The Vietnam War was the critical conflict that altered our “post modern” societal view of what war is really about. Tim O’Brien shows the brutal reality of war to our “post modern” society without adding the propaganda and fluff that our society has come to accept. In our trying times today, Operation Iraqi freedom has supposedly come to an end. With the amounts of embedded reporting, our society has been able to see battles as they occur. The news ran non stop coverage on the war, where T.V. audiences were enthralled with scenes of battle. These broadcasts did not accurately depict the American casualties. The only live broadcasts were images of U.S. soldiers were taking out objectives with little resistance from Iraqi forces. This propaganda makes it hard to realize the loss of U.S. soldiers in this most recent conflict, thus society cringes at the current estimated U.S. soldier death toll at around 100 casualties.
Stories like O’Brien’s are never mentioned on CNN or MSNBC so as to please our culture’s view of America being invincible in war. This fluff must be eliminated and stories similar to O’Brien’s should be televised if our society wants to see the real cost of war. It is better that our society leaves the story telling to the soldiers who fought first hand and not let the media overrun and devalue wars no matter how meaningless the conflict might seem. For the real reporters are the guys pulling the trigger.
Soldiers are responsible for fighting and dying for their country. Reporters are responsible for getting the “story” out to the general public. This is the route of the problem. Even with embedded reporting, reporters have no way of being able to express what it feels like to end the life of a ...
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... a step in the right direction for an American society that needs to reassess its devotion to war as a means to an end in establishing peace.
REFERENCES
Belnap, Maggie. ClarionLedger..com. 6 Apr. 2003. LA Times and Washington Post. 20 May 2003 <http://www.clarionledger.com/news/0304/06/lperse.html>.
CRF-USA.com. 12 Apr. 2003. Press Briefings. 22 May 2003 <http://www.crf-usa.org/Iraqwar_html/iraqwar_press.html>.
Moore, Acel. Philly.com. 26 Mar. 2003. Philadelphia Enquirer. 12 May 2003 <http://www.philly.com/mld/philly/news/columnists/acel_moore/5481456.htm>.
Newsmax.com. 6 Apr. 2003. The AIM Report. 13 May 2003 <http://www.newsmax.com/archives/articles/2003/4/2/133750.shtml >.
O'Brien, Tim. Thje Things They Carried. New York: Penguin, 1990.
Topalian, Nazalee. Interpretations. 22 May 2003 <http://www.ashu.edu/essays/topalian.shtm>.
An interesting combination of recalled events and editorial commentary, the story is not set up like a traditional short story. One of the most interesting, and perhaps troubling, aspects of the construction of “How to Tell a True War Story” is O’Brien’s choice to create a fictional, first-person narrator who might just as well be the author himself. Because “How to Tell a True War Story” is told from a first-person perspective and O’Brien is an actual Vietnam veteran, a certain authenticity to this story is added. He, as the “expert” of war leads the reader through the story. Since O’Brien has experienced the actual war from a soldier’s point of view, he should be able to present the truth about war...
The truth to any war does not lie in the depths of storytelling but rather it’s embedded in every person involved. According to O’Brien, “A true war story does not depend on that kind of truth. Absolute occurrence is irrelevant. A thing may happen and be a total lie; another thing may not happen and be truer than the truth” (pg. 80). Truths of any war story in my own opinion cannot be fully conveyed or explained through the use of words. Any and all war stories provide specific or certain facts about war but each of them do not and cannot allow the audience to fully grasp the tru...
The things they carried, by Tim O'Brien. "Oh man, you fuckin' trashed the fucker. You scrambled his sorry self, look at that, you did, you laid him out like fuckin' Shredded Wheat." I chose to start off my essay with this particular extract from the book because I think that it very much represents the story in itself. Azar said this, after Tim (supposedly) killed a Vietnamese soldier with a hand grenade. It shows that in times of war, how callous men can become. However, callousness varies, whether they choose to be apathetic, like Tim shows us after his grenade episode.
The idea of love is very complex and can be interpreted in a variety of ways. Both “The Things They Carried” by Tim O’Brien and “Araby” by James Joyce portray the lives of two individuals who are in love. “The Things They Carried” is about a young lieutenant named Jimmy Cross during the Vietnam War. Lieutenant Cross was incapable of focusing on the war because of his constant thoughts of the girl he loved, Martha. “Araby” is about a boy who is infatuated with a girl he has never had a conversation with. Although both protagonists in “The Things They Carried” and “Araby” eventually realize that the girls they loved didn’t feel the same way about them, Lieutenant Cross tried to move on by destroying everything he had that reminded him of Martha, while the boy in “Araby” was left disappointed.
