Tim O Brien's The Things They Carried

In the book, The Things They Carried, by Tim O'brien, the title of the first chapter perfectly mimics the name of the book itself. The author talks about the many items soldier’s carried with them into the Vietnam War, as well as the effects they had on his many teammates. Each new chapter, though, gives new insight as to what they carried around with them besides physical objects. Despite palpable things in which they were required to have, young men would find themselves bearing the heavy weight of responsibility and emotional trauma that came with them. In order to cope with these endeavors, soldier’s would also bring with them something to help, whether it was simply the knowledge of God, or a reason for fighting. O’brien’s stories give

As Tim O’Brien states in his short story book, The Things They Carried, the only true thing about war is its allegiance to evil and obscenity. One example of this faithfulness war has to stick to its truth is the inevitable death of many soldiers. War consumes. It consumes a large amount of resources, money, energy, time, but most of all it consumes human lives. The ones who don’t pass must bear the witness of the death of the others. “In the Field”, one of the short stories in O’Brien’s book, explores the way death is handled by soldiers and the process by which absorb the emotions that come along with it.

The Vietnam War began when the North Vietnamese government and the Vietnam congress fighting to reunify Vietnam under communist rule. In the novel The Things They Carried, Tim O’Brien uses themes such as love, shame and guilt to illustrate the tangible and intangible items the soldiers carry throughout the war and the rest of their lives.

A famous author once said, “The more that you read, the more things you will know. The more that you learn, the more places you'll go.” this was quoted from Dr.Seuss. Dr. seuss is saying reading more does nothing but benefit us, so why does the school board want to limit us by taking away a right we have which is reading whatever we desire even if it's fiction.In the book The Things They Carried the author Tim O’brien mixed fiction and realism. For example he addressed the aftereffects of war and also what happens during war. Tim gave us a perspective into something that's real by using fictional aspects to portray that. The way O’brien tells the story in the book gives you his perspective into war and the troubles along with it.

At some time in life, a person will experience the death of a relative or lose something that was very important to him or her. After that traumatic event, will that person confront his or her pain, or will that person bury it deep within them? Both ways are possible, however, only one is effective in the long term. According to Tim O'Brien, the most effective way to heal after a traumatic experience is to share stories. In Tim’s book, The things they carried, he used the motifs of loneliness, life, and the mood of nostalgia to illustrate the importance of sharing stories during a healing process.

Griffin Poff Mrs. Mitchel English III CP, period 4/5 8 March 2023 The Things They Carried: Tim O'Brien's connection to mental struggles caused by war Thesis: During a time when people gained more knowledge of PTSD Tim O’Brien wrote The Things They Carried about his personal experiences in Vietnam and the mental struggle they carried throughout the war. Biographical sketch Early life Birth Family Draft When it happened Writing career When it started Mostly known for The Things They Carried (1990) The physical list The mental struggles O'Brien was the author and narrator Anti-war attributes College Canada War Same time Same people

Imagine for the rest of your life having to live with the burden of watching not only a fellow soldier, but a friend, die knowing there was nothing you could do about it. The novel The Things They Carried by Tim O’Brien describes the encumbrances that many of the soldiers in the Vietnam War had to face, and remember for their entire life if they survived. The Things They Carried goes into detail about the relentless days they spent in Vietnam at War by telling stories of a platoon that the author was in. These stories explain the life changing burdens soldiers have to carry at war and for their entire lives.

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

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.

In “The Things They Carried”, by Tim O’Brien, the narrator introduces the reader to the protagonist, Lieutenant Jimmy Cross, who is in charge of a platoon of soldiers during the Vietnam War. O’Brien initiates by explaining to the reader that to carry something means to “hump”. O’Brien further explains that for our protagonist, Lieutenant Jimmy Cross, he specifically “humps” photographs, letters and mementos of the woman he loves, Martha. The lieutenant has such an emotional attachment to everything he receives from Martha, that for him, it becomes problematic through the story since it leads to the death of one of his soldiers in the alpha team. He blames himself because when Lavender is shot, he is distracted, thinking of Martha, when he could’ve

Everywhere I go, I carry with me a tangible piece of my past as both a reminder of who I was, as well as who I have become. Although it seems trivial, this item is my beanie. In an effort to reestablish my image as I entered middle school I grew out my hair started to wear a beanie to school every day. After reaching the end of my middle school experience, I cut my hair (mostly out of desperation in the summer heat). Although my hair was gone, the beanie seemed to stick around. I believe this is because it takes me back to a simpler time in my life, but also serves as a reminder of how much I’ve grown and matured since then. I have no regrets, and it is fully my decision to carry this item, but it brings me comfort because of who I was back then versus who I am now. It only weighs a few ounces, and it weighs down my heart about as much as it weighs down my head: not much.

The Vietnam War allowed American soldiers to experience many emotions and beliefs ranging from joyful and prosperous to even sorrowful and terrifying. During this war time, the soldiers go through many obstacles and situations where they may feel overwhelmed with feelings but they cannot fall short of being tough and to ignore their feelings because in the end they still are fighting a war. The war itself contributes to the way the soldiers express certain emotions or set their beliefs. In Tim O’Brien’s The Things They Carried, the audience discovers what it means to be a soldier in the Vietnam War through certain events and stories that contain themes of guilt and fear.

The Things They Carried is a collection of fictional stories inspired by Tim O’Brien’s time in the Vietnam War and the struggles young men had to face in one of the most controversial wars in U.S. history. After the Vietnam War was over, when the veterans came home, most of which were drafted, they shunned by the American public for fighting a war in which many did not support and many veterans were homeless due to the lack of support from the government. Therefore, O’Brien uses these stories to not only have a deeper meaning and understanding of what the soldiers had to endure (both during and after the war), yet to also keep the dead alive by telling their stories. To do so, Tim O’Brien effectively

Negative experiences can have lifelong effects on a person, no matter what situation they were in. They live the rest of their lives with flashbacks, nightmares, and survivor’s trauma. Some trauma survivors have help coping with the effects of their situation but most people don’t have any way of coping with what they have seen and gone through. In Tim O’Brien’s novel, The Things They Carried, the narrator, Tim O’Brien, writes the stories about the Vietnam War that he was in, 20 years after the war ends. The narrator O’Brien has trouble with coping after the war so he writes stories about the war describing what they went through in detail. He was fresh out of college when he was drafted into the war, so he was very young and inexperienced. He had to go into a war that he knew nothing about and

He used phrases like “They shared the weight of memory. They took up what others could no longer bear,” “They were afraid of dying but they were even more afraid to show it,” and “They carried all the emotional baggage of men who might die.” It led me to believe that there was much more that the soldiers had to carry than just the items. Although it took up a large section of the story, perhaps all of the descriptions of the actual items were essentially not as important. What’s more is what these soldiers are carrying around with them; the devastating psychological effects of war. Personally, I think that O’Brien expertly portrays this. Aspects like this is what makes this story an excellent depiction of war itself. It is surprisingly realistic and very easy to relate to despite the reader having no personal experience with war. The entire story focuses on “the things they carried” which makes for a perfect title as the author does choose to go into tremendous detail about the things the soldiers did