War, not only a monster that destroys everything in its path, but one whom effects are immortal. Not only does war end countless lives, but continues to torture others even beyond their own death- leaving them to suffer for the rest of their days. The narrator and protagonist himself, Tim O’Brien, gives a first hand view of the tragedies and occurings that are taking place around him, while in service in the Vietnam War - the setting of the novel. His unwillingness to serve and numerous events from the narrator’s point of view reveal a greater truth to the story. Through traumatic experiences and everlasting effects, O’Brien’s “The Things They Carried” suggest that war is destructive and deteriorates those involved leaving no clear winner. …show more content…
As minds become unstable, common sense begins to float away and seperate from the being itself. Judgement is thrown out the window and all that is left in the room guilt- a feeling that clouts the mind. Jimmy Cross- lieutenant of O’Brien’s 44th infantry division- while distracted by the loss of his men, would take a decision that would only worsen his already polluted conscious. Being too focused on the men he had previously lost, he had forgotten to take care of the men that were still living and breathing under his command. He decided to set up camp in an unlikely spot, which he would eventually reveal he knew was unfit and an easy target for the enemy; leading to his regiment getting bombarded and further regret. “ When a man died, there had to be blame. Jimmy Cross understood this. You could blame the war… A moment of carelessness or bad judgement or plain stupidity carried consequences that lasted forever.”( In the Field 143). Events could tragically hurt your mindset not only after the war, but during it. Leaving one to be left with guilt, as well as the responsibility of others’ death. War completely overshadows one’s judgement and could simply add on to its already heavy load on that person. Guilt is a powerful emotion that can completely consume one’s state of mind and lead to the multiplication of it; adding another burden to the hardships of battle. War is a defective event, and can clout a person’s judgement and decision
For young people, the Vietnam War is a thing of the past and they can
These men are transformed into guilt-laden soldiers in less than a day, as they all grapple for a way to come to terms with the pain of losing a comrade. In an isolated situation, removed from the stressors, anxieties, and uncertainties of war, perhaps they may have come to a more rational conclusion as to who is deserving of blame. But tragically, they cannot come to forgive themselves for something for which they are not even guilty. As Norman Bowker so insightfully put it prior to his unfortunate demise, war is “Nobody’s fault, everybody’s” (197).
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...
Another unique aspect to this book is the constant change in point of view. This change in point of view emphasizes the disorder associated with war. At some points during the book, it is a first person point of view, and at other times it changes to an outside third person point of view. In the first chapter of the book, “The Things They Carried,” O’Brien writes, “The things they carried were largely determined by necessity (2).
By allowing the reader the "[privilege of] the soldiers experience" (Chattarji) it shows how difficult it is to get rid of the weight as begins to define you and the more it becomes a part of a person the harder it is to remove an aspect of yourself. In his repetition, O'Brien wants to give readers a deeper meaning into the everyday struggles of soldiers. He portrays the ways that soldiers were effected in the war and focused on the burdens that developed. O'Brien highlights how war changes those involved as "[the individual dreams of soldiers rise and fall and] their hopes riddled by disillusionment, their fantasies broken by shrapnel edged realities" (Timmeran). Wartime altered soldier’s perception and caused them to develop these emotional and physical weights that followed them for years. When many solider returned they were now stuck with daily burdens that had started since the day they landed in Vietnam. Constantly, these soldiers endured the long lasting results of participating in the war and unable to escape or forget the weight that they endure. "The Things They Carried" serves as a constant reminder to readers about the true realities of soldiers and the impact of war. How soldiers are not stable as they return home because of these weights that have become a part of them and how simple acts such as carrying around a weapon has now manifested itself into an emotional burden that will not leave. Often the realities of being a soldier are not portrayed accurately but O'Brien attempts to put into perspective what it really is like to go through warfare by drawing on his own experiences as a foot
According to the Indian Times, madness is the rule in warfare (Hebert). The madness causes a person to struggle with experiences while in the war. In “How to Tell a True War Story”, the madness of the war caused the soldiers to react to certain situations within the environment differently. Tim O’Brien’s goal with the story “How to Tell a True War Story” is to shed light on the madness the soldiers face while in the war. Tim O’Brien tells the true story of Rat experiences of the war changing his life.
