...Andres Pena COP 1102 “The Things They Carried” What does becoming a soldier mean? Does it mean that duty comes before love or does it mean the opposite? Could it be that soldiers do not have control of their feelings? From the mind of Tim O’Brien, “The Things They Carried” describes young soldiers that were automatically bumped up into manhood. The author treats the inner conflict that each soldier had to bear during the Vietnam War while fighting for their country. Witnessing horrific scenes of war and the emotional and physical burdens that each of them carried, O’Brien unfolds how these men had no choice but to fulfill their patriotic duty. As the leader of the platoon, First Lieutenant Jimmy Cross goes through an inner conflict between love and duty, carrying his orders in his mind and Martha in his heart. But how far can war or following orders, impair the human side of compassion and love? Although, soldiers become men at war, O’Brien focuses in a story where war makes men emotionally handicap, leaving mental scars that may never heal. The story is told by a third person’s point of view, however, O’Brien includes a touch of his personal experiences during the war where he spent a year in Vietnam (Hicks). As Josiah Bunting said, “The things he carried into war are very different from what he carried away from it” (Bunting) expressing O’Brien’s experience at war and how his experience as a soldier would convince readers to believe that the different traumatic moments...
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...O’Brien uses an alternate persona to really convey his purpose through a misleading type of diction. From the very start, O’Brien immediately informs the reader that his daughter, Kathleen, was not actually there and that he wants to enter a make-believe scenario in which she was, so maybe, for this once, he can really express what has been bottled inside him.”I want to pretend she’s a grown up”, and “want to tell her exactly what happened” (125), are both prominent quotes, that are, in a way, foreshadowing that he is about to wander into sketchy waters. By saying these things about his daughter, it really sets up the chapter to be read in a different form that portrays the meaning in a different way as well. It makes the reader want to sympathize to the author, because it implies he is trying to explain something touchy to his daughter. He returns and says” ..haven’t finished sorting it out”, and “...
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...In the story that “The Things They Carried” written by Tim O’Brien, you can see that the author really focused on the imagery in the story. The author projects his imagery school throughout the story by describing the men and the specific tools that each man has taking into battle to differentiate them as individuals and also describe the flashbacks that Lieutenant Jim Cross has. As the story begins the Author creates an imagery moment with the audience while describing what Lt. Jimmy Cross does after he finishes his daily march. After finishing his march every day Lt. Cross opens a canteen with letters from a girl named Martha that he dreams would one day become his lover. While Lt. Cross reads the letters the author describes some of the...
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...still haunt him and many other of the men who made it home. His novel, The Things They Carried, describes Vietnam and all the things he encountered including the people he lost. Tim O’Brien is the author of The Things They Carried and 8 other books and short stories. O’Brien began writing these stories as a way to cope with all the leftover reminiscence of the things that happened...
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...writers protest war? Writers protest was through imagery, irony, and structure. Imagery, irony, and structure also helps the reader to understand and get a more visual picture of the things that are taking place in wars. Imagery is a visually descriptive object in a person’s head to help them understand the situation better or visualize it better. Document D says “... the husks of dogs filled with explosives and arty shells”. The speaker in Kevin Power’s story is making the audience imagine people getting blew up by simple trying to make sure the dogs were okay.Soldiers were being sickened by these “husks”. A husk is the shell of...
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...the majority of college students in the country opposed the war in Vietnam, but against his own personal beliefs, laced up his boots for his country and touched down in Vietnam in the winter of 1969. As a young man who was dropped dead center in a war he did not even support, the twenty-two year struggled in every sense of the word. Luckily for generations to come, O’Brien keep journals of the horrific daily situations soldiers had to endure. The short story collection of The Things They Carried written by Tim O’Brien is regarded as one of the most important...
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...The passage from ‘The Things They Carried’ is primarily focused on a dream regarding escape from the war. The passage is comprised of two solid blocks of prose including one enormous sentence with unconventional punctuation. Symbolism is used to great effect in the prose with special emphasis on falling and birds. O’Brien employs various literary techniques to create a giddy, dreamlike tone in the passage. Powerful themes are presented includingthe desire of release and the inability to rid oneself of blame.The passage gives insight into the pure and innocent psyches of the soldiers which are normally hidden through gruff exteriors. The structure of the passage is set as two almost solid paragraphs with very little form and shape. This physical density allows the reader to appreciate the immensity of the prose and becomeengrossed in the flowing movement of it.The initial paragraph is broken in the centre by an italicised sentence which deviates from the informal flowing style used previously to a coarse colloquial one. This serves to give the piece a sense of balance and symmetry while also reminding the reader that even in this ethereal vision the soldiers are still very much human. Partway through the initial paragraph one unusually large sentence begins making up the bulk of the passage. This creates a graceful, fluid tone that contributes to the dreamlike feel of the prose. This is enhanced by frequent use of dashes and commas which give the reader respite while not...
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...Imagine sitting in the outside seating at a restaurant and a corpse, only covered with a piece of rag, is carried past by four men. How would you feel? Frightened? Enlightened? In Marrakech around 1938, that was a normal daily sight. The morbidity of seeing a dead body did not exist. Corpses were merely thrown into a hole and covered with dry dirt, no marking of any kind. Orwell sketches the poorness and unsanitary conditions of Marrakech. In this excerpt from "Marrakech," Orwell depicts the mood through his diction, imagery, and figurative language. Diction is the how words are used in speech or writing to display the mood or tone. Orwell initiates the morbid tone of the story with his diction. "[m]ourners" of the "corpse" thrown in to "hummocky" earth without a "gravestone" depicts the unfavorable vibe of the story. The writing describes the necessitous condition of the area. "[s]tarved" "skeletons" who have "nameless" "graves" represents the negative tone through his diction. Orwell's diction sends a pessimistic and deathly feel to readers through his diction....
