Tim O Brien's The Things They Carried

Each of the soldiers in this novel carried their own mental thoughts, mementos, and real items with them during the war. Some of the personal momentos consisted of photographs, girlfriends clothing, and lucky charms. Going into and living through a war, comes with a side effect of having mental thoughts and feelings. These mental effects and feelings can affect how the soldiers react while in combat. “They carried the common secret of cowardice barely restrained, the instinct to run or freeze or hidden and in many respects this was the heaviest burden of all, for it could never be put down, it required perfect balance and perfect posture. They carried their reputations” (O’Brien 20). This quote on page 20 is used to talk about and demonstrate how the men had emotions and thoughts every day while they were in Vietnam, which had affected their mindset and reaction to things they encountered. On top of carrying these mental thoughts, the men had been required to carry real physical items into the war prone areas of Vietnam. The novel states “the soldiers “hump” in the Vietnam War--assorted weapons, dog tags, flak jackets, car plugs, cigarettes, insect repellent, letters, can openers, C-rations, jungle boots, maps, medical supplies, and explosives” (O’Brien 1). in order to give the reader a great insight into what exactly these young men had carried while they were fighting in

No war is easy for the soldiers who put their lives on the line to fight for what they believe in. The soldiers on both sides of the Vietnam War faced challenges that changed their lives forever and left a lasting effect on their physical and mental health. The hardships faced in the Vietnam War as depicted in The Things They Carried by Tim O’Brien are an accurate representation of the struggle faced by not only the soldiers fighting the war but also those who were involved in nonviolent positions.

Throughout the time period of the Vietnam War, the thousands of men who fought during this time were looked down upon. Many people in the United States were against the war and gave no appreciation to soldiers fighting the Vietnam War. In his novel, The Things They Carried, Tim O’Brien, showed the guilt and shame that soldiers themselves went through being in the Vietnam War. Through not feeling brave and heroic enough, or feeling the fear of embarrassing not only themselves, but their families and hometowns if they were to flee from the war, they constantly felt regret and shame. No matter where you look in the story of The Things They Carried, you will always see the shame and guilt the soldiers are carrying.

The novel, “The things they carried” written by Tim O’Brien describes himself and his soldiers experiences during the Vietnam War. Throughout the book, O’Brien states all of the odd to normal things the soldiers carried. Not only did they carry things like candy, cigarettes, and floss. They also carried everything that comes along with being in the war. They carried the emotional stress, diseases, the county, and the ghosts that surround them. However, while some things in the novel may be true, not all of it is. O’Brien uses fiction to show truth.

Human beings carry many different things with them, both physical and metaphorical. In Tim O’Brien’s “The Things They Carried,” he presents an exploration of the many burdens that people can carry. Throughout the story, he presents many detailed descriptions of the equipment and tangible things that the characters carry with them to help them survive their ordeal physically. O’Brien also describes the various ‘things’ that the men carry both physically and emotionally to help them deal with the mental and emotional stress of war. O’Brien also details the additional ‘things’ that the men pick up over the course of their experiences, both physical and mental/emotional. Through the metaphor of carrying objects, the descriptions of the items and

What good came out of the Vietnam War? The answer may vary depending on the person being asked, but we know one thing for sure, it was the longest and costliest war of the twentieth century for the United States (“Vietnam”). “The war lasted for eleven years and was responsible for the deaths of about 58,000 Americans and more than 3 million Vietnamese” (“Vietnam”). Most the soldiers fighting in the war were draftees that were often young and inexperienced. The brutality on the frontline led to the development of severe Post Traumatic Stress Disorder within many of these young soldiers. The nation learned from this war but it came at the expense of a whole generation.

