The Things They Carried, a novel written by Tim O’Brien, raises the question of the extent of truthfulness of stories that are told from experience in which the novel is solely based on the accounts of war-veterans and their lives in Vietnam. The soldiers fighting in the war describe certain stories that have affected them the most and from that reader’s can interpret that the armed forces are able to capture the attention of their listeners through providing immense detail of the conditions, adding false information in order to increase suspense, and to evoke emotions with listeners to create parallel feelings with the story at hand. Through O’Brien’s techniques of writing these war accounts he blurs between actual truth and fiction. As a
Analysis The author lists the objects the soldiers carried to represent the emotional burdens the soldiers bear. One is the necessity for the soldiers to face the tension between fantasy and reality. These emotional burdens are intensified by their young age and experience; they no perspective on how to rationalize killing someone or witnessing their comrade’s death. One major effect the war has had on these soldiers is turning them cynical or gloomy. In the story “Love,” O’ Brien’s tells the story of the reunion of Martha and Cross; this is a reference to the fallout of Vietnam.
“Effect of War” By Tom Hill War is a harsh imposition on the human psyche and can be both profound, long lasting in it’s repercussions. Tim O’Brien and Frank O’Connor illustrate these in their short stories “Guests of a Nation” and “The Things They Carried”. Each is a tale of a young soldier as he faces the realities and tribulations of times of war as well as the impact and emotional scars these experiences leave with them. Though these stories are depictions of men of differing nationalities, loyalties, and personalities, the conflicts they are embroiled within, as well as the belligerents they engage, are unrelated in locale and time, an infinitely profound and unshakable truth are at their core: War is hell, and none may without leaving a piece of themselves. Tim O’Brien’s “The Things They Carried” features a young lieutenant, Jimmy Cross, commander of the Alpha Company during the Vietnam War.
shows, but through real life people. It is almost certain that these men will probably experience some type of Post Traumatic Stress Disorder. “Combat fatigue,” “shell shock,” or “war neurosis” (Kulka) are all associated with PTSD. But with the weight of Lt. Cross’s men on his shoulders, their lives resting in his hands, is definitely hard. Battling the war of love in his head, asnd battling the Vietnam War as well, is a great means of PTSD in the making.
Fiction Essay “The Things They Carried” a short story by Tim O’Brien is about soldiers in the Vietnam War. O’Brien being a war veteran himself knows what the war was like, and he reflects this in this story. This story is about the many things that the soldiers carried. This story was one that made me want to keep turning the page and it is a story that gave an amazing inner view of what life on the frontlines is really like. The soldiers in the Vietnam War and for any War for that matter are constantly scared for their lives and just living day to day is a struggle they are forced to face fighting, death, and sickness on a daily basis.
The Things They Carried, a novel written by Tim O’Brian is a series of twenty-two short stories dealing with the Vietnamese war. The protagonist, Tim O’Brian, who shares the name of the book’s author, is faced with many challenges and tragedies while going through life before, during, and after the war. In The Things They Carried, Tim O’Brian uses both reality and fiction when narrating his stories, thus leaving the reader to determine what is fact and story among the many excerpts of the book. Storytelling is key in the fictional aspects of the novel; as for it deals with character O’Brian’s self-healing process from his memories of the brutal war by writing war stories. As O’Brian explains, story telling is effective because "by telling
Charles Yale Harrison’s novel “Generals die in bed” directly depicts the catastrophic dehumanization of soldiers in war through each and every one of his characters. Dehumanization is the process of losing altruistic or individual qualities, as may occur in some psychotic states or in environments that produce emotional trauma and may be influenced by external forces. The environment and external forces in Harrison’s novel were the trenches. From the beginning of the novel the men are normal civilians, with morals and righteous beliefs who show great respect for their fellow man. Yet soon after they are stationed on the western front these men are transformed into barbaric killers whom resent and show very little mercy for their fellow man
Although both Homecoming and Weapons Training are based on an anti-war theme, Dawe writes about the different aspects that involve war such as death, weapons, lives lost, soldier’s, families and disrespect. He uses titles that have very strong meanings to people that have been involved in war such as homecoming which every soldier hopes to be able to come home to their families again and weapons training where they are taught to use weapons before the war to prepare to kill the enemy. His poem Homecoming about the Vietnam War; the title itself creates the image of a happy and joyful journey; however Dawe ironically uses this to describe the sadness and sorrow of the dead soldier’s journey as they are transported home back to their families. A soldier’s return from war is supposed to be heroic but these soldiers are treated with a lack of respect.Dawe tries to convey the message to the reader that war is futile and that lives are wasted at war. On the other hand the title of Weapons Training creates the idea that the soldier’s are being trained to use the military weapons although the theme suggests that the soldier’s are actually the so called weapons being trained.
He realized that what were going to save him were the heavy things that he was carrying; weapons and machinery. Naturalism is evident in the short story when the men tried to hide their natural human emotions such as fear. The men found themselves acting this way because the symbolism in the things they are carrying show their true personalities. They knew that the only way they could survive was to act in ways that were not according to human nature. “As a fiction writer, I do not write just about the world we live in, but I also write about the world we ought to live in, and could, which is a world of imagination”, by Tim O’Brien, author of the short story, “The Things They Carried.” Tim O’Brien lived a normal childhood before he went into the Vietnam War.
The boys got hooked onto this propaganda and registered for WWI. This lead to deaths, trauma, and fear of the boys.The boys grow to hate war and what its all about. Kantorek is eventually drafted into war himself, and begins to despise his own teachings of what war was, after experiencing the trenches.