The Things They Carried

While reading The Things They Carried, I had a lot of comments to make about the style of writing, the stories O’Brien chose to recreate, and his meaning behind the writing. I have never read a book similar to The Things They Carried, and I doubt I ever will. O’Brien is unique in the way he combined nonfiction with fiction and differentiated between the two. He told the reader a lie, and then called his own bluff. This is something I admire in a writer; the ability to be both completely honest…

Capturing Readers through Rhetoric The Things They Carried by Tim O’Brien holds a collection of fictitious stories that detail the seemingly endless extent of suffering and destruction that soldiers must endure while tangled up in the chaotic corporeality that is war. O’Brien effectively makes these fabricated stories reach out to the reader and ensnare their senses, relating the readers to the novel even if they do not have firsthand experiences with war. He captures the reader by using a…

The Things They Carried is a fictional nonfiction book, because of one of Tim’s interesting storytelling techniques. In this book Tim does many interesting things with his storytelling. He talks about the different kinds of truths in stories. He is mysterious at times. He also talks about how you can screw up a story. A lot more goes into telling a story than you would expect. Just because I tell you that a story happened doesn’t mean I have to be telling the truth, right? The same goes for an…

Cowardice and Courage VS. Embarrassment Throughout The Things They Carried, O’Brien shares the horror and truth going into the Vietnam War. He shares very touching and brutal stories throughout his book, sharing the specific jobs the men had and the specific things they must carry. Going into the Vietnam War soldiers are seen as our heroes but deep down inside can they consider themselves heroes. Tim O’Brien shows what he beliefs about masculinity and courage throughout his stories…

Throughout The Things They Carried, O’Brien touches on the concept of complexity of war by his description of war and the soldiers along with it. By going against stereotypes and the generalization of war in a whole, O’Brien is able to convey a truthful and realistic depiction of war, often portrayed incorrectly in media. He yearns to keep the story of the soldiers in Vietnam alive by telling stories about the complexity of their experience. Often in media and entertainment, war is either…

In the book The Things They Carried by Tim O’Brien, O’Brien writes the experience of being a solider in Vietnam. The book is written as a novel and is narrated by the protagonist Tim O’Brien. Many of the stories about the war seem to be written about 20 years after the fact but the book also includes stories that happened before and after the character O’Brien’s experience in Vietnam. The book was first published in 1990. The big questions faced by many historians and political scientists who…

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 soldiers carried; one soldier carried a bible, one carried his girlfriend’s panty hose around his neck, some soldiers even carried stationary. O’Brien talks about how the soldiers even carried the land on their bodies, something that…

The Things They Carried, by Tim O’Brien explores the experiences of a platoon from the Vietnam war in a series of short stories. The stories go deeper than the events of the war, they show the moral dilemmas soldiers face everyday in the battlefield. Tim O’Brien served in the Vietnam war, but these stories are not based off of his experience, although it plays a role in his storytelling. Most of the short stories are written in first person from the perspective of Tim O’Brien, a fictional…

The Things They Carried by Tim O’Brien In the book The Things They Carried boys were drafted to fight a war in new place,new atmosphere ,a different type of terrain and weather.This is new to everyone who is fighting this platoon were consisted mostly young men and few experienced men.Some of these boys are carrying things that reminds them of home or as something that keeps them fighting. Throughout the book it shows us how theses young men fighting in war changes them after how they evolve…

with the difficult environment was to remember that there was a world beyond it. Even in civilian life, a very positive way to deal with stress is to remember that there is a life outside of the stressor. In the short stories in his book The Things They Carried, Tim O’Brien explores how men use pre-traumatic images of beloved females to cope with trauma, and how human’s desire for permanence manifests in these traumatic moments. The girls in these stories symbolize peaceful, happier times as a…