Reaction Paper - The Things They Carried - Tim O’Brien
“The Things They Carried” is interesting in the fact that it is a collection of short stories as opposed to a single story. I think this is interesting because most war stories I have read focus on a single thought, usually a moral, that holds strong throughout the reading. When reading this I felt that the reason why he chose to write a collection of stories was because there were many things he wanted to express, not just one overarching idea. While I did note a common theme of disapproval towards war in many of the stories, I feel that this was not what he was writing about, but rather something that was present in the stories, like the war itself. I found many of the characters held important roles in each of the stories they appeared in, most of whom I could relate to, such as Kiowa. I felt that Kiowa was a very moral person in his appearances. He is always carrying a Bible, which is considered a moral guide, and many times he is shown as the moral helper to characters, such as when Tim O’Brien kills the vietnamese soldier. I also try to be a moral example to others, and when people ask me questions I try to tell them what I think is truly best for them and everyone else, although I may not always know how to help someone. Another character who I felt I could …show more content…
The way the book repeats similar elements with different points of view teaches us to look at our own past with retrospect. I think that the morals in the stories about there being no morals are very applicable to many situations in life, and being able to understand these things could help us accept unpleasant situations in life, which was part of his purpose of writing the book. This book is a good book for highschool students because it teaches things that are useful to people my age, and I don’t think it contains anything too strong for
“The Things They Carried” is interesting in the fact that it is a collection of short stories as opposed to a single story. I think this is interesting because most war stories I have read focus on a single thought, usually a moral, that holds strong throughout the reading. When reading this I felt that the reason why he chose to write a collection of stories was because there were many things he wanted to express, not just one overarching idea. While I did note a common theme of disapproval towards war in many of the stories, I feel that this was not what he was writing about, but rather something that was present in the stories, like the war itself. I found many of the characters held important roles in each of the stories they appeared in, most of whom I could relate to, such as Kiowa. I felt that Kiowa was a very moral person in his appearances. He is always carrying a Bible, which is considered a moral guide, and many times he is shown as the moral helper to characters, such as when Tim O’Brien kills the vietnamese soldier. I also try to be a moral example to others, and when people ask me questions I try to tell them what I think is truly best for them and everyone else, although I may not always know how to help someone. Another character who I felt I could …show more content…
The way the book repeats similar elements with different points of view teaches us to look at our own past with retrospect. I think that the morals in the stories about there being no morals are very applicable to many situations in life, and being able to understand these things could help us accept unpleasant situations in life, which was part of his purpose of writing the book. This book is a good book for highschool students because it teaches things that are useful to people my age, and I don’t think it contains anything too strong for