Laos

In Tim O’Brien’s novel, The Things They Carried, he shows the struggles that American soldiers’ experience in the Vietnam war. In one of the short stories the “Sweetheart of the Song Tra Bong” one of the soldiers, Mark Fossie, brings over Mary Anne Bell, his high school sweetheart, from back home. She quickly becomes curious about her surroundings in a foreign country far from home and what occurs around them in Vietnam, where she learns of the power and destruction of war. Mary Anne Bell…

Even though during the reign of King Vajiravudh (1910-1925), the country was the only independent country in the region that did not suffer from the demands for territory or other concessions. However, in reality Siam sovereignty suffered from encroachment, violations and limitations imposed on the country by Western imperialism since the middle of nineteenth century as a result of the Bowring Treaty in 1855. Some of the articles in the treaty allowed foreign countries free trade with only 3…

Idealism is the pursuit of noble principles in life; it helps define individuals actions and gives them reason to believe in something. Idealism can help them face truth in their life. Tim O’Brien addresses in his short story “On the Rainy River” the significance of idealism and truth an individuals life though his character Tim. Tim faces the clashing of idealisms and realizes the importance of truth in ones life. When an individual is put in a situation, they must focus on the how they can…

The Things They Carried is a collection of stories that Tim O’Brien the author of the novel uses to portray his experiences and feelings throughout the Vietnam War. This book conveys the life of the men throughout the war and post war and shares his vivid experiences as if you were almost there. O’Brien not only tells the cruel part of his experiences but the love and sacrifice that bonded the soldiers to form a sense of brotherhood. In the Book The Thing They Carried, O’Brien conveys bonds…

"The Prisoners of War,” a relatively short poem by Tom Disch, written in 1972, is riddled with imagery and deeper meaning. Even in the opening line, Disch cuts to the point. “Their language disappeared a year or so after the landscape: so what can they do now but point?” (line 1-3). Here it does not take much to get an interpretation. He is saying that our society has lost something. We have lost our “language,” meaning our ability to have intimate face-to- face conversations. That…

A song written by the group Crosby, Stills, Nash & Young, titled “Ohio,” tells the story of Kent State and embodied the feeling of many of the American Youth. The song has lyrics such as, “Gotta get down to it/Soldiers are cutting us down” and “We’re finally on our own.” The war had finally seemed to reach the home front. All of these events, and others, worked together to build resistance against the Vietnam War in the public’s eye. The Soldiers and What They had to Endure: There is no single…

Annotated Bibliography: The Things They Carried By Tim O’Brien Thesis: In “The Things They Carried”, the author, Tim O’Brien argues that the emotional burdens of fear, grief, terror, love and cruelty reality about war hardens the soldiers, and the psychological effects that these soldiers will have to carry for the rest of their life. "Looking Back at the Vietnam War with Author, Veteran Tim O’Brien." PBS. PBS, n.d. Web. 19 Aug. 2016. In this short interview with Tim O’Brien, he brings about…

If I Die In A Combat Zone by Tim O’Brien If I Die In A Combat Zone is a memoir that depicts the horrors of Vietnam through the eyes of Tim O’Brien. Tim’s story is not told in chronological order, but his life before, during, and after the war are all depicted by the end of the book. Although the book is brief, it shows the development of Tim as he is forced to participate in a war that he disagrees with in its entirety. Although he originally plots to abandon the Army, he believes that doing…

The book “The Things They Carried”, by Tim O’Brien is based on multiple short stories all referring to his time during the Vietnam War. The author wanted the reader to perceive his memories from the war and to feel all the emotions that was associated with the word “war”. He described it as: death, love, mystery, adventure, terror, pity, despair, discovery, and longing; All of which I felt and detected while reading the authors short stories. The author also goes on about his stories and makes…

In the short story written by Tim O'Brien, "The Things They Carried," O'Brien writes about a platoon of American soldiers fighting on the ground in the Vietnam War. He writes about the items soldiers carried on their backs and on their minds. This is similar to other wars such as the Gulf War in 1990. However, the technology, geographical features, and the politics of the two wars have several differences. There are similarities between Vietnam and Iraq: In both conflicts, there was pressure…