World War I, also known as the Great War, has transformed the lives of millions of people, leading to new innovations, and different forms of government. But along with new innovation, a lot of violence erupted, causing millions of lives to be lost. War is a transformative event for individuals because the deaths caused by war impacts people in a negative way, causing witnesses to have physical and/ or mental disorders, along with a feeling of helplessness and loss of faith in government. The novel All Quiet on the Western Front by Erich Maria Remarque is an example of the impact war can have on soldiers. It is about Paul Baumer, a soldier in the war, and the reader follows him through his tragic endeavors fighting in the war on the side of…
Juan Rico is the main character and narrator of Starship Troopers. He is of filipino descent. From the information of his actions and Myers-Briggs I am to the conclusion that he has an Extravert, Intuitive, Feeling, Perceiving(ENFP) personality type. His life was easy going and did not have much traumatic experiences yet. His nickname was Johnnie which everyone called him.…
Regardless of the fact that this novel is essentially a war story, these moments are pivotal and further develop the humanity of soldiers in Vietnam. Tim O’Brien uses…
She was up to her eyeballs in it. After the war, man, I promise you, you won't find nobody like her’” (O’Brien 108). Mary Anne’s transformation is so surprising and spontaneous because she was expected to behave a lot differently than she did during her time in…
In The Sweetheart of Song Tra Bong, Tim O’Brien utilizes the character arc of Mary Anne Bell to symbolize how war and violence can produce a severe negative affect what would otherwise be a healthy person. When Mary Anne Bell is initially introduced, O’Brien makes it evident that she is a naïve and pure figure. As Mary Anne becomes more familiar with the war-torn environment of Vietnam, O’Brien consistently alludes to Mary Anne developing a new personality. Finally, O’Brien introduces the final character of Mary…
[she] seemed tired and somewhat lost, but she smiled” (O’Brien 86, 89). Rat spoke with the rest of the soldiers about Mary Anne, explaining how she looks out of place. She looked like she was completely unaware of the war because of the “culottes” and “pink sweater” that she was wearing. Although she came from the same culture as they did, she looked alienated because of her unusual choice of clothing. This represents how a correct understanding is crucial to connecting with others.…
In The Things They Carried, many characters leave the reader feeling uneasy and perplexed, but none to the extent of Mary Anne. While she is often portrayed as either a symbol for women’s power as well as for their supposed weakness, Mary Anne’s story is more about the power and intrigue of war on people, and how anyone can be taken in and changed by it. When she arrives in Vietnam, Rat describes her as, “This cute blond--- just a kid, just barely out of high school--- she shows up with a suitcase and one of those plastic cosmetic bags” (86). She arrives in Vietnam as this feminine and impressionable girl, and at first the men even say that she is treating Vietnam like a sort of vacation.…
O’Brien’s style of writing “supports this primary objective of evoking a real response in the reader” (The). In the same way that The Red Badge of Courage’s main theme is war, the same thing is true for The Things They Carried. There are some that are not as obvious for the book as a whole but for a few chapters at a time: memory, imagination, death, fear, exhaustion, and storytelling. These eye-opening pieces of work carry the same theme, and have created a major impact on the readers.…
Women with major roles In the book “The Things They Carried” by Tim O'Brien, the men in the book have different views and emotions about the women they love, hate and the women they try to understand. What role do these women have in the lives of these men, how do the women impact their lives and what do the women symbolize in the book? The “Things They Carried” by Tim O’Brien is a story is based on experiences in the vietnam war. This soldier who got drafted to the war tells fictional and non-fictional stories about his friends, his life in the war and his life before he went to the war.…
The Things They Carried War is a wretched battlefield. It twists the minds of soldiers, scarring them with experiences that can last a lifetime. During war, there are some experiences that one cannot verbally formulate into words that truly capture what had happened. As the author of “The Things They Carried”, Tim O’brien writes with a style that brings his stories to life, as it allows the readers to be able to feel the situation as if them themselves were in it.…
Later, O’Brien takes his daughter with him to a trip to Vietnam where many places bring back flashbacks and memories of the war to him. However, on behalf of her perspective, she often finds everything boring and is uninterested as she does not share the same knowledge as her father. She tells her father he is rather weird when she says, “Some dumb thing happens a long time ago and you can’t ever forget it” (175). She finds it very silly that her father cannot seem to let go of his past during the war, but O’Brien understands her as he knows it is not easy to grasp how vivid memories can be when there is no experience or comprehension on her behalf. Next, O’Brien incorporates Mary Anne into the novel as she symbolizes arrogance.…
Mary Anne Bell is the only female character in Tim O’Brien’s novel “The Things They Carried”, who was physically present in the Vietnam War. She originally came to Vietnam to visit her boyfriend medic Mark Fossie. Mary Anne arrives dressed typically for an American girl, wearing “white culottes and this sexy pink sweater” (p.90) and attracts all of the man around her with her “bubbly personality and a happy smile” (p.95). Soon enough Mary Anne proves to be a “non typical American girl” she adapts to the environment in Vietnam quickly and starts to act like regular soldier. Her personality characteristics helped her: she happened to be an inquirer, - expressing interest to things around her, and a quick learner- mastering new war skills.…
Post Traumatic Stress Disorder is “a psychiatric disorder that can occur following the experience or witnessing of a life-threatening experience”. (Department of Veterans Affairs) Tim O’brien and Louise Edrich want to show the psychological and social damaging effects of war as can be seen in Lt. Cross and Henry in "The Things They Carried" and "The Red Convertible". Some of the signs someone who might be suffering from PTSD include flashbacks, nightmares, hypersensitivity among others from the traumatic experience. It is important to know how to recognize the symptoms of someone who suffers with PTSD.…
Throughout the chapter, Mary Anne’s actions seem unrealistic and a bit exaggerated. Many of O’Brien’s stories in the novel have most of the criteria of a true war story. By using this technique, O’Brien makes the story more realistic and lets the reader feel connected. Sometimes, he has to make up events only to let the reader understand what war really is and what it does to people. In his novel, he tries to show that not all good things always happen in a war as in most shown in the war movies.…
In “The Things They Carried,” Tim O’Brien shares numerous war stories to illustrate the life of a soldier in the Vietnam War. Throughout the book, the narrator, Tim O’Brien, shares stories about the soldiers in his platoon during the war. He shares what each soldier carried and its significance. He also discusses the effects of the war on the soldiers’ life, including his own, by using themes. O’Brien utilizes several themes in his stories, such as love and guilt.…