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Tim O’Brien’s The Things They Carried
English essay reading superstition 500 words
The things they carried by tim o'brien essay
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Recommended: Tim O’Brien’s The Things They Carried
If someone breaks a mirror, they’ll have seven years of bad luck. Superstitions in our society today can be good or bad. In the novel, by Tim O’brien, “The Things They carried” chapter “Stockings” they discussed how superstitions play such a big role in the war. Superstition is displayed in the novel when Dobbin’s believes in the lucky pantyhose, when the platoon started to think they’re lucky too, and when the pantyhose continue to be lucky after Dobbin’s and his girlfriend broke up. First off, Dobbin’s believes the pantyhose, from the girlfriend, are giving him luck. Tim O’brien said the following about Henry Dobbins when they were in the jungle in Vietnam. “The pantyhose, he said, had the properties of a good luck charm”(117). Dobbin’s was …show more content…
When the platoon was in the jungle, Tim O’brien talked about the following regarding the platoon. “It turned us into a platoon of believers. You don’t dispute facts”(118). O’brien shows how American soldiers order their experience by superstition rather than by rationality. To the soldiers in Vietnam, superstition became a kind of religion. Lastly, the pantyhose continue to be lucky after she breaks up with him. Henry Dobbin’s saying this after his girlfriend broke-up with him, he said the following in Vietnam after this happened. “The magic doesn’t go away”(118). Dobbin’s realized the “luck” doesn’t go away even though they broke-up. When Dobbin’s believes in the lucky pantyhose, when the platoon started to think that they’re lucky too, and when the pantyhose continue to be lucky after they broke-up are all examples of superstition are shown in the novel. Dobbin’s believed the pantyhose were lucky since he never got hurt/injured wearing them. After, the platoon starts to believe because they don’t dispute the facts. Lastly, his girlfriend breaks-up with him and he believed the “luck” didn’t go away. Seven years of bad luck for breaking a
War has always been an essential ingredient in the development of the human race. As a result of the battles fought in ancient times, up until modern warfare, millions of innocent lives have ended as a result of war crimes committed. In the article, “The My Lai Massacre: A Military Crime of Obedience,” Herbert C. Kelman and V.Lee Hamilton shows examples of moral decisions taken by people involved with war-related murders. This article details one of the worse atrocities committed during the Vietnam War in 1968 by the U.S. military: the My Lai Massacre. Through this incident, the question that really calls for psychological analysis is why so many people are willing to formulate , participate in, and condone policies that call for the mass killings of defenseless civilians such as the atrocities committed during the My Lai massacre. What influences these soldiers by applying different psychological theories that have been developed on human behavior.
In the novel, The Things They Carried by Tim O’Brien, in two of his stories, “How to Tell True War Story” and “The Sweetheart of the Song Tra Bong,” O’Brien writes about surreal events that are unknown to the average citizens that have never experienced war. Soldiers are forced to go through events that people who have never experienced war could never imagine going through. Soldiers have to risk their lives every day that they're at war to protect U.S. citizens. To defy that, soldiers also spend a lot of their time playing games and joking around. Between playing games, joking around, and facing the obstacles of war come many surreal events that people would think are unconscionable.
The Things They Carried describes real objects American soldiers carried during the war. They carried an M-60, a .45-caliber pistol, an assault rifle, ammunition, compass, maps, code books, the PRC-25 radio, sandbags, tanning lotion, toilet paper, tranquilizers, rabbit’s foot, Purple Hearts, diseases, the wounded, the weak, and the land itself. Many soldiers experienced horrific events in Vietnam. War affects the mind. O’Brien said, “We all got problems.” (O’Brien 18). O’Brien relates one example of the war’s negative effect when a soldier shoots a baby water buffalo. He not only wants to kill the animal, but to make it suffer. Silence disturbs soldiers. Many times soldiers think they hear something which results in a bad decision. O’Brien describes a group on night watch who hear noises, go crazy...
Evidence: The speaker's love and devotion for her husband are demonstrated when she brings up the odd shirt left behind by an old lover and states "If you were to leave me, if I were to fold only my own clothes, the convexes and concaves of my blouses, panties, stockings, bras turned upon themselves, a mountain of unsorted wash could not fill the empty side of the bed." What is essentially stated here is that it is not the laundry that makes her happy, rather the fact that she has her husband’s love and is able to be reminded of it when doing the laundry.
It’s unrealistic to see miscellaneous objects like rags, puppets, telephones, and flowers to come out of somebody’s pants on a regular basis. The situation would be unique for the person who falls victim to this or anyone nearby. In the skit, there’s no shock or surprise at the objects coming out of Flydini’s pants, it’s just considered normal. Also, physical humor is involved in the skit. There’s no monologue for Flydini or dialogue between him and the woman who appears in the middle of the skit. Therefore, this leaves only physical actions to explain the situation. It’s obvious that physical humor is a big aspect of the skit because all the objects wouldn’t be humorous on their own but put in the context of the skit, it creates a humorous
Daisy Buchanan is another character who lives in an illusory world. Daisy marries Tom only because he has money. Daisy is in love with material objects. She uses her money to get away from reality, and when she feels threatened, she hides behind her money. Furthermore, she says, "And I hope she'll be a fool-That's the best thing a girl can be in this world, a beautiful little fool."(Pg. 21) regarding her daughter Pammy. This statement shows part of her corruption because she is saying that it is better to be careless and beautiful instead of worrying about real things. Daisy wears white, which represents purity, but she is corrupted by money, which is gold and yellow. The colors white, yellow and gold are like the flower that Daisy is named after.