Tim O’Brien wrote the novel The Things They Carried in 1990, twenty years after the war in Vietnam.In the novel,Obrien takes us through the life of many soliders by telling stories that do not go in chronical order. In doing so we get to see the physical and mental things the soldiers carry throughout the war in Vietnam.Yet the novel is more than just a description of a particular war. In the things they carried Tim O’Brien develops the characters in the book slowly, to show the gradual effect war has on a person. O’Brien shows this by exploring the life of Henry Dobbins, and Norman Bowker.
One of the main points in The Things They Carry, by Tim O’Brien, is that war changes people. This is evident in the behavior of Norman Bowker, Bob “Rat” Kiley, and the character Tim O’Brien. They each started out as kind young men but near the end had become very distraught. These men each shared many experiences but these experiences affected each one differently.
War has been a consistent piece of mankind 's history. It has significantly influenced the lives of individuals around the globe. The impacts are amazingly adverse. In the novel, “The Wars,” by Timothy Findley, Soldiers must shoulder compelling weight on the warzone. Such weight is both family and the country weight. Many individuals look at soldiers for hop and therefore, adding load to them. Those that cannot rationally beat these difficulties may create Post Traumatic Stress Disorder. Tragically, some resort to suicide to get away from their insecurities. Troops, notwithstanding, are not by any means the only ones influenced by wars; relatives likewise encounter mental hardships when their friends and family are sent to war. Timothy Findley
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.
Are lies more easy to believe than truths? Some people prefer to fabricate a story rather than unfold its facts. As a result, fiction exists. Fiction is nonetheless a statement that is false, but people would like to believe it since it is easier to relate to imagined situations. In the novel The Things They Carried by Tim O’Brien, the author has manifested multiple views on how fiction is so persuasive that it makes every experience about the Vietnam war seem real. As a result, when he indicates that the stories were fabricated, it throws readers to question if in war, individuals have to give up their morality. Despite the fact that fiction raises this question, it is stronger than non-fiction when conveying the theme about morality in wars.
Tim O’Brien’s “The Things They Carried” is a very character driven story. The author essentially uses the characters to tell the story. Each of the characters are unique in their own way, however they also share certain similarities, which no doubt spring up from the awful situation that they have been put in. All of the soldiers in the short story are very young and have their own unique way of coping with the trauma associated with being at war. The soldiers in "The Things They Carried" use drugs, fantasy and memories as coping mechanisms to escape the everyday horrors of the war while retaining their sanity, but must ultimately give up their fantasies and accept the situation they are in.
The novel, “The Things They Carried”, is about the experiences of Tim O’Brian and his fellow platoon members during their time fighting in the Vietnam War. They face much adversity that can only be encountered in the horrors of fighting a war. The men experience death of friends, civilians, enemies and at points loss of their rationale. In turn, the soldiers use a spectrum of methods to cope with the hardships of war, dark humor, daydreaming, and violent actions all allow an escape from the horrors of Vietnam that they experience most days.
In Tim O’Brien’s novel, “The Things They Carried,” imaginations can be both beneficial and corrosive. This novel consists of story, truth and real truth. Throughout the novel, imagination plays a big role. Tim O’Brien wrote his book about the war, mainly based on his memory of the war. He did not remember every detail of the war, thus he made up some false details to the stories to make it seem more interesting.
The Struggles in life is something everyone is faced with whether it is physical, emotional mental or personal struggles. These struggles are capable of shaping an individual’s personality and outlook on life. Timothy Findley’s novel The Wars, shows that struggles lead to the character’s ultimate inner struggles, outer struggles and self-discovery. War exists in a person’s physical and psychological aspects. In The Wars, Robert Ross goes to war and fights a personal and physical battle.