Vietnam war veteran and novelist Tim O’Brien, in his piece titled, “The Things They Carried,” portrays personal war stories of a group of soldiers during the Vietnam War to convey how stories and memories can aid in coping with death. The novel was extremely emotional and thought provoking, causing me to question what was real or not, and how these stories were more than just stories. As the novel progressed, it became increasingly clear how, for O’Brien and some of the other soldiers, these stories were not just stories for the them to reminisce on, they were a form of therapy, helping them to live on, even when faced with death and morbid experiences. Through these various stories ranging from the distant past and the present, O’Brien successfully

When one tells a story, one has a motive for telling their tale, even if the story is fictional; but as Tim O’Brien, the narrator, says “a true war story is never moral. It does not instruct, nor encourage virtue, nor suggest models of proper human behavior, nor restrain men from doing the things men have always done” (O’Brien 65). The reader can assume O’Brien tells the story to reveal the horrors of war. O’Brien, the narrator, says a true war story can be told by the way it is evil (O’Brien 65-66). The buffalo story, O’Brien says, is a true war story, despite the story not being true. In the novel The Things They Carried, the author Tim O’Brien uses the buffalo story to back up the claim a true war story is told in a way obscenity and evil.

The Vietnam War was a brutal and an arguably unwarranted part of our American history during the Cold-War Era. In an attempt to contain Communism, American and Vietcong soldiers, whether they wanted to or not, were subjected to horrible antagonistic violence. Tim O’Brien, author of The Things They Carried, retells the traumatizing (and sometimes calm) events of the war from his perspective, hoping to convey the most real feelings and experiences- fictionally. In this work of fiction, O’Brien differentiates between the “happening-truth”- what events took place and “story-truth”- what those events evoke, how those events felt. In this way, story-truth is a different, more humanized understanding of time and of memory. O'Brien's use of story-truth

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

The Things They Carried, by Tim O'Brien, tackles a major issue, story-wise, in the section of the book entitled "Good Form". He explains the difference between the reality of life and the story truths that he displays to the reader. He claims that, "I watched a man die a trail near the village of My Khe. I did not kill him. " (O'Brien 179). He claims that he wants the reader to, " feel what I felt. I want you to know why story-truth is truer sometimes than happening truth. " (O'Brien 179). The author is saying that the reality does not fully encompass the emotions that these stories bring to light. By setting himself as the murderer of that man O'Brien is able to better connect to the reader. It gives logical reason to why O'Brien remembered

The first chapter was named “The things They Carried” and focused mostly on the physical items, but also mentions the memories and people from the past that was brought into the war. O’Brien uses the list of physical objects that the soilders carry in Vietnam as a window to the emotional burdens that these soldiers bear. Cross

After reading “The Things They Carried” by Tim O’Brien, describes a captivating, up close story about soldiers marching in the Vietnam War. The story relates to the title by telling us the things the men carried. We can see what material items they carry from duty to duty, but we also visualize the emotional baggage that lies heavy in their hearts; this emotional weight is much heavier than their material items. It is important to recognize this aspect because what they carry in their hearts create both hope and fear; they carry hope for their survival, but they carry fear of possible death.

I agree with your perspective about Lieutenant's Cross having his mind on Martha while on a mission. I do not agree that the statement you made about him not leading his troops. In the story of “The things They Carried” by Tim O'Brien(1990), stated that Lieutenant’s Cross pu the letters from martha “in a plastic at the bottom of rucksack” (Section 5.4. para. 1). That being said, that exposition meat that he did focus on Martha, but not until his mission for the day was completed. At the end of the day, he would then start to focus on Martha by digging him a hole and taking out all of the materials from his bag. Another counter argument, as the narrator tells the story of the troops have to add materials to their luggage every day shows the

The story, “The Things They Carried” was the experience of foot soldiers during and after the Vietnam war. However, considering the structure of the story, one could say that it is in fact, antiwar story. In the story, the plot jumps from time to time. The story is chaotic, yet it revisits the difficulties for one soldier. Consequently, he was faced with the realities of the war, in which he had to deal with tragedies as well as being in a relationship (Kirszner & Mandell, 2016). In the reading, it involved the mental state of the character, not only were there killings but apparent suicides of those unable to deal with life after the war. Another reason I found the story to be antiwar is because there is nothing positive about war and from