The setting of the story helps to magnify its impact on the reader because it is set in a small town similar to the one many of us may know of, and that is symbolic of everything that we consider to be right in America. The story begins on a wonderful summer day in a small town. The author describes the day as very joyful but strikes a contrast between the surroundings of the town and the atmosphere of the people gathered in the square. The atmosphere is sober, where the adults ?stood together, away from the stones in the corner, and their jokes were quiet and they smiled rather then laughed."(268) This, in just the third paragraph, is a indication through symbolism of the townsfolk?s sober mood that something was amiss. The setting for the lottery also takes place in the same place as the square dances, the teen-age club, and the Halloween program.(268) This unifies our lives with those of the story sense we can relate to those types of events, and is symbolic in showing that even though this dastardly deed happens here that it is still the main place of celebration. Showing how easy it is for us, as human beings, to clean our conscientious by going back to a place that, on June 27, is a place of death and make it a place of delight.
Hynes, Samuel Lynn. "What Happened in Nam." The soldiers' tale: bearing witness to modern war. New York, N.Y., U.S.A.: A. Lane, 1997. 177-222. Print.
The use of clothing as a disguise is primarily apparent in its role of covering up the secret sexual lives of the characters. Each time she calls, Henry’s date asks the person on the other line, “What are you wearing?” Her constant desire to know the character’s clothing reveals the importance that outward appearance holds in a sexual connotation; the characters are repeatedly in various states of dress and undress. Nate’s mother, whom Paul refers to as Mrs. Apple, answers her door wearing her husband’s shirt. The incongruity lies in the seeming normalcy of her appearanc...
The soldiers also carried diseases like malaria, dysentery, lice, ringworm, leeches, paddy algae, and various rots and molds (14). This signifies how poor and close the soldiers living conditions were. The items they carried were not only a physical burden but also a reminder of the fear which lies underneath. Jimmy Cross, for instance, carries two pictures of his lover Martha (4). Martha reminds Jimmy of happier times back in college which takes his mind off the pressure from the responsibility he has to keep the soldiers alive. Similarly, Henry Dobbins wraps his girlfriend’s pantyhose around his neck as both a good luck charm and a reminder of the loving memories he had with her (111). Despite his girlfriend breaking up with him, he still carries the pantyhose for comfort as “the magic doesn’t go away.” The things the soldiers physically carried also had emotional
Sherman Alexie once said, “When it comes to death, we know that laughter and tears are pretty much the same thing.” When humans are faced with struggle, he or she has two options: to cope with what they are faced with or to fall prey to the struggle. In the story, “The Things They Carried” by Tim O’Brien, the author narrates the experiences the soldiers of the Alpha Company as they traverse through the fields of Vietnam during the Vietnam War. War is traumatic, and it often changes people permanently. The soldiers deal with emotional, mental, and physical trauma more than most people ever have to endure. They encountered death, disease, and destruction on a weekly basis. The men deal with the uncertainty, fear, and death around them in surprisingly tender, humorous, or horrifyingly brutal ways in order to cope with what they have seen. When faced with war, each man reacts in his own way and changes based on the circumstances he stumbles upon.
At the outset of the story a young Puritan husband departs at sunset from his young Puritan wife, “And Faith, as the wife was aptly named, thrust her own pretty head into the street, letting the wind play with the pink ribbons of her cap, while she called to Goodman Brown.” The author says that Faith is “aptly named,” an ironic statement since she, later in the evening, is being received into the assembly of devil-worshippers as a new convert to the evil group. Not only is her name ironic, but also the description of her as “pretty,” and as wearing “pink ribbons” (an indication of youthful innocence and a cheerful outlook on life). In a futile attempt to persuade Goodman to remain home, Faith says: “A lone woman is troubled with such dreams and such thoughts, that she's afeard of herself, sometimes. Pray, tarry with me this night, dear husband, of all nights in the year!" Her self-description as “afeard of herself” seems ironic since she is not afraid later in the evening to venture into the darkest depth of the forest to indulge in satanic practices.
Plot enhances the presentation of the theme in this story by showing the reader how incoherent the tradition really is. Throughout the story, the reader learns about this annual event that occurs in this small town and how dreadful it really is. The reader, also, starts to learn that the villagers have no reasoning behind their actions; all the villagers know is that the lottery has happened forever. “ ‘There’s always been a lottery,’ he said” (Jackson 4). The lottery is the main idea for this story’s plot because it is what the whole story is based off of. The plot increases the theme of danger from traditions by presenting to the reader the bad things happening in the village
A penny with the tails side up should be turned over for another person to find. On the other hand, many people believe any penny you find is good luck. You may hear people repeat rhymes such as: "Find a penny, pick it up. All day long, you'll have good luck." Long, long ago, many ancient people believed that metals, including the copper that was used to make pennies, were gifts from the gods. They thought that these metals were given to them by the gods for their protection. This is more than likely where the belief that finding a penny will bring you good luck comes from. Along with good luck, pennies also increase your wealth, not by much, but every penny
The Lottery story tells the story of an annual tradition practiced by the villagers of an anonymous small town that appears to be as vital to the villagers as New Year celebrations might be to us which we can consider as their tradition. It indicates throughout the story that