The Things They Carried written by Tim O’Brien

The distractions of war, misinterpretation of reality and limited control of fate as a result of the human condition appear throughout the Vietnam War at all times. Tim O’Brien, as a narrator describes the struggles of storytelling during and after the war. The constant struggle to determine reality versus personal perception arises in many aspects of his memory. Some factors of recalling events are uncontrollable such as interference of imagination and uncertainty as a result of the human condition. In Tim O’Brien’s The Things They Carried, the telling of story-truth, rather than happening-truth, is necessary, as no replica can be as genuine as the original.

It’s safe to say, that The Things They Carried by Tim O’Brien has significantly impacted my life and my outlook on life. One of the reasons that I connected to it, was because it “tapped” into my emotions. Because I was emotionally connected to the book, it was easy to relate to some parts of it. Although I related to some parts of the book, other parts were a complete mystery to me because it was unfamiliar to what I know.

“Nothing is so painful to the human mind as a great and sudden change” (Mary Shelley, Frankenstein). War can be a drastic change for the life of a person as war can ultimately morph them into a slave of the battlefield. In the book The Things They Carried, Tim O’ Brien describes the experiences of people in the Vietnam War and how they have become changed individuals from their past lives before combat. War pummels you with things that transcend your typical escapades and the more you try to understand them, the more you get sucked into the void of combat. The increased time the characters are in the battlefield, the more they have to think about it, thus shaping who they are. Only time can determine how much war can affect you.

In the book The Things They Carried by Tim O’Brien, Lieutenant Jimmy Cross recalls past stories told by him and from fellow soldiers in his time overseas in Vietnam. Experiences and events soldiers faced in Vietnam can change the way people think, feel, and act.

While general morality dictates that all living things should be protected and matter, traumatic events override this belief. Whereas the sanctity of life is thrown away, violent outbursts of rage or anger become more common. Robert Ross always resorts to his pistol when afraid or threatened – he now relies on instinct and violence rather than intellect: “He wanted his pistol… Gun. Gun. He wanted his gun.” (O’Brien 177-178) Naturally, Robert wants to get revenge against his rapists. However, murdering is not normally the first response. This shows that Robert cannot control himself completely, he thirsts for destruction. This is also a result of his post-traumatic stress injury. Likewise, his urges were evident at the start of the novel, after

In life we carry a lot of emotions, burdens and luggage. There is a quote from a great poet that reads. “It is not in the stars to hold our destiny but in ourselves” in “Things They Carried”. The author Tim o Brien, creates a story about a soldier and his life after the war and struggles that he has to go through and the people around him seem to go through. Tim Obrien writes this story, as a 43 years old man which is recalling his previously experiences as a foot solider in Vietnam. “On their feet they carried jungle boots-2.1 pounds- and Dave Jensen carried 3 pairs of socks” (Obrien 270). The theme revealed in “The Things They carried” is that you can keep your spirits alive by moving and carrying your

In the book, The Things They Carried by Tim O’Brien, the first chapter is called, “The Things They Carried.” The book was based on the Vietnam War. The first chapter gave an overview of what each of Jimmy Cross’s friends and he carried with them during the war. Jimmy carried “love” letters from a girl named Martha. He loved Martha and she was all he thought about.

Tim O'Brien's novel, "The Things They Carried" is based upon a platoon of soldiers in Vietnam, in which as the title hint's at, focuses on the items and more emotional parts of being a soldier. These items range from the essentials of being a solider, ranging from food, water, shovels etc. To the more personal and individualistic items, with examples ranging from the more common, love letters, holding a bible and pictures of loved ones, or to the more "unique" (or odd) items chosen, such as pantyhose, a thumb and even moccasins. Whether or not these items appear weird or generic to us is irrelevant, behind those items is a deep sentimental meaning to that item to that soldier or person, which is exactly what we will be looking into for "The

A true war story can have no moral. Neither side can be the protagonist or antagonist. Both sides are anti-heroes, they are neither good or bad because there is no moral to war. Since war has no moral, it affects soldiers emotions by effecting their morals. Due to the immorality of war, there is no correct side or perspective.

In chapter one of The Things They Carried, the author, Tim O’Brien discusses how war influences soldiers psychologically. The vivid description of the “things” each soldier carries tells a story. Thoughts, memories, and physical items are extremely valuable in their abnormal situation. These possessions are the only things the soldiers have and mean everything to them. No training or life experience could have prepared them for what they endure in war. Soldiers grasp onto these shreds of hope from their past as a reminder of the outside world. There is no escape from this place of constant fear and death. Here, death is unpredictable and sudden and the soldiers are forced to carry on. For example, when Lavender is shot dead by a hidden sniper,

In Tim O'Brien's book "The Things They Carried", the chapter "Church" take places at a camp in an abandoned place called "pagoda" where a gathering of U.S. soldiers in Vietnam who has chosen to remain with two monks that treated them well. Looking through the cultural lens in this chapter, the dread of death changes the individual's perspective of the afterlife and higher power.

Truth, it can be a lie living inside a truth or there might be a truth inside something that does not seem true; this is how truth works, you never know what is true and what is not. This is what happens in the book called “The Things They Carried”, by Tim O'Brien. Where truth can be a lie and a lie can be the truth, it is a test for the reader to find out. So this one story in the book shows how it is true, because it embarrasses you, by the way it seems to never end, when there is uncompromising allegiance to obscenity and evil in the story, and when it is hard to separate what happened from what seemed to happen. These chosen characteristics shall help in proven how this war story is true. O’Brien created a true war story about the shit

In the short story “The Things They Carried”  by Tim O’Brien, he tells the story of the experiences of the soldiers. O'Brien uses symbolism in order to give us a message and helps us connect to what the soldiers are thinking and feeling mentally and physically.

Within the novel, The Things They Carry, by Tim O’Brien, utilizes vivid description of a dead man in the chapter “The Man I Killed.” The usage of broad details creates multiple impacts not only in the text but to the reader as well. Each word strings along the reader leaving them to experience the effects first hand. The author, Tim O’Brien, chooses an eloquent way of describing the dead man’s body which clearly reminds the reader how cruel war truly is. As an illustration, the concept of war generally is thought of as dangerous and.by intensely exemplifying the dead man's body only proves the theory further. In the end, nothing can really escape the cruelty of war,“ He lay face-up in the center of the trail, a slim, dead, almost dainty young

Do you think the soldiers in Vietnam carried not only physical things, but emotional ones as well?