Tim O Brien's The Things They Carried

The distractions of war, misinterpretation of reality and limited control of fate as a result of the human condition appear throughout the Vietnam War at all times. Tim O’Brien, as a narrator describes the struggles of storytelling during and after the war. The constant struggle to determine reality versus personal perception arises in many aspects of his memory. Some factors of recalling events are uncontrollable such as interference of imagination and uncertainty as a result of the human condition. In Tim O’Brien’s The Things They Carried, the telling of story-truth, rather than happening-truth, is necessary, as no replica can be as genuine as the original.

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

The war of Vietnam played a significant role in Tim O’Brien’s life throughout his works and experiences. He was drafted to the Vietnam war after graduating college in 1968 where he served two years. O’Brien wrote the novel The Things They Carried after returning from the war as a way to clear off his mind from the experiences he went through. In the novel he constructed many memories that may or may not be true, but are told using imagination as a guide to explore the mind of the readers. O’Brien used his novel to liberate his many occurrences he faced and dealt with throughout his journey. In an interview with Michael Coffey on Patrick Smith’s article O’Brien states, “My goal was to write something utterly convincing but without any rules as to what’s real and made up…” (97). Tim O’Brien uses imagination to establish a therapy within his writing as a way to cope with reality based on his war transition, allusions, and stories to save him.

The Changes of Tim O’Brien Every person, no matter who they are or their age, has created memories and stories. Memories and stories are a part of life that everyone has. In, The Things They Carried, the author tells the whole story as a matter of stories and memories. The author, Tim O’Brien wrote the book, The Things They Carried, many years after he left the Vietnam war.

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.

When fighting as a soldier in the Vietnam War, everything carried has to have significance. In The Things They Carried by Tim O’Brien, the soldiers carried items that were important to them symbolically and emotionally. There were some objects that were a necessity such as, pocket knives, heat tabs, wristwatches, dog tags, mosquito repellent, steel helmets, ponchos, and etc… Also, standard weapons were needed like the M-60, M-16, and M-79. Jimmy Cross was first lieutenant so he had the responsibility to shuffle around a compass, maps, code books, binoculars, and a .45-caliber pistol. RTO Mitchell Sanders had the responsibility to carry the PRC-25 radio, which was a whole 26 pounds. Rat Kiley was the medic and had certain items needed to treat

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 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.

Tim O’Brien frequently recalls back on memories, adding backstories to small details. During the war due to high pressure and tension, Tim purposely overlooked a lot of the sensory details of the dead bodies to avoid the guilt and trauma of killing another person. In Good From, Tim O’Brien reveals the difference between happening truth and story truth by giving examples of the two, “Here is the happening-truth...There were many bodies, real bodies with real faces, but I was young then and I was afraid to look. And now, twenty years later, I'm left with faceless responsibility and faceless grief.”(121) Tim feels severe guilt for killing people in Vietnam but never formally recognizing them as an actual human being. To reconcile for his killings, Tim provides a backstory for all the people he killed. He created the story with the man with the star shaped hole as a representation for the actual people he killed. He wanted the people he killed to be viewed as real people with facial features. After his happening truth statement, Tim O’Brien follows up with “the story-truth... His jaw was in his throat. His one eye was shut, the other eye was a star-shaped hole. I killed him.”(121) By substituting the dead with an actual human figure, Tim can provide a character for he and the readers to empathy with. Tim O’Brien can finally recover by recognizing and honoring the dead soldiers he killed as well as extend their story to a broader audiences. Brien concludes the chapter by saying that“ “What stories can do... is make things present. I can look at things I never looked at.”(121) Tim affirms that he feel humans and alive again by having emotions. The ability to feel grief for the dead allows Tim to reflect the past and move forward with his

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.

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.

First and foremost Tim was drafted into the war on June 17, 1968, according to page 39. Tim was a smart kid and he hated being drafted into the war. He had so many accomplishments so he assumed that it was a “foul up in paperwork.” On page 42 he believed “that military forces should only be used to stop a Hitler.” To Tim, this war was pointless and he

The Things They Carried is a breathtaking and captivating powerful war story memoir, which is beautifully and intensely well written by Tim O Brien. The novel explores the physical and emotional trauma of the Vietnam War and its impact on soldiers fears. The author and protagonist Tim O’ Brien communicates provoking nonlinear narratives or frame stories through his own point of view presenting the audience with a window into the disturbing widespread, endless, and meaningless death, violence, and savagery in war-torn Vietnam. The author cleverly uses different literary devices such as imagery, irony, symbolism, repetition and figurative language to grab the reader’s attention and convey his message and purpose for storytelling. By telling the haunting tragic stories of young soldiers whose lives were largely forgotten by society despite their opposition to the war and to reflect the real gripping emotional truth of what it was like to be a soldier in Vietnam and a veteran suffering from the memories of it. Through O’Brien vivid description of the war, which was such a significant event in American history, he distinguishes the physical, emotional and psychological aspect of war. The characters in the story are depicted memorably and their identities represent the different aspects of human nature and their struggle with guilt and purpose.

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 is a novel that describes the tragedies that occur during war and how it desensitizes humans. Throughout the book, O’Brien introduces a lot of ambiguity which relates to critic Roland Barthes saying, “Literature is the question minus the answer.” Leaving so many questions unanswered allows the reader to truly explore through as many possible answers as necessary in order to comprehend the meaning of the book. A major question that the novel raises is, “Does war desensitize humans?” As the novel progresses, characters experience major changes and there are scenes that depict the brutal and inhumane effects of war on people.