Suspense In The Things They Carried

The Things they Carried by Tim O’Brien centers around O’Brien and the soldiers in the Alpha Company during the Vietnam War. O’Brien uses point of view, imagery, and details to create suspense and make his experiences more real to the reader.
In the excerpt O’Brien uses a second person point of view so the reader may feel the same suspense and fear he felt in the dark. O’Brien tries to convey this feeling when he explains, “You try to block it out but you can’t. You see ghosts. Bullshit, you tell yourself. But then you remember the guys who died.” He creates suspense by using second person point of view so the reader can imagine themselves in O’Brien’s place and feel as if it is happening to them. O’Brien also creates suspense when he states, “You jerk up, you freeze, you squint at the dark. Nothing, though. You put your weapon on full automatic.” O’Brien’s use of second person point of view creates suspense because he is describing the fear in detail to illustrate how tense a soldier feels listening to sounds in the dark. The use of second person point of view reminds the reader of their own memories or experiences in the dark. This makes O’Brien’s

experiences more relatable because he is telling the reader how to feel and describing and describing how they react.
O’Brien also uses personification to create suspense.

He uses personification when he describes the dark as he states, “You wait. Because the darkness squeezes you inside yourself.” This use of personification creates suspense because it reveals how O’Brien sees the darkness as suffocating. The use of personification creates suspense because the darkness and lack of ability to see leaves a person more vulnerable. O’Brien also uses personification to create suspense when he states, “The crickets talk in code.” This describes how O’Brien feels so tense that he’s hearing the crickets, “talk in code.” O’Brien’s senses are heightened due to lack of sight and he is already vulnerable in the dark, the cricket noises sounding like code adds to make him feel more paranoid and alert as if something might happen at any

moment.
Lastly, O’Brien uses imagery to create suspense so the reader may feel what the soldiers felt. O’Brien appeals to the reader’s sense when he describes how, “You feel a funny buzzing in your ears…The crickets talk in code; the night takes on an electronic tingle.” O’Brien’s detailed imagery creates suspense because he is describing it so the reader can feel it too, especially because he uses second person point of view and directly addresses the reader by saying, “You.” The imagery describing O’Brien’s senses wired and alert with the, “funny buzzing,” and the “electronic tingle,” makes the reader feel what O’Brien would in that situation. O’Brien also appeals to the reader’s senses when he states, “You hear the spooks laughing.” This imagery adds to the suspense because O’Brien is in the dark and he can hear laughing, which comes from somewhere unknown and it makes the situation eerie. Not knowing where the laughing is coming form of who it is makes it sound menacing in the dark and adds suspense. O’Brien’s use of point of view, imagery and anecdotes create suspense and adds anxiety the reader can feel as he tries to convey the feeling of being in the dark. The imagery and the point of view make it more real and relatable to the reader.