O Brien's point of view is an accurate one as he himself because he is a Vietnam veteran. The title of the short story is meaningful because it describes each soldier’s personality and how he handles conflict within the mind and outside of the body during times of strife. The title fits the life of a soldier perfectly because it shows the reality that war is more than just strategy and attacking of forces. O’Brien narrates the story from two points of view: as the author and the view of the characters. His style keeps the reader informed on both the background of things and the story itself at the same time.
The United States became frustrated with the death of wounded prisoners in Vietnam War. This is so deleterious John F Kennedy sends a warning to the west. Tim O’Brien Story about Vietnam could have been a biography because he played a role and it is based on a somewhat a true Story. O’Brien didn’t go through with this because of what he wrote is what he did see, what could have happened, and what he kept from being told. In the book simple themes guilt, shame, and innocence play a vital role in the soldier’s life.
All in all, every year since 1975, Vietnamese have been killed or injured and they are so disappointed. The war causes chaos and is a sign of bad omen to Vietnam. This never-ending horror could be remedied if enough Americans cared about saving Vietnamese lives, as the stars of this documentary claim they did. After all, what kind of people seed a foreign land with hundreds of thousands of tons of explosives and then allow succeeding generations to lose eyes and limbs and lives? Only a “violent and unforgiving”
In the novel The Things They Carried by Tim O'Brien the author tells about his experiences in the Vietnam war by telling various war stories. The quote, "It has been said of war that it is a world where the past has a strong grip on the present, where machines seemed sometimes to have more will power than me, where nice boys (girls) were attracted to them, where bodies ruptured and burned and stand, where the evil thing trying to kill you could look disconnecting human and where except in your imagination it was impossible to be heroic." relates to each of his stories.
“War is nasty; war is fun. War is thrilling; war is drudgery. War makes you a man; war makes you dead,” (80). In the fiction novel The Things They Carried, the author Tim O’Brien reminisces fighting in the Vietnam War and the aftermath of the war with his platoon mates through short stories and memories. He goes in depth about the emotional trauma and physical battles they face, what they carry, and how Vietnam and war has changed them forever. O’Brien’s stories describe the harsh nature of the Vietnam War, and how it causes soldiers to lose their innocence, to become guilt-ridden and regretful, and to transform into a paranoid shell of who they were before the war.
Part of this assignment is to describe my impressions of the Vietnam War and its impact on the men who fought it. This is a very difficult task. No matter how many articles and stories I read, I will never truly understand the pain and anguish these men have endured. I can’t even begin to imagine how hard it would be to endure 2 months of being tied in the most awkward body-stretching position possible. Sure, like anyone I believe that the U.S. government got into an unwinnable war, but the bureaucrats were in a tough political position and they felt this was essential. No matter the case, it is ridiculous how American citizens displayed open dishonor and disgrace to both fallen and returning soldiers. These men went through the worst imaginable experience and they were slapped in the face and spit in the nose when they returned. They went through those circumstances because the government they were loyal to put them in that position.
William M. Hammond, Reporting Vietnam: Media and Military at War. Lawrence: University Press of Kansas, 1998.
However, some believe the decision to not release Jarecke’s photo was less about protecting the readers than preserving the “dominant narrative” of a good, clean war. According to Stella Kramer, freelance photo editor for Life, “As far as Americans are concerned, nobody ever died” (DeGhett 81). Photographs tell stories and Jarecke’s told a story about the effects of combat, and allied air strikes. I believe that photos such as these should be published, if we are fighting in a war we should be able to face the effects of it. War is something that should not be taken lightly, therefore we need to face the devastating effects. These photographs serve as a reminder to those who may not understand the severity of war that people die fighting each day so that we can live in a world of
In Tim O’Brien’s novel, The Things They Carried, numerous themes are illustrated by the author. Through the portrayal of a number of characters, Tim O’Brien suggests that to adapt to Vietnam is not always more difficult than to revert back to the lives they once knew. Correspondingly the theme of change is omnipresent throughout the novel, specifically in the depiction of numerous characters.
...ents draw us closer and even more so if we are constantly reminded of our loss. That is a power to recognize and the media should learn to use it more cautiously, and at least try to make it for the greater good of humanity, not just to capitalize on a death temporarily. For as the death of these major people in society left an everlasting mark the media can too contribute to making a difference. If the media can harness their collective power and channel it into more humanitarian efforts, then there is hope for them yet.
As we got further and further into the Vietnam War, few lives were untouched by grief, anger and fear. The Vietnamese suffered the worst hardship; children lay dead in the street, villages remained nothing but charred ashes, and bombs destroyed thousands of innocent civilians. Soldiers were scarred emotionally as well as physically, as