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War narrative writing
Literary analysis of the things they carry by tim o'brien
The things carried by tim o'brien importance to readers
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RR- “The Things They Carried”
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Necessity can usually be described as something or someone that is needed. However, this word has different meanings and is based solely on what the individual requires for his or her survival. These needs may increase or become distorted as he or she finds themselves in a life-or-death situation such as war. Circumstances may also provoke an average person to become emotionally distressed and thus the desire to hold on to all that he can. Despite the fact that these "necessary" items or ideas that he clings to may impair the person, abandoning them may seem impossible. This is the case in Tim O’Brien’s, “The Things They Carried.” For First Lieutenant Jimmy Cross, while struggling to say alive during the Vietnam War, he is forced to deal with the emotional burdens that come with his title. His only escapes are pictures of his beloved, Martha and the idea of reuniting again.
As the story begins, O’Brien lists the basic items soldiers carried with them in order to survive. They carried, “P-38 ...
Necessities in The Things They Carried In The Things They Carried, the characters themselves probably could not tell you why they carried many of the things they did. The things they carried can be divided into three basic groups, the things that everyone had to carry in order to survive, the things that individuals choose to carry, and the mental burdens that many carry without choice. The necessities that the men were forced to carry were, for example, P- 38 can openers, pocket knives, matches, C-rations, water, nylon covered flak. jacket, an M-16 assault rifle, and for Henry Dobbins, an M-60, which weighed 33-. 38 pounds of ammunition.
Vietnam War was one of the hardest wars ever fought. There are several reasons for this statement. It was basically impossible to conquer the territory because there were no boundaries. The soldiers had to put up with the climate, land, diseases and most importantly themselves. This essay is about yet another reason: the relationship between the soldiers and the officers.
One of the main characters in the short story “The Things They Carried”, written by Tim O’Brien, is a twenty-four year old Lieutenant named Jimmy Cross. Jimmy is the assigned leader of his infantry unit in the Vietnam War, but does not assume his role accordingly. Instead, he’s constantly daydreaming, along with obsessing, over his letters and gifts from Martha. Martha is a student at Mount Sebastian College in New Jersey, Jimmy’s home state. He believes that he is in love with Martha, although she shows no signs of loving him. This obsession is a fantasy that he uses to escape from reality, as well as, take his mind off of the war that surrounds him, in Vietnam. The rest of the men in his squad have items that they carry too, as a way of connecting to their homes. The story depicts the soldiers by the baggage that they carry, both mentally and physically. After the death of one of his troops, Ted Lavender, Jimmy finally realizes that his actions have been detrimental to the squad as a whole. He believes that if he would have been a better leader, that Ted Lavender would have never been shot and killed. The physical and emotional baggage that Jimmy totes around with him, in Vietnam, is holding him back from fulfilling his responsibilities as the First Lieutenant of his platoon. Jimmy has apparent character traits that hold him back from being the leader that he needs to be, such as inexperience and his lack of focus; but develops the most important character trait in the end, responsibility.
“They carried all the emotional baggage of men who might die. Grief, terror, love, longing- these were intangibles, but the intangibles had their own mass and specific gravity, they had tangible weight.” (O’Brien 604) “The Things They Carried”, written by Tim O’brien, portrays a platoon of soldiers in The Vietnam War by the baggage that they carry, both mentally and physically. The main character, whom was assigned to be First Lieutenant of the platoon, is twenty-four year old Jimmy Cross. Lt. Cross is a prime example of a leader who is too immature to handle the responsibility of their role. He is constantly daydreaming about Martha, obsessing over the letters and gifts she has sent him, rather than leading his men. Martha is a student at a college back in Lt. Cross’s hometown. Lt. cross and his men all have baggage that weighs them down, but as the assigned leader, Lt. Cross has to free himself of these distractions. In “The Things They Carried” Lt. Cross’s inexperience and lack of focus, combined with his ample emotional and physical baggage, stand in the way of him fulfilling his responsibilities as the First Lieutenant of his platoon.
The point of stories it to tell a tale and inflict certain emotions onto the reader. Tim O’Brien uses this in his novel The Things They Carried. These stories were fictional but true, regaling his experiences of war. In the last chapter he writes that stories have the ability to save people. He does not mean “save” in a biblical sense, but as if a person saved the progress on a game they have been playing.
