The Things They Carried by Tim O'Brien Essay

facts of a true and unreal story that is being told to them. In Tim O’Brien’s novel, the narrator actually named all the characters in the novel after the men that fought alongside him in the Vietnam War. With this approach the narrator created a distinction between true fact and fiction. Despite telling all the stories, the author never revealed if the stories truly happened or not. In the story “How To Tell A True War Story” by Tim O’Brien, the author essentially refers the story back to the…

as “he took a peculiar half step, moving from shade into bright sunlight, and the booby-trapped 105 round blew him into a tree”- there’s no other reason why he dies, there’s no message to glean (O’Brien 79). According to the “How to Tell a True War Story” chapter of Tim O’Brien’s The Things They Carried, a true war story is amoral, sickening, beautiful, and seemingly infinite. “The Soldier” by Rupert Brooke claims to be a war story, despite failing to reach most of O’Brien’s qualifiers. However,…

a family, a nation, a race, a community etc. it is such a natural thing that people never realize how important the knowledge of the fact that they’re a part of something is. Mostly because the absence of it is fate to very few types of people and most commonly these people are soldiers. This problem is presented, as one of the issues the soldiers have to deal with, in a war novel “The Things They Carried” written by Tim O’Brien. He presents few cases where characters had to deal with this…

reality from his innocent mind in a similar manner to the fallen hero, Oedipus. Despite not being the murderer of the old man, O’Brien still conveys a tone of depression and guilt in his description of his “sickness” and of “greeting the dead.” Not to mention, the erratic narration indicates a sense of anxiety-- all from the downfall of O’Brien’s ignorance. Therefore, both O’Brien and Oedipus attain emotional trauma through altered perceptions of their respective realities as a result of…

The Significance of What They Carried Core 11 Summer Assignment “War is peace. Freedom is slavery. Ignorance is strength,” (George Orwell, 1984) This quote represents the stages of emotions that the Alpha Company is currently going through throughout the war, when the men return home from the war, they all go through different struggles to get back to the way their life was before. Jimmy Cross carries guilt, for being responsible for the two deaths of his men. Rat Kiley carries the stresses of…

The Vietnam War started in 1959, causing 58,119 american deaths (Hickman). In “The Things They Carried” by Tim O’Brien, O’Brien describes how the rookie soldiers feel through the hard times of the war. All the soldiers are frightened, but refuse to show their inner fear. It is not until Ted Lavender, a new recruit to the group who actually shows his uneasiness, separates to use the restroom and gets shot. The squad consists of Jimmy Cross, the 24 year old lieutenant who is in…

Unknown Americans written by Cristina Henriquez, a character named Maribel was othered because she had a brain injury, though many people first say her as a normal pretty girl they would usually see on the street. Mary Anne from The Things they Carried written by Tim O’Brien was othered because she fell in love with Vietnam. Vladek Spiegelman from Maus, written by Art…

A comparison of “The Things They Carried” and “The Guests of The Nation” Duty in military service is a significant theme in “The Things They Carried” by Tim O’Brien and “The Guests of the Nation” by Frank O’Connor. Both authors depict how their protagonists are allowing personal matters to interfere with the responsibilities war demands. Despite O’Brien’s opposition towards the war he recognizes the necessity of duty for the sake of his fellow soldiers, driven by his own involvement in the…

the Vietnamese, who lived in the area and saw the effects of war every day (Kazemek, 1998). Reflecting this is a growing body of work that adopts alternative perspectives to tell war stories (i.e. nurse, child) (Kazemek, 1998). Tim O’Brien, in his The Things They Carried, describes the Vietnam war through the traditional perspective of a combat male, he represents Martha, Mary Anne Bell, and women in general as taboo or dislikeable objects (Barden, 2010). Martha, Lieutenant Cross’s girlfriend,…

Afterword to The Things They Carried, Spin Tim O’Brien’s novel, The Things They Carried, has been reviewed as an excellent work of fiction that “clearly demonstrated” O’Brien’s “unique artistic vision” (The Things They Carried). The section of the novel titled Spin is one that the author has put a great deal of effort into allowing the reader to easily visualize what Vietnam was like for him. O’Brien’s recollection of Vietnam is given in such a way that the audience feels as if they are right…