The Things They Carried Essay

“The Things They Carried”- People are inclined to display a confident image of themselves because they fear that if they do not, others will see them as weak. Device Concrete Detail Commentary Personification of intangibles to represent the true burdens of war “They carried the common secret of cowardice barely restrained, the instinct to run or freeze or hide, and in many respects this was the heaviest burden of all, for it could…

culture depicted in The Things They Carried greatly incorporates a value of the past. From the start of the story, the soldier’s reliance on the past is made apparent through their nearly unanimous collection of photographs. These photographs serve as a coping mechanism for the soldiers, reminding them of simpler times; however, the way the soldiers react to these photographs reveals a core component of their cultural values while at war. Specifically, Jimmy Cross carried a photo of Martha, and…

War can make the happiest person we know turn into someone completely different. It can affect them in different ways, causing them to go insane and to change. As noticed in The Things They Carried, readers were able to witness such changes in someone’s mental and physical state. O’Brien took his readers through a journey of different stories from his fellow war mates. Whether or not they were true, completely false, or only showed a little bit of the truth, the stories still go to show us how…

In the novel The Things They Carried, Tim O’Brien, the author, is sending the reader a message of the power of war. O’Brien is saying that the war leaves a bigger burden than the heavy objects the soldiers had to “hump” during the war. In “Notes,” he shares with the reader the past of one of Tim’s friends from the war, and how his life was disjointed from it. In the chapter, Norman Bowker says in a letter that Tim should write about “a guy who feels like he got zapped over in that shit hole,”…

What is the limit of pain one feels from being ashamed? Shame is powerful motivator that can lead one to make life changing decisions. Tim O’Brien’s autobiographical war novel, The Things They Carried, details the motivation and the effects of shame soldiers faced during the Vietnam war. The Vietnam war, lasting from 1955 to 1975, was fought between North Vietnam and South Vietnam over the idea of communism and capitalism. As North and South Vietnam joined with allies to try to defeat each…

In war there is no prize for runner-up, there will be those who survive and those who die. Although those who survive may be just as damaged as those who passed away. In The Things They Carried by Tim O’ Brien Jimmy Cross is described as the lieutenant of an Army unit in the Vietnam War. Cross is in charge of his crew and their actions in this brutal environment. Cross attempts to guide his team through realistic depictions of war experiences, including ambushes, traps, and mental insanity.…

The Things They Carried, by Tim O’Brien is a powerful novel that portrays the Vietnam War perfectly in the readers mind. O’Brien does a fantastic job of making the reader feel everything that happens in the novel, and exhibiting how gruesome and terrifying war really is. Another thing O’Brien does is use symbolism to depict a different meaning to what is happening to the soldiers during battle. Symbolism is ubiquitous throughout the novel and the way O’Brien uses it is phenomenal. An important…

The Things They Carried Tim O'Brien's novel The Things They Carried leaves many who read the story confused about what parts are true or false. The story talks about O’Brien and the soldiers experience in the Vietnam war. Throughout, the whole story O’Brien reveals the feeling of home, false sense of identity and heroism through Martha. The sense of home is represented through Martha who seems to be the escape for Jimmy Cross through the whole war. In the story O’Brien states “unwrap the…

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…

A former sergeant in the army and a writer, Tim O’Brien, in his short story, “The Things They Carried,” examines the experiences of Vietnam soldiers in combat and how tangible --but most importantly, intangible – burdens affect them. O’Brien seeks to inform people who have not participated in a war about physical and mental difficulties that can affect humans in their journey during battle, and how these distractions create chaos. O’Brien’s piece is not narrated chronologically from the…