The truth behind stories is not always what happened, with each person 's perspective is where their truth lies. In the beginning of the novel, you start to think that it is going to be the same old war stories you read in the past, but it changes direction early. It is not about how the hero saves the day, but how each experience is different and how it stays with you. From his story about Martha, to how he killed a man, each one is so different, but has its own meaning that makes people who have not been in war, understand what it is like. Tim O’Brien can tell a fake story and make you believe it with no doubt in your mind. He does this throughout the novel. In The Things They Carried, Tim O’Brien distinguishes truth from fantasy and the
The items they carried not only helped them stay alive but also brought them joy. The character jimmy cross shows that the pictures he had of Martha brought him happiness and utterly kept him going. The things they would carry varied by the mission they must conduct. Basically the things they would have during their missions helped them out and also fed them or brought them entertainment. Another example, would be the poncho that the solders carried when ted died they used the poncho to place him inside it until the helicopter arrived that would take his
All the things that he listed were material belongs. “ Among the necessities or near-necessities were P -38 can openers, pocket knives heat tabs, wristwatches, dog tags, mosquito repellent, chewing gum, candy, cigarettes, salt tablets, packets of Kool-Aid, lighters, matches…” (O’Brien 2641). At the time these were the things that the men carried that mattered and how much these things weighed mattered. As the story progressed and the men witnessed more and more of the horrors of war and lost their view of innocence in the world, the important things that they carried with them changed. Especially after Lieutenant Cross’s friend Ted Lavender dies. “Ted Lavender was shot in the head on his way back from peeing. He lay with his mouth open. The teeth were broken. There was a swollen black bruise under his left eye. The cheekbone was gone” (O’Brien 2645). As cross and his men witnessed these atrocities occur, something in them changed, they lost their innocence, their view of the world had shifted. The things that the men carried changed, “ Some things they carried in common… they shared the weight of memory. They took up what others could no longer bear. Often they carried each other, the wounded or weak… They carried the land itself -- Vietnam… all of it, they carried gravity” (O’Brien 2646). As these men lost their innocence in war, they began carrying bigger burdens, they began to carry the weight of
Being forced into a war he has no interest in, Tim O’brien recounts his time fighting in the vietnam war. Many of the soldiers there carried things deep to their hearts. Others carried fear, guilt, and despair of what they had done and what was to come. These physical things were a way these soldiers could cope with their feelings and try and stay sane during these times. “Lieutenant Jimmy Cross carried letters from a girl named Martha, a junior at Mount Sebastian College in New Jersey.”(1) These letters were coping mechanisms for Jimmy and he read them when he needed comforting or just to read them to help him forget.
Literary Analysis Essay on The Things They Carried The book The Things They Carried by Tim O’Brien is fiction and truth wound together to create a frustrating and addicting novel of fiction about the Vietnam war. O’Brien created stories by using his experiences during the Vietnam whether they are true stories or not is an unattainable knowledge for the reader, the only person of that knowledge is only O 'Brien himself. Through his writing he emphasized the the fact that you cannot perfectly recall the experiences of your past when your telling a story but the way it is told is “true sometime than the happening-truth(O’Brien 171) which helps give The Things They Carried depth beyond that of a “true”, true story. O’Brien has many characters in his book, some change throughout the book and others +are introduced briefly and change dramatically during their time in war and the transition to back home after the war.
Some tangible things they carried with them were remind them of home and provide them with some luck, while others helped keep them alive during the war time. The intangible things the men carried helped the men be carried through the war and survive. Each man carried something different both mentally and physically. Tim O’Brien saw and experienced these men and what they had to go through during this time of war. The chapter “The Things They Carried” shapes each character into who he was during the war and shows us the reality of the Vietnam
During the Vietnam war, soldiers were not exposed to the traditional coping mechanisms of our American society, as illustrated in Tim Obrien's The Things They Carried. These men were forced to discover and invent new ways to deal with the pressures of war, using only their resources while in the Vietnamese jungle. It was not possible for any soldier to carry many items or burdens with them, but if something was a necessity, a way was found to carry it, and coping mechanisms were a necessity to survive the war.
Tina Chen’s critical essay provides information on how returning soldiers aren’t able to connect to society and the theme of alienation and displacement that O’Brien discussed in his stories. To explain, soldiers returning from war feel alienated because they cannot come to terms with what they saw and what they did in battle. Next, Chen discusses how O’Brien talks about soldiers reminiscing about home instead of focusing in the field and how, when something bad happens, it is because they weren’t focused on the field. Finally, when soldiers returned home they felt alienated from the country and
One of the most overlooked aspects in the life of a soldier is the weight of the things they carry. In Tim O'Brien's story, "The Things They Carried," O'Brien details the plight of Vietnam soldiers along with how they shoulder the numerous burdens placed upon them. Literally, the heavy supplies weigh down each soldier -- but the physical load imposed on each soldier symbolizes the psychological baggage a soldier carries during war. Though O'Brien lists the things each soldier carries, the focal point centers around the leader, Lieutenant Jimmy Cross, and his roles in the war. Lt. Cross has multiple burdens, but his emotional baggage is the most pressing. Of all the weights burdened upon Lt. Cross, the heaviest baggage is located in his own mind. Specifically, the heaviest things Lt. Cross carries are an emotional obsession over Martha's love, the physical consequences caused by his daydreaming of Martha, and an unrelenting guilt about Ted Lavender's death.
Henry Dobbins is the guy who loves to eat so he made sure he took some extra food. Ted Lavender was the scaredy cat of the group so he carried tranquilizers with him. Dave Jense is the paranoid one, so he takes soap and a toothbrush to prevent germs and disease as best he can. Kiowa has a bible with him showing us he is the dedicated religious type. Mitchell Sanders, the funny one, has condoms with him. I'll let you decide on that one. Norman Bowker has a diary and Rat Kiley carried comic books, most likely as a way to "get away" from everything at the end of the day. Regardless of the personal items each one takes, they all share 2 items in common; their boots and their helmets. Almost all of them also have pictures with them but Jimmy Cross takes 2 very special ones. He has 2 pictures of the woman he loves, Martha. What these guys are truly carrying is some extreme emotional and physical troubles. Amongst his personal items Jimmy Cross also takes with him navigation tools. Rat Kiley has with him the medicine, surgical tape, painkillers, and other things that end up weighing alot. Ted Lavender is very scared, so he also has with him a large supply of ammunition. They all carry with them as much as they can. Weather it be for protection or entertainment, including fear and amazement of the thin...