Tim O Brien Figurative Language Analysis

In the novel, “The Things They Carried” by Tim O’Brien, he describes parts of his war experiences through the stories told throughout the book. O’Brien discusses the gory detailed chaos of the Vietnam war and his fellow “soldiers.” As O’Brien gives detail of the his “fictional” experiences, he explains why he joined the war. He also describes a time where his “character” wanted to escape a draft to Canada. In the chapter titled, “On the Rainy River,” O’Brien demonstrates his “experience” of going into the war, and being drafted to Canada. O’Brien adds immense amount of detail to express the things motivating him from wanting to escape the draft. “I’d slipped out of my own skin hovering a few feet away while some poor yo-yo with my name and

The figurative language of O’Brien “slipping out of his skin” emphasizes O’Brien’s narrow-minded picture of being drafted and going into war. The feeling of not knowing motivated O’Brien to want to escape the draft. O’Brien illustrates Canada in great detail so the reader may understand the scenery, which was a motivation for O’Brien wanting to escape war. “All around us, there was a vastness to the world, an unpeopled rawness, just the trees and the sky and the water reaching out toward nowhere.” (O’Brien 53) The words, “unpeopled rawness” projects the detail that the emptiness of the scenery-no people just nature-made O’Brien want to escape the draft, because he was not ready to face that type of reality, which would see unfamiliar faces. The river represents another motivation for O’Brien wanting to escape the draft. “I could’ve done it. I

“Chunks of my own history flashed by.”(O’Brien 55) Instead of actually sinking into the river, he figuratively sinks into a “wave” of his past, which describes many people in his life. “ I saw a seven-year-old boy in a white cowboy hat and a Lone Ranger mask… I saw a sixteen-year-old kid decked out for his first prom, looking spiffy in a white tux and a black bow tie, his hair cut short and flat, his shoes freshly polished.” (O’Brien 55) O’Brien begins to see himself through memorable moments in his life. A moment after he begins to enter into a giant hallucination, “I saw my parents...my brother and sister, all the townsfolk, the mayor and the entire Chamber of Commerce and all my old buddies. Like some outlandish sporting event:... A squad of cheerleaders did cartwheels along the banks of the Rainy River....A marching band played fight songs. All my aunts and uncles...a nine-year-old girl named Linda…little kids without arms or legs...they were all whooping and chanting and urging me toward one shore or the other.”(O’Brien 55-56) O’Brien sees these people, and gives him more pressure to whether or not he should join the war or escape the draft. The intense hallucination, which even made him see children without limbs, placed a huge weight on his decision. The feeling of shame projected from these people pressured O’Brien to join the war. “All those