Black Guerrilla Family

Even more so than the other American soldiers in Vietnam, Mary Ann is the embodiment of an outsider. She is also the representation of American arrogance in the Vietnam War. She does not belong there, and her story accentuates what happens when someone’s surroundings affect him or her. She arrives to Vietnam as Mark Fossie’s girlfriend, and she is the only tangible example of love in the novel. Mary Ann gets there dressed in her pink sweater and her white culottes, with a fresh face and a very…

War and religion. While in many cases, churches and other holy sites are often used as a way for people to avoid the violence of warfare, in cases such as the Crusades, religion can be the cause of warfare. The Things They Carried, written by Tim O’Brien, does not explicitly focus on themes relating to the nature of the relationship between religion and war, rather it focuses mainly on other large ideas such as burdens and subjective truths. However, several symbols presented in some of the many…

Carried Through the War An estimated one million American soldiers died in the Vietnam War. The war was brutal, and even though I have not experienced war directly, I can imagine a persistent death awaiting each and every individual on the battlefield. It is his short story “The Things They Carried”, by author and writer Tim O’ Brien, that I believe truly illustrates the hardships and death of the Vietnam War and how they affected soldiers physically, spiritually, and mentally. To begin with,…

We see the first chapter of The Things They Carried by Tim O’Brien to be the foundation for the rest of the novel, with exquisite descriptions of everyone and everything, to the foreshadowing and symbolism that embodies each character and “what they carry”. O’Brien offers us basic descriptions of what each member of Alpha Company carries that is described as “largely determined by necessity” (2). Some would carry knives, extra rations and what seemed like an overkill of supplies, while others…

“William Timothy O’Brien is a renowned American writer, famous for writing novels on the Vietnam War.” (FamousAuthors). One of his most famous novels is called “The Things They Carried.” O’Brien was born on October 1, 1946 in Austin, Minnesota. He grew up in Worthington, where that city played an important role in shaping his imagination and developing his artistic sensibility. Although O’Brien was against the war, he was conscripted into the United States Army and sent to Vietnam where he…

Everyone deals with certain types of situations in his or her own way. A person’s emotions and actions could also affect how he or she deals with their problems. In The Things They Carried, Tim O’Brien explains how the soldier’s emotions get the best of a person. Someone could also deal with their problems in a negative way. They could deal with their issues without help, which might make the situation even worse and may cause bigger problems. Someone might not know how to deal with a situation…

In the year of 1965 The United states of America had began to deploy troops to fight communism in the country of Vietnam. The U.S. would find themselves with new problems both overseas and at home. During the war there was a great amount of conflict that grew on American soil. Many people in the U.S. did not believe in the U.S. involvement in the war and made that clear through a series of violent and non-violent protests and demonstrations. Along with the problems in the U.S., there were many…

harsh realities of battle, possibly for the first time. The amount of casualties is truly astonishing: (approximately) 282,000 Allied deaths, 444,000 North Vietnam deaths, and 587,000 civilian deaths. Keep in mind that each one of these deaths has a family, possibly a spouse, children, parents and grandparents. This obviously impacted thousands of people across the globe. Another aspect of the Vietnam War that impacted people was the fact that the war truly divided the nation. Either people…

This chapter really interested me. When thinking of soldiers marching through enemies land, a person might habitually think of the ammunition, food, personal belongings, what each personnel carries on each mission. For example on page 5, the author states, “As a medic, Rat Kiley carried a canvas satchel filled with morphine and plasma and malaria tablets and surgical tape and comic books and all things a medic must carry…” What is least on the persons mind is the non-war type materials the…

1865 that had the largest consequences for America’s history. This day may not be seen as Lee’s proudest moments, but the decisions he made truly did help to shape America into the nation it is today. In his choice to surrender rather than use guerrilla tactics, Lee saved America from a long, difficult conflict that could have permanently destroyed the republic. Then, by accepting surrender with poise and respect, he helped set the North and South on a path towards reunification. Obviously, Lee…