Tim O Brien Ghost Soldiers Chapter Summary

In “how to tell a true war story” Tim o Brien tells some stories of war and tries to explain why and how these stories are true. O Brien come up with his own guidelines for what a true war story should contain for it to be true if it contains other things that what he mentions it is not true even if it happened. According to O Brien “a true war story is never moral” (Brien 1), “does not instruct, nor encourage virtue” (Brien 1), does not restrain men from doing the things they have always done” (Brien 1) in addition O Brien continues to unfold the requirements for labeling a story true and he even says “ if you don’t care for obscenity, you don’t care for the truth” (Brien 2) meaning that a true story could contain some type of obscenity

Traumatized Literary devices are what make the story come alive and give the reader a feeling of actually being there. The literary devices increase a reader’s interest in the story and also helps keep the audience engaged. They help create a more fascinating plot. In the short story “Ambush” by TIm O’brien uses them to develop a character so much more. Mr. O’brien used internal conflict, external conflict, and flashback to put the reader in the character’s “shoes” throughout the story.

He does this throughout the book, as he uses differing perspectives to describe the same events. This, once again, pushes forth the idea that in war there is more than one truth. When describing Kiowa’s death, O’Brien tells the story from multiple perspectives, two of which being those of Jimmy Cross and Norman Bowker. In the chapter, “Speaking of Courage”, Tim O’Brien tells the story of Kiowa’s death from Norman Bowker’s point of view. This version of the story is more numb, and it describes all of the external qualities of the situation.

O’Brien has struggled with coping with horrific war memories like fellow member deaths, poor conditions, and being forced to fight a war that he doesn’t believe in fighting. He is still reflective of certain actions that he had taken that he wishes he could have done different for the better.

O’Brien fought in the war and named his fictional character after himself. It is the truth of his real life juxtaposed to the truth in his

The novel itself is a flashback to the pass of a nightmare that he will never forget. O’ Brien is still alive, I cannot imagine having flash backs to the past and being reminded of a frightening nightmare. The best flashback in the novel reads “his right arm was gone… At his face there were already many flies and gnats.” O’Brien then revisits his childhood: “Linda was nine then, as I was, but we were in love…. she died of course. Nine years old and she died.” This situation in the time of war brought him to think of someone he truly loved. Flashbacks are

O’Brien used imagery to illustrate the war in a sense to make you feel as if you were there with the soldiers. While staying short and simple, he was also very specific of the details. “Ted Lavender was shot in the head on his way back from peeing. He lay with his mouth open. The teeth were broken. There was a swollen black bruise under his left eye. The cheekbone was gone” [423] is a perfect example of how O’Brien used imagery. This passage makes you see in your mind what the soldiers seen through their eyes.

The chapter “Ghost Soldiers” the theme morality was evident. In the chapter, the medic Rat Kiley had left the war and Bobby Jorgenson filled in. While he was the medic Tim O’Brien was shot and Jorgenson did nothing to help him. When O’Brien was in the hospital he plotted revenge against Jorgenson. When he attempted to get revenge the plan failed but Jorgenson and O’Brien formed a truce. “What is real he said. Eight months in fantasyland, it

O’Brien briefly relives the night in My Khe. He had been on watch after midnight. He saw the young man emerging from the mist, carrying a gun. He grabbed a grenade and threw it without really thinking. Right after he threw the grenade, he felt guilty. But it was too late. The grenade dealt a fatal blow. And, twenty years later, O’Brien is still living with the guilt. He doesn't want to tell her truth just yet. After he killed the soldier Tim stated,"Even now I haven't finished sorting it out. Sometimes I forgive myself, other times I

During this work, O’Brien keeps a casual tone. It sometimes gets more formal and serious, but for the most part, it’s friendly and almost playful. When he is describing the conversations he had with his friends, he looks back on them with happiness. Consequently, when he is describing the death of one of his friends, his tone gets more somber and less playful. For example, the entire chapter of “Stockings” is devoted to describing the soldier Henry Dobbins and an interesting knack of his. “Even now, twenty years later, I can see him wrapping his girlfriend’s pantyhose around his neck before heading out on an ambush.” This cute, two page chapter provides a bit of relief after the chapter about Mary Anne Belle. It has light connotations and is a generally funny short story. Later in the book, however, he gets more serious when talking about the death of his dear friend Kiowa. He

1. How did the narrator react to the fact that he killed another human being? What evidence in the story leads you to this conclusion? The narrator was shocked and felt guilty. You could tell that he feels bad because he is thinking about all the stories and lessons the boy would have been taught. O'Brien is just staring at the dead body and not speaking, which shows he's traumatized. Kiowa

1. How does O’Brien use The Things They Carried to cope with the psychological impact of his experience in the war?

When reading the first chapter of The Things They Carried, it is quickly understood that the soldiers mentioned are burdened to carry a great deal of baggage. This baggage does not only consist of guns, ammunition, protection gear, survival materials, and personal items—this baggage also includes the numerous emotions of grief, longing, guilt, shame, and fear of dying. In complete, soldiers from Vietnam were constrained to carry material baggage as well as mental baggage that varied from each individual. The outcome of this constraint seems to play a huge role in being a soldier, however, not each soldier may handle this constraint the same way. Some soldiers may drive their vehicle around aimlessly, like Norman Bowker, trying to forget the war. Others may decide the burden is too tough to carry and hang themselves, like Bowker eventually did (p.154).

As The Things They Carried continues, Tim O’Brien gets shot twice and ends up in Rat Kiley’s lap. Being the medic, Rat Kiley treats Tim O’Brien in between combat and does exceptionally well at taking care of him. After a month of Tim’s recovery, Rat Kiley was sent to Japan because he shot his toe off. Some soldiers would do anything to get out of the war, including injuring themselves. Tim O’Brien gets shot again, but this time the new medic, Jorgenson, is a nervous guy and is very hesitant about treating his wound. He ends up leaving Tim to do it himself.

The first story O’Brien decides to tell us is the story of Lieutenant Jimmy Cross. Cross represents a young and inexperienced soldier who went to war for all of the wrong reasons. He deals with the savagery of the Vietnam War through letters and pictures sent from the woman he loves back home, Martha. Cross carries physical objects, pictures, letters, as well as memories from his time spent back home with Martha before signing up for war. At one point in the story after describing a date between him and Martha, he mentions how “he should’ve carried her up the stairs to her room and tied her to the bed and touched that left knee all night long.” (5) His thoughts of Martha are enough to help distract him from the brutal realities taking place in the war. However, his distraction becomes too much, and it ends up resulting in the death of one of his fellow squad members, Ted Lavender. He carries regret for the death of Lavender, and years later confesses his guilt to O’Brien, and that he has never forgiven himself for his death. Despite his long-lived regret, Cross finds comfort in his thoughts of Martha, and hopes one day she will return his love.