Tim O Brien's The Things They Carried

Decent Essays
When reading The Things They Carried by Tim O’Brien there were many different things that can be learned. Being involved in a war such as Vietnam required having many different traits as a person. In order to be properly prepared to endure something as traumatic as war, the traits needed are, courageousness, faithful, insightful, and open-mindedness. Each of these traits are essential to successfully entering this type of position. Being in the military, air force, or coast guard takes a lot, and this task can only be taken on by certain people. However, fun time can also be had even when it seems like things should be falling apart. Tim O’Brien uses great imagery to help the readers to visualize the war and what it was really like, as well as the “Brightside” of war. The visit from Mr. Hoyt confirmed that being in any war is an extremely real situation to be in. The one thing that contrasted from TTTC was that when Mr. Hoyt was talking about the …show more content…
During the presentation by Mr. Hoyt, it was cofirmed that it takes a certain mentality to be in war, however, it is a great accomplishment to have made it through something so major. Being a veteran is a great honor, not just because you are known as someone who was in a war, but you know in your heart that you fought for your country and the people of your country. This relates to Mr. Hoyt’s story as well as some of the characters in TTTC. Reading TTTC first and then having heard Mr. Hoyt’s story made it way easier to understand what it was really like to be in the war physically. Using TTTC as a preview into part of the “war life” was a great way to get background knowledge before hearing from a real life veteran who lived the “war life”. TTTC was a semi-relatable war story and due to Mr. Hoyt’s visit, it was concluded that TTTC had some true facts about what real war was

Related Documents

  • Improved Essays

    In the novel, An American Soldier in World War I the author, David L. Snead seeks to provide the reader with an accurate account of the first war through one of possibly the last remaining written letter of a soldier. Through the novel the reader is able to gain insight on the condition of training and preparation, combat, and a soldiers relationship with those he has had to leave. The way in which the author depicts each of these experiences truly draws the reader in and has them rooting for Brownie, whom which is the main character. Throughout the novel the author does his best to set the surrounding or condition of the area that the soldiers occupy.…

    • 1061 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Improved Essays

    I Remember the Last War was a book written by Robert Hoffman. His book discusses his participation during the war. This excerpt from his story specifically talks about his experience in a military hospital and on the frontline. The reader will notice that the majority of Hoffman`s memories are awful. Three adjectives that describe his experience are depressing, traumatic and gory.…

    • 611 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Decent Essays

    Vietnam Flashback In Tim O'Brien's speech and book he wants people to understand how terrifying and emotional the war can be. He talks about people getting blown up, and dying in fear. One way Tim wants to show how emotional the war can be. “The giggles were caught in his throat, drowning him in his own laughter: Scared to death like Billy Boy.”…

    • 267 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Decent Essays
  • Improved Essays

    Every Human in the world has their own life figure it out in their minds, mostly everyone someday, or another will find something that they truly love and will do everything to satisfy that love no matter what the situation is, even though, sometimes it can result in your death, by pursuing the love or dream that you have, you might sometimes face many obstacles and difficulties, but it will all depend on the love that you have to continue believing in yourself until you achieve that goal or dream. As every human in the world, we all are very different in many ways, we all follow different dreams, and we love different things. Many people love drugs so much that can even let their satisfaction to drugs kill themselves. Some fall in love with a girl, some live for their families. We all…

    • 517 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Superior Essays

    Tim O’Brien explores the nature of a war story and the reality held in fiction in The Things They Carried through varying levels of truth. A true war story does not contain a definitive truth; instead, it is constructed from a jumble of skewed visions and memories. It is this aspect of a war story that ultimately distorts the boundary separating fact from fiction. O’Brien categorizes the levels of truth used in stories into story-truth and happening-truth.…

    • 1192 Words
    • 5 Pages
    Superior Essays
  • Improved Essays

    This is of importance because not many people understand what it means to be a soldier and the difficulties they face, therefore having this novel taught creates an appreciation and understanding of their…

    • 1170 Words
    • 5 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Improved Essays

    According to Tim O’Brien’s criteria, “The Sweetheart of the Song Tra Bong” is a true war story because it is hard to believe, it does not suggest proper human behavior, and it is not uplifting. Since “The Sweetheart of the Song Tra Bong”…

    • 1146 Words
    • 5 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Superior Essays

    Since we, as readers, were able to clearly perceive the emotional truth about war that Tim O’Brien wanted to convey. “By telling stories, you objectify your own experience. You separate it from yourself. You pin down certain truths. You make up others.…

    • 1129 Words
    • 5 Pages
    Superior Essays
  • Improved Essays

    Platoon Film Analysis

    • 1252 Words
    • 6 Pages

    In the beginning, both Chris Taylor and America were unsure of their reason for being in the war. Similarly, in the height of the war, the soldiers had a very low sense of moral and ended up committing war crimes. By the end of the war, as seen in the movie and throughout history, the war ended leaving soldiers traumatized by the events that took place, eventually leading to America’s withdrawal from the war. Chris Taylor 's experience helped viewers have a sense of what war was actually like for the first…

    • 1252 Words
    • 6 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Improved Essays

    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.…

    • 809 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Improved Essays

    This shows how harmful the war was to the soldier’s psyche, where all feeling seemed to become more intense and cause them to act rashly and try and control their…

    • 798 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Improved Essays

    Attention Grabber: In our society, we all long for a feeling of acceptance by our peers and we detest the feeling of being left on the outside. Introduce literature used: On a Rainy River by Tim O’Brien Thesis: Acceptance of plays a role in the responsibilities that we put upon ourselves, this is demonstrated through the character of Tim O'Brien, metaphor and tone of the story. Body Body Paragraph 1…

    • 732 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Improved Essays

    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…

    • 1308 Words
    • 6 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Improved Essays

    Although it is a fictional story, this story bases on Tim O’Brien memory about the Vietnam War happened twenty years ago. He explained that since Tim O’Brien moves away from the event that is in his memory and tries to make a full story out of it, Tim writes about not just what happened but what almost happened or what could have happened that day. By moving away from the plane of historical reality, this helps people to focus on the important moral questions. This paper helps to understand more of Tim O’Brien’s way to use a fictional story to tell the truth about the Vietnam War and brings about the important moral…

    • 817 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Improved Essays

    The main reason Tim O’Brien wrote this book was to show how war is not for everyone. Not everyone is accustomed to war. He proves this by his stories of how lonely he was and how the other soldiers were polar opposite from him, how courageous the other soldiers were and how he wasn’t, and how he was compassionate for the old men and native people but the other soldiers weren 't as…

    • 1310 Words
    • 6 Pages
    Improved Essays