Tim O Brien's The Things They Carried

The thought of killing or being killed impact soldiers at all times. PTSD are the recurrent flashbacks from enduring service. Even firecrackers may trigger false indications of how a situation is being interpreted such as being snipers; proving the effects of PTSD after war. In Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder for Dummies, Goulston states that more than 60 percent of Vietnam combat veterans with PTSD have been in trouble with the law. Within the 60 percent or more of Vietnam veterans with PTSD, at one point in their lives acted against the law. This disorder acts as an influencer for both adult and juvenile crime steering people into bad directions (Goulston 19). Goulston shows that Vietnam veterans that suffer from PTSD are at risk of doing unlawful actions. Therefore, has a strong effect on these soldiers, and unfortunately the actions of these veterans are not for the greater good most of the time after returning home. War gives a rough experience to many veterans. This disorder steers many into the wrong path due to these terrible experiences. In the book The Things They Carried, Tim O’Brien describes the brain of a soldier and how war clouds the mind. “In war you lose your sense of the definite, hence your sense of truth itself, and therefore it’s safe to say that in a true war story nothing is ever absolutely true” (O’Brien 78). This quote demonstrates

Tim O’Brien uses two narrative techniques in “How to Tell a True War Story”. First he splits the story into three different sections. The first part being Rat Kiley writing his letter to Curt Lemon’s sister about the relationship they had. The next section is describing the correct way of writing a “true war story”. And the last is O’Brien looking back on stories and his story telling techniques. O’Brien separates the story into three different parts to give the reader an example of a story that is “true”. The next section would about the truth about writing a true story and the last section is his personal reflection on the whole situation. The other narrative technique is that O’Brien retells certain events. He retells how Curt Lemon died, he retells Mitchell Sanders telling a story, and he retells how women react when you tell them stories about the war. Tim O’Brien retells stories and

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

In Tim O'brien's, The Things They Carried, it describes the violent and emotional journey a group of men had to endure as they were trying to survive the Vietnam War. This was no easy task as war has some very rough conditions for people to live with. The group of men, led by First Lieutenant Jimmy Cross, face some challenging situations but in every situation Lieutenant Cross finds himself involved in some way. The things Lieutenant Cross endured would have been hard for any man.

In The Things They Carried by Tim O’Brien there was an overwhelming symbol of guilt. Certain characters dealt with guilt a lot more than others. Every character had a detailed description of the guilt they carried like an anvil on their shoulders, it was comprehensible why they had a hard time living with it. Jimmy Cross was the first of many to experience the overwhelming shadow of guilt.

Tim O’Brien faced a lot of different traumatizing situations during his one year in the Vietnam War, he was in ambushes, and had sleepless nights from all of the gun fire heard everywhere, grenades exploding, and staying on alert at all times for the sake of his life. Tim O’Brien talks about an ambush that Mad Mark tells him and everybody in a squad that

The human mind never wants to recall negative memories. We do not want to remember that time when we were giving a speech in front of a class and we tripped on our words. We never want to remember that time when we were walking through the hallway and suddenly fell over our own feet with our books flying all over the floor. We do not want to remember that time when we were at war and our best friend lost his life, but we got to keep ours. But what we do recall is the moments we arose heroic and overcame an obstacle.

“It is sweet and right to die for your country,” is a statement that Tim O’Brien, the main character, would have strongly disagreed with before and after entering war. The Things They Carried by Tim O’Brien is a novel compiled of short stories, all linked to the Vietnam War, depicting the experiences of several soldiers. Soldiers emerge from war with a fresh perspective, having revelations about issues such as the impact of war on a person, the meaning of life, and how to move on with life after returning from war. Aside from the heavy arsenal that O’Brien used during the war, a pen and paper are his literary weapons. Recalling his memories and even creating his own fictional stories about war, he published these narratives in hopes of keeping war alive in his present, not just his past.

After returning home from the war, Tim O 'Brien author of the novel The Things They Carried, was diagnosed as having PTSD. In view of this, it took men and women years to salvage their lives due in part

Tim O’Brien’s interrelated stories of The Things They Carried recount the lives of fictional soldiers during the Vietnam War. Through O’Brien’s catalogs of the variety of stories, the working and reworking the details of his service and fellow soldiers, O’Brien is able to express the mental burden that they endure, to show the digression of innocence in a solider, and he is able to conclude a meaning for his life is post war.

In The Things They Carried, Jimmy Cross is the lieutenant of his platoon whom feels guilt for his friend’s death. During the war, Jimmy Cross has a girlfriend back home that he always thinks of. Throughout the war, he focused mainly on his girlfriend Martha instead of his fellow soldiers in his platoon. His lack of focus to his fellow soldiers had led to the death of his friend’s, Ted Lavender. Jimmy Cross blames himself for his friend death because he feels like it is his fault for not watching over them. He feels guilty for his friend’s death, and the thoughts of Martha haunt him whenever he thinks about their death. He decides to burn everything that Martha has given him to help him concentrate on the war. However, it doesn’t help him, because he remembers everything that Martha has given him. Still thinking about Martha, he forgets about the war and finds out that his Indian friend Kiowa has died in the sewage field after drowning. Jim Cross started to feel worse about his actions, and felt even more guilty and started to write a letter to Kiowa’s father. This made Jimmy Cross feel unstable about himself because he felt guilty about his actions throughout the war and cannot turn time back.

Tim O’Brien is similar to the character ‘Tim” in the story. Both characters lived in insulated communities located in several states growing up. Tim O’Brien graduated from Macalester College before being drafted into the military during 1968. O’Brien was known to be against the war and started writing intensely after learning he was drafted. After entering the war he moved from solider to sergeant and overall took no serious injury. O’Brien went on to study at Harvard and work for The Washington Post. O’Brien wrote about the war and was published in The New York Times, The New Yorker, The Atlantic Monthly, Harper’s Esquire, and Playboy. O’Brien went through many mental and emotional struggles but worked through them by writings through his

In O’Brien’s short story “The Things They Carried”, First Lieutenant Jimmy Cross thinks the death of his comrade, Ted Lavender is his fault. Jimmy Cross is only 22 years-olds, too young to take on the responsibilities of being First Lieutenant at war. Jimmy Cross’s Fascination with Martha reading and daydreaming about her letters and photos. Jimmy Cross is the way his mind could escape from the ugliness of the wars. In The Vietnam War, being a strong leader over the unit is impossible if the war’s mission is undefined. Death is a part of fighting in The Vietnam War. Ted Lavender’s death is not the fault of the First Lieutenant Jimmy Cross but the result of the Vietnam War.

Tim O’Brien uses storytelling over happening truth to extend his message and further dissects the theme of psychological trauma. Although Tim O’Brien isn’t always successful in conveying his message by disregarding actual facts, he does focus on providing synopsis that replicated the platoon’s experiences and feelings during the Vietnam War and the aftermath. Tim O’Brien wasn’t trying to recount the real events of the Vietnam War but rather confess the emotions and actions tied to it.