is a collection of stories about the Vietnam War that the author, Tim O’Brien, uses to convey his experiences and feelings about the war. The book is filled with stories about the men of Alpha Company and their lives in Vietnam and afterwards back in the United States. O’Brien captures the reader with graphic descriptions of the war that make one feel as if they were in Vietnam. The characters are unique and the reader feels sadness and compassion for them by the end of the novel. To O’Brien the novel is not only a compilation of stories, but also a release of the fears, sadness, and anger that he has felt because of the Vietnam War.

In “The Things They Carried” Tim O’Brien uses this story as a coping mechanism; to tell part of his stories and others that are fiction from the Vietnamese War. This is shown by using a fictions character’s voice, deeper meaning in what soldier’s carried, motivation in decision making, telling a war story, becoming a new person and the outcome of a war in one person. Tim O’ Brien uses a psychological approach to tell his sorrows, and some happiness from his stories from the war. Each part, each story is supposed to represent a deeper meaning on how O’Brien dealt, and will deal with his past. In war, a way to

O'Brien gives his characters lives outside the story and dedicates his fiction to their memory. In On the Rainy River, for example, O'Brien writes that he never really thanked the old man

In "The Things They Carried," O'Brien made reference to the Vietnam war that was closely associated with the physical, psychological, and emotional weight the soldiers beared.  The overall method of presentation of this story incorporated many different outlooks on the things the soldiers carried, dealt with, and were forced to adapt to.  In addition to this, O'Brien showed us the many reasons why and how the soldiers posessed these things individually and collectively and how they were associated directly and indirectly.  The strong historical content in "The Things They Carried" helped emphasize the focus of the story and establish a clearer understanding of details in the

The novel, The Things They Carried is a story of one man’s accounts resulting to his tour of duty in Vietnam. Many of the men that are discussed in the book continued to be effected by the war, long after they returned home. Men were left emotionally scared, even if they managed to get out of the war physically unharmed. The

Growing up, many young boys idolized the war heroes in movies such as Saving Private Ryan and American Sniper. However, the glorified heroism that is depicted in these films is far from the reality that is war. A more realistic rendition of war is seen in Tim O’Brien’s short story, The Things They Carried. Throughout the story, O’Brien uses metafictional characters to portray the physical and emotional burdens carried by American soldiers who were forced to conform to societal expectations upon being drafted for the Vietnam War. The literary elements O’Brien uses throughout the story to convey this theme are symbolism, imagery, tone, and inner conflict of the protagonist.

In the novel The Things They Carried by Tim O’Brien, many literary devices are used to tell the tale of a Vietnam War experience. Many of these devices are used repeatedly, and can be identified through close reading. A particular excerpt located in “The Things They Carried” section uses repetition and simile to give the reader an idea of the mental and emotional affect of the death of a companion.

O’Brien’s style of writing describes the physical and psychological belongings of what the men carry. The literal things that they carried were “largely determined by necessity...Together, these items weighed between 15 and 20 pounds” (O’Brien 1).

There are many gruesome and tragic things that occur in war, and how soldiers cope with these situations vary drastically. Tim O’Brien, the author and narrator of the book The Things They Carried, shares his experiences and perspective of the Vietnam War as a veteran in the book. O’Brien puts emphasis on the theme of friendship in the book to conclusively show the value of friendship in times of the war. His stories in the book such as, "Love", “Friends”, “Enemies”, and “The Man I Killed”, express the importance and the impact of the relationships he had with his fellow soldiers. O’Brien uses the theme of friendship in his book to effectively show the importance in the duration of the war.

In The Things They Carried, Stephen O'Brien tells the gripping story of a veteran who never fully returned from the war, himself. In reflecting on the war, O’Brien recounts the fear he felt when drafted, and the shameful memory of the period he ran away for. (O’Brien Chapter 4)This moving story reveals a new fact of O'Brien's character, a softer and more emotional side. In this passage, as opposed to the rest of the book, O'Brien describes his emotions in rich detail. No longer is he the disillusioned and grizzled veteran, but once again a young man with hopes, dreams, and keenly felt emotions. This emotional anecdote reveals the author is not quite as cynical and devoid of life as he may seem, he still has the capacity to think and feel the emotions of his more youthful self. By using more emotional language in this insightful flashback, O'Brien shows the reader a tender part of himself untouched by

One stylistic device 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 repetition is a stylistic device O'Brien adds to stretch the truth of a story by adding and subtracting detail. The effect of this for a reader is a feeling that shows O'Brien's obsession with the stories he tells, because they always run through his memories. His repetitions expose the reader to no possibility of change to the soldiers and what he sees and experiences on a daily basis. This also gives the reader a sense of confidence with the soldiers and their hellish moments in Vietnam.Tim O’Brien uses repetition so we remember and understand what the soldiers have done. In warfare it is very easy to talk about everybody as a group. Which means that repetition of names, phrases, and the things they carry makes them individuals. O’Brien frequently uses repetition to emphasize the pain of the men. “They carried” is repeated over and over again showing the hardships of the soldiers. They carried their fear, love, shame, and guilt on top of the intense weight of their gear. The memories that the soldiers carry, the emotional pain and weight, can be far more burdensome than the physical items the men carry. Tim O’Brien also keeps using