Beiyang Army

border, but he decided against it. That is when he knew that he wasn’t brave, heroic, or patriotic enough. Both shame and guilt follow the soldiers into war, and it makes them do crazy things. In the chapter “The Dentist,” Curt Lemon faints when an army dentist treats him, to his own shame (O’Brien 82). To prove to his fellow men that he is “man enough,” he decides to go see the dentist in the middle of the night and have him pull a perfectly healthy tooth. That is a great example of what guilt and

The Things They Carried was written by Tim O'Brien based on his experiences from Vietnam. He writes "Ambush" and "The man I killed" as an imagined confession. Tim O'Brien tries to make the death of the man he killed seem appropriate and he also lies to his daughter about killing at war. Tim O'Brien uses irony, imagery, and loaded diction to ease his own guilt. Tim O'Brien uses irony to emphasize the confession of his action when he kills the man. He admits throwing a grenade in My Khe which expresses

The Things They Carried to “Goodnight Saigon” similarities Tim O’Brien & Billie Joel The Vietnam war left around 11% of American soldiers with PTSD. Many Vietnam veterans see doctors for medicine to control their PTSD. Medicine helps some veterans live longer, but today twenty-two virtuosos commit suicide everyday. An example is from The They Carried by Tim O’Brien; page 155 the first paragraph of the chapter, “Notes”. On the other hand, the song, “Goodnight Saigon” by Billie Joel, does not have

People often feel embarrassed because they believe what they do are wrong. In The Things They Carried, the conflicts in emotions of the soldiers highlights the theme of embarrassment. For instance, O’Brien in “On the Rainy River” is ashamed because he decides to go to the Vietnam War and escapes his real ideals. In “Speaking of Courage,” Norman Bowker is embarrassed because he has saved himself instead of saving his friend Kiowa from death. Indeed, the theme of embarrassment plays an essential role

In The Things They Carried by Tim O’Brien, Rat, through his experiences, reveals that war makes it difficult for people to stay true to themselves but it is important to do what they believe is right so they don’t destroy themselves. Rat learns this lesson when his best friend, Curt Lemon, gets blown up by a grenade while they were messing around playing games. Rat is so devastated by his friends death, that he starts to do things he wouldn’t normally do. Tim says, “Later, higher in the mountains

War can be a stressful and an intimidating experience that in one way or another ultimately changes one’s life and behavior negatively. In the novel, “Three Day Road”, by Joseph Boyden, he shows readers the destruction of the war in reference to the main characters, Xavier and Elijah. Joseph Boyden effectively illustrates the journey one goes through and the changes they encounter both physically and spiritually during the duration of the war. War changes everyone physically as well as internally

In Tim O’Brien’s, “The Things They Carried” is centered around a group of U.S. soldiers and their experiences in the jungles of Vietnam. The main character Jimmy Cross leads his platoon through the jungle but is constantly distracted by the women he perceives to be his lover (Martha). Many of the soldier’s fear death, so they keep superstitious items such as rabbit’s feet or severed thumbs of the enemy soldiers. After the death of one of his squad mates Ted Lavender, Cross begins to take things

War is a terrible thing. The bloodshed, killing, and fighting often leads to thousands of innocent or young people dying for a cause that they may not even support. This is true for many wars, but most notably the Vietnam War. During the Vietnam War the United States lost over 50,000 men, and many of them did not understand or want to be there fighting. Many more were left with severe PTSD or crippling injuries. Tim O’Brien, author of The Things They Carried, writes about war stories and shows how

In Tim O’Brien’s book, The Things They Carried, he discusses the many things American troops carried such as supplies and personal belongings. Another thing the troops carried were the emotional burdens of their lives. In this essay, I will discuss how the first chapter “The Things They Carried” relates to the chapter called “Love.” I will mainly examine Jimmy Cross’s fascination with a woman named Martha. Next, I will discuss three different sources that give O’Brien’s book context. The second

In the novel “The Things They Carried”, by Tim O’Brien, the soldiers go through a miserable moment of the death of Kiowa. Kiowa’s death was not done with the intention, but however there is still something to blame Kiowa’s death on. Blame the one that could’ve prevented this incident and that’s the war. If the war wasn’t around Kiowa wouldn’t have gone through a tragic accident. Yes, you can blame a solider that could’ve helped out, but if they replaced or moved a solider Kiowa would’ve still have