Tim O Brien's The Things They Carried

This quote can help to convey the recurring theme of physical and emotional burdens, along with the psychological burdens that were faced after the war. Although the characters in the book had many pieces of equipment and personal items to haul on their travels, they also had to carry their emotions. Many, if not all, of the men were holding fear,

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

In works such as the novel The Things They Carried written by Tim O’Brien and the movie Full Metal Jacket directed by Stanley Kubrick, we see the hardships soldiers had to pass through during training and the Vietnam War. As it is stated in O’Brien’s book “They carried all the emotional baggage of men who might die. Grief, terror, love, longing – these were intangibles, but the intangibles had their own mass and specific gravity, they had a tangible weight” (O’Brien 20). After stating all of the things they actually carried O’Brien makes reference to them carrying emotional weight, to let the reader know that there was more to the war than fighting. They had other reasons to be there, such not wanting to be titled as cowards for not enlisting themselves in the war. In Full Metal Jacket the emotional weight they have on themselves is also visible throughout the whole movie. The emotional burden caused some of the soldiers such as Private Leonard Lawrence to enlist in the training although he clearly was unfit for the job. This resulted in an amazing turn of events since due to intrinsic motivation to not be the source of everyone’s laugh, he becomes someone completely different. At the end of the first part of the movie Pvt. Lawrence was no longer that unfit soldier we see at the beginning, he had changed to be a vicious person with a death wish. In both works we see the physical and emotional struggles soldiers had to undergo causing them to develop an

The Things They Carried, by Tim O'Brien, is a generalization of his own experiences in Vietnam although the story itself is a work of fiction there is still much to be learned from it. Through the actions of soldiers in The Things They Carried we can begin to explore the effect war has on the human condition and the toll it plays on their minds.

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.

War is something that many people in some generations experience while many people from other generations may not experience. Those who do not experience war see the depiction of war through media such as video games or the news. However a lot of the depictions we see in these forms of media may not always be accurate. Authors from the era where war was prominent however do understand the tragedy that comes with war and depict it in a lot of their work. What techniques do writers use to go against war?

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

War changes people and Tim O’ Brien is a great example because in The Things they Carried, the novel observes a struggle to conquer grief and the struggle to deal with death; which shows the human side. The story displays strong sentiment and lets the reader sympathize with the characters, especially Tim O’ Brien. Tim O’ Brien permits the spectators to feel the emotion by writing this fictional story.

The Things They Carried by Tim O’Brien, is a series of tales about the war in Vietnam. The stories express the hardships the men of Alpha Company faced while in the war and also their feelings towards this brutal war. Tim O’Brien did a phenomenal job of recreating the scenes of the war in the readers mind, making the reader feel as if they were a member of the company. Not only is this novel telling stories of the Vietnam War, but it also expresses the emotions of pure sadness, fear, and anger of each individual soldier.

In the world of Tim O’Brien story there are many individuals who come from different walks of life. Many affected by their culture, geography, surroundings, and circumstances they have each been exposed too. In “The Things They Carried,” the characters demonstrate the challenges and struggles they face and how they attempt to conceal it inside them. In today’s world this short story can be related to the responsibilities, challenges, and struggles individuals face internally from one day to the next.

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,

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

The author talks specifically about the weights of items, how necessary they are, what they are for, and which soldiers carry what. As Steve Kaplan puts it, “All of the ‘things’ are depicted in a style that is almost scientific in its precision,” (Kaplan 44). The things they carried included physical baggage they needed to survive. For example, “P-38 can openers, pocket knives, heat tabs, wrist watches, dog tags, mosquito repellent” (O’Brien 564). He even tells the reader that “Together, these things weighed between 12 and 18 pounds, depending on a man’s habits or rate of metabolism” (O’Brien 565). The things they carried can also be seen as symbolism for the soldiers’ emotional baggage. O’Brien writes, “And they dreamed of freedom birds,” (575) which is symbolism for their dreams of leaving the war. Rena Korb explains the symbolism in the statement in her essay on “The Things They Carried” writing that “instead of carrying the weight of the war, they are now carried by a creature that is larger, more powerful, and more mystical than themselves,”

America is a country revolved around war. The patriotism of Americans has composed multiple wars since 1775, henceforth we are currently at war with Afghanistan. It is a fact that as years proceed, the views of veterans and society have changed towards the idea of going to war. The vicious wars have not only changed those who fight it, but those who watch it as well. The novel, The Things They Carried by Tim O’Brien gives a vivid explanation of how the war, and the experiences of these brave soldiers took place. As we are still at war with Afghanistan since 2001, the comparison and contrast between both wars endure. The 10 year war with Vietnam and the 14 year continuing war with Afghanistan not only compare and contrast with the political

Finding the Truth Within the Fiction in The Things They CarriedAlthough there are many themes displayed throughout the stories told by Tim O’Brien inThe Things They Carried, none of them will have the intended impact on the audience if theylack the ability to separate the truth from the fiction. Interpreting this truth throughout the novelmay be hard due to the often made-up recollections rather than factual events, which often resultin a lack of respect for the accounts being presented. However, once the reader can comprehendthat not all of the stories are true, yet the emotions always are, a new appreciation for the storieswill be found as well as a deeper comprehension. Tim O’Brien’s recollection of his time spentfighting the war in Vietnam is not always completely truthful, but truth can always be found inthe book through the emotions and morals that come along with his blunt, brutal stories.