Tim O Brien Rhetorical Analysis

O’Brien always questioned the idea of “enemies”. Throughout the book he questioned in many ways and asked why were they enemies. What have they done to make them enemies, he sought for answers to his questions and eventually justified them by “if I don't kill them then they will kill me”.He was afraid of both killing, and dying but he knew that if he didn’t kill then he himself would be dead. These experiences and suppression of ideas are what led O’Brien’s to write The Things They Carried. In real life, Tim O'Brien feared the war and wrote this book to persuade others and to plant an idea in their head about the horrors that they should not want to suffer. Tim portrays his fear of the war by sharing his experiences as stories. Tim portrays many of his fears

With this part of the story, O’Brien is able to inject the theme of shame motivating the characters in the book. This chapter is about how the author, who is also the narrator, is drafted for the war. He runs away to the border between Canada and the United States, he stays in a motel with an old man for about a week and finds that he should go to war for his country. In the beginning it was about shame, he didn’t want to look like a coward because in truth he was scared. He was afraid to face the pressures of war, the humiliation and the fact of losing “everything”. This man was an average person who lived an average life with no problems, until he got the notice about the war, which caused the shame and fear of being seen as a bad person to come out.

Prior to learning he was drafted into a war he hated, we are told that he had recently graduated from college (38). O’Brien says, “I was twenty-one years old. Young, yes, and politically naive, but even so the American war in Vietnam seemed to me wrong” (38). The previous quote shows his confusion towards the war, he then goes on questioning the war by saying, “Was it a civil war? A war of national liberation or simple aggression?” (38) which furthermore provides an example of his uncertainty towards the war. While facing confusion, O’Brien also believed he was “too smart, too passionate” (39) for the war, he claims his drafting was “a mistake, maybe— a foul-up in the paperwork” (39). Both of the quotes show man vs. society conflict. Since O'Brien had recently graduated and received a full scholarship at Harvard, he felt like he was on top of the world, like any other person would if a war was not going on then, society was focused on something he didn't believe so he did not want to accept the harsh reality that he had just been drafted. The narrator also faces man vs self conflict, O’Brien wants to get out of the draft but, he says, “There was no happy way out...my health was solid; I didn't qualify for CO status — no religious grounds, no history as a pacifist” (41). O’Brien knows that it would be illegal to not follow the law of the draft but he also knows that he does NOT want to

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

Tim says he wants to run away from the war in fear of breaking his morals. He feels that the war goes against everything that he stands for, “If you support a war, if you think its worth the price, that’s fine, but you have to put your own precious fluids on the line” (O’Brien 2). Tim does not think he should have to fight in a war that he is against. Even though Tim seems to live by his morals, some of his actions are ironic. Tim is a pacifist, yet he watches pigs get killed everyday. He works in a slaughterhouse, taking out the blot clots from dead pigs by shooting the carcass with a water gun. For someone who doesn’t believe in fighting or killing, his job is pretty gruesome. Tim has an internal struggle deciding whether or not to go to the war, “My conscience told me to run, but some irrational and powerful force was resisting, like a weight pushing me toward the war. What it came down to, stupidly, was a sense of shame. Hot, stupid shame.” (6). Tim knows that if he does not go to the war he will feel guilty. He will not be able to handle the amount of “shame” he would feel if he ran away. The “shame” he talks about comes from, “All those eyes on me---the town, the whole universe---and I couldn’t risk the embarrassment. It was as if there were an audience to my life” (10). Tim thinks that other people will judge him for not going to the war. The pressure of having his family and friends disapprove of his actions is what

He mentions driving around town and feeling sorry for himself. O’Brien would think for hours about how his life was collapsing around himself and how he couldn’t do anything about it. Furthermore, he mentions how he felt that the world was closing in on him. This creates a very pessimistic tone because he speaks as though nothing will be right again. He doesn’t feel as though anything is worth it because he did everything right and still he was chosen to go to war and fight, even though he doesn’t believe in the war. Furthermore, he talks about how there is “no happy way out.” This negativity starts to overrule how he is thinking and it begins to cause him to think of other ways out. Then, he realizes that there is no other way out unless he takes the coward’s way. Likewise, this cause Tim O’Brien to realize that he wouldn’t be able to deal with the thought of everyone believing he is a

O'Brien tells of his objections to the war and his desire to escape the draft and cross into Canada. But , as O'Brien ponders his options, he is faced with the potential consequences that would accompany his refusal to join the War. He considers the reaction of his parents and fellow citizens, and he feels embarrassed when he considers how disappointed they would be if he went to Canada. O'Brien develops the theme of shame by outlining his inner struggle: when he finally comes to a decision about joining the War, he is ashamed again, because he knows he is betraying his moral judgment.