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...Amanda Lindhout and Sara Corbett use a series of techniques throughout Lindhout’s memoir, A House in the Sky, to develop the specific purpose for writing. One of the most frequently used techniques was imagery in order for the reader to feel as though they are with her in captivity. Secondly, Lindhout uses anecdotes to show how rare it was for the guards to treat Lindhout kindly and her way of mentally escaping captivity. Lastly, Lindhout uses allusions to give the reader information as to where they are being held and events that take place while being held in captivity for 460 days. Imagery, anecdotes, and allusions aid in identifying the specific purpose for writing; which is raising awareness of the reality of being held hostage. By using imagery, Lindhout was able to help the reader feel and experience the terrifying experience of being held hostage. “We lurched to a stop in a flat, empty area, pulling...
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...Writer’s Memo #1: “The Things I Carry” Inspiration Chapter In the chapter “The Things I Carry” by O’Brien, O’Brien lists things that the soldiers of his platoon carry, either tangible or intangible. The soldiers carry things ranging from “their grandmother’s distaste for the white man” to their girlfriend's pantyhose around their neck. Some soldiers carry more intangible things like emotions. Ted Lavender carried fear and tranquilizers to combat said fear. This chapter reminded me of the multiple intangible emotions I carry. Depression and anxiety. For most of my life I have carried these emotions as they drag me down. They are a part of me, they are what make me, me. I’ve gone through some tough times while dealing with these everyday...
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...The Vietnam War: Weight of Emotions “The Things They Carried” is a short story that describes a group of soldiers and the tangible and intangible items with which they chose to burden their bag packs and hearts. The author creatively manipulates two different ideas, such as ambiguous morality and loneliness to exaggerate the theme which is of physical and emotional burdens. The soldiers carried vital items for survival during this difficult time of their lives. The men tried to take comfort in the personal items and memories they brought with them while they were away from home. With a list of each item a solider took to war, the author carefully pieces together a puzzle about who these characters are. O’Brien’s use of imagery helps to visualize the battle field and understand the soldiers. As the story starts to unfold, the reader is greeted by a love struck narrator by the name of Lieutenant Cross. O’Brien describes the relationship between the narrator and Martha, a girl from back home who he is in love with, but she in return does not share the same feelings. Cross carries letters she wrote and fantasizes daily of their illusive love. His love for Martha becomes more of an obsession. “He loved her so much he could not stop thinking about her” (O’Brien 598). His constant question of her love for him causes Cross to fall short of his responsibilities as the leader of the platoon. “Slowly, a bit distracted, he would get up and move among his men, checking the perimeter--he...
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...gifted, heavy weights to weaken the strong, and hideous masks to hide ones natural beauty. Vonnegut's dystopian world exposes the dangers and disadvantages of a society with complete equality of all citizens portrayed by imagery, satire and a not so happy ending. In the beginning of the story the reader is given a glimpse of a truly equal society. Vonnegut emphasis his view of extreme equality and the role the government plays in enforcing it. The year was...
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...and so would be perceived very differently in modern times to what it would have been when it was written. The type of love that is shown in "The Flea" would be described as desperate love, this is shown through the style in which its written, a conceit, this means there will be lots of imagery in it. Christina Rossetti lived between 1830-1894, during her life she volunteered at the 'fallen woman' refuge, was a very religious woman and was proposed to on two different occasions, but declined both because of religious differences. Rossetti was a pre-raphaelite poet of the 19th century, which is evident from her poetry. "Amen" was written hundreds of years after "The Flea", therefore the way either of them are to be perceived will be very different. The theme of love shown in "Amen" is loss of love, this could be because Rossetti possibly regrets rejecting two marriage proposals. The poem of "Amen" that I studied was a cropped version of the original, and so only had three stanzas. From this I learned that these three stanzas were based on the seasons, which changed when the next verse started, this is use of pathetic fallacy which is to be expected as pre-raphaelite poets use vivid imagery. "Amen" consists of two five-lined stanzas of trochaic pentameter with a rhyme scheme of ABABB, which continues in the final stanza as there are an extra two lines. "The Flea" can be said to be a very different type of poem in comparison with Rossetti's "Amen". "The Flea" is also three...
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...focuses on the passing of time through metaphoric images of nature and through the description of ones youth evolving into the dreaded phase of old age. It is a brief description of the passing of time here on earth. It showcases the passing of time in three quatrains: the end of youth, the end of the harvest season, and the end of ones life. The poem emphasized the importance of procreation and bearing children for one to continue the cycle of life and in a sense, promote the gift of eternal life by living through ones children and ensure survival of the subsequent generations. In the sonnet, there are rhetorical devices used to elucidate the theme of the poem; some of the devices found include personification, antithesis, internal rhyme, imagery, and metaphor to...
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...In Tim O’Brien’s book “The Things They Carried” O’Brien throws out the idea of drowning left and right. Typically it is subtle, but the message is still powerful. Through the reoccurring idea of droning, the author is expressing the idea of coming back from war and feeling like you are drowning in the memories of war and never being able to pull yourself out. The first time this idea is expressed in a flashback of Norman Bowker’s before he went off to war. While driving around town unable to find a purpose in life after coming back from the war, Norman is caught daydreaming about the lake and how it took one of his friends. On page 138, O’Brien writes, “And the lake had drowned his friend Max Arnold, keeping him out of the war entirely.” If this was all that was wrote about drowning, this detail would have been irrelevant. However, because the imagery of drowning appears multiple times in the story, this is foreshadowing of things to come and allows these events to stick out in the story. The next time this idea appears it does not come directly out and say it;...
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