Tim O’Brien is a coward, because he makes all his decisions due to fear. O’Brien runs away, since he dreads war and does not support it. Moreover, he only returns for his reputation in the society. Even though he later decides to go to the war, he declares himself a coward person. Looking through his decisions and his fears, Tim O’Brien is a coward, because he runs away, returns due to embarrassment, and self-confesses cowardice.

Tim O’Brien has two main events that changed the man that he turned into. These two events are, “On The Rainy River” and “The Man I Killed”. In the story On The Rainy River, Tim had the choice whether to stay on the boat he was in and flee to Canada. If he flees to Canada he would avoid getting drafted into the Vietnam War. Tim also had the feeling to go back to the United States and get drafted. He thought about

In a war you either kill or wait to be killed, there is no escaping it. “Tim, it’s a war. The guy wasn’t Heidi- he had a weapon, right?” (O’Brien 120). This is said by Kiowa after Tim kills a young soldier of the opposite side. O’Brien is almost traumatized by his actions, talking about how they didn’t belong there and if it wasn’t for the war the young Vietnamese boy would be some sort of mathematician, going to a good college. He describes the way the dead body looks numerous times and each time adding a background story to the young boy. He’s making himself believe that he has ruined this boy's life, he’s overwhelmed with the thought of him taking the life of another human being. Tim wants the reader to empathize with not only him but with the Vietnamese boy as well. These boys were forced to discover and deal with the pressures of being in the war. The war was supposed to turn them into “brave” men but during the draft it took the lives of young boys and their sense of

O’Brien had two choices: either go to war or escape to Canada. If O’Brien chooses to go to Vietnam, he is considered a coward for not standing up for what he believes in, and he is considered a hero in his community. But if O’Brien chooses to go to Canada, he is a coward for draft dodging, but he stands up for what he believes in. One afternoon, O’Brien storms out of his workplace and decides to go to Tip Top Lodge. While O’Brien is at the lodge, Elroy helps him by giving him money and giving his a discount because Elroy knows what O’Brien is going through. On the last day, Elroy takes O’Brien out “fishing”. Elroy rows up to the border of Canada 20 yards away. There, O’Brien has a hallucination he is trying to make a decision. O’Brien decided to go to war, even though he thought “ if one nation goes to war it must have reasonable confidence in the justice and imperative of its cause”

O’Brien presents his message of the soldiers mistreatment and exposes all of the wrongs they received for helping their own country fight this war that none of the soldiers wanted to be in. O’Brien begins his conflict by not not wanting to enter the war, he knew this was not his place or where he belonged.

What does Tim O’Brien want his reader to understand about war? O’Brien wants his reader to understand the soldier's emotions during war, the skills the soldier has to learn, and the foul conditions the soldiers have to go through. These are only three of many things O’Brien wants his reader to understand.

During “On the Rainy River” O’Brien is plagued by a “moral split”, both fearing “the war” and fearing “exile” and “ridicule” after being drafted for the Vietnam war. Contemplating escaping to Canada, O’Brien drives to a lodge in Minnesota. There, an eighty-one year old man named Elroy Berdahl, the hero of O’Brien’s life, brings the conflicted author to a crossroad. There, on the Rainy River, O’Brien, embarrassed, pressured, and fearful decides that he will “not be brave” and, instead, decides to go to war. O’Brien’s confession, “I would not be brave” is perplexing and truly encompasses the moral struggle O’Brien experiences after receiving his draft letter. In the conservative and patriotic environment O’Brien was raised in, going to war is

What do you think Tim O’Brien wants his reader to understand about war? Well, there are very many interpretations to this inquiry, but the three main effects Tim O’Brien perform in a war story to parlay his reader to understand is by exhibiting the cruelty of war, by reminding us of the dark and mysterious things that go on in war, and by manipulating the theme in the story to make someone distinguish the situation. The definitive war story we are discussing about is called Where Have You Gone, Charming Billy. Tim O’Brien used these methods throughout this story to make whatever reader feel a connection betwixt themselves and the story. Here are some examples of Tim doing so in the short story Where Have You Gone, Charming Billy.