Buried Social Issues Exposed in The Things They Carried
The Things They Carried by Tim O'Brien is a wonderful and personal look into one of this countries darkest times. The vivid imagery that the author uses lets the reader actually experience the feeling of actually being in the war. By using the cultural studies method of literary criticism, we can use the social conditions during the time of the writing to explore beneath the surface. What we find underneath just might be more interesting than the story itself.
In the story "Enemies", Lee Strunk and Dave Jenson get into a fistfight over a missing jackknife. "Stupid" (p.63) is the way the author describes the fight, but yet he describes in vivid detail the gory battle and its emotional outcome.
If we look at society of the 1960's, we find that America was going through a period when sharing was a common value. "Free love" and "Peace, love, and Rock-n-Roll" were the battle cry of a whole sub-culture that was revolting against the stuffiness of their parents. (Bob Dylan versus Ward Clever) This counter-culture was not very interested in individualistic ideas as we can see by the droves of groupies that followed (and still follow) the Grateful Dead. The United States Army had basically the same effect on the young boys that were volunteered for war. They were stripped of their individualism and made into a team- a fighting machine. The only way for them to have any real sense of individuality was to grasp onto a few small personal possessions that they were allowed to keep or those that were contraband.
On the other hand, growing up in the early 1980's and 1990's (the ME generation) makes it difficult to understand how a sim...
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...he time. When Dave feels that he can no longer tolerate the situation, "He borrowed a pistol, gripped it by the barrel, and used it like a hammer to break his own nose". (63) Again like society of the time, the "establishment" felt that they needed to break up "sit-ins" and peace marches because they thought the protestors were going to get violent anyway. It was a type of pro-active violence.
In conclusion, there are numerous ways of unwrapping the many layers of a piece of literature. The most simplistic of these ways looks primarily at the words and their basic meaning. The more complex, such as the cultural studies method, will divulge deeper insight and motivation by the author. You may discover more than just a story about a fight over a jackknife. In the end, you may learn a lesson in human psychology and socio-economics.
The Things They Carried represents a compound documentary novel written by a Vietnam veteran, Tim O'Brien, in whose accounts on the Vietnam war one encounters graphical depictions of Post Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD). Thus, the stories "Speaking of Courage," "The Man I Killed," "How to Tell a True War Story," "Enemies" and "Friends," "Stockings," and "The Sweetheart of The Song Tra Bong "all encompass various examples of PTSD.
In The Things They Carried, an engaging novel of war, author Tim O’Brien shares the unique warfare experience of the Alpha Company, an assembly of American military men that set off to fight for their country in the gruesome Vietnam War. Within the novel, the author O’Brien uses the character Tim O’Brien to narrate and remark on his own experience as well as the experiences of his fellow soldiers in the Alpha Company. Throughout the story, O’Brien gives the reader a raw perspective of the Alpha Company’s military life in Vietnam. He sheds light on both the tangible and intangible things a soldier must bear as he trudges along the battlefield in hope for freedom from war and bloodshed. As the narrator, O’Brien displayed a broad imagination, retentive memory, and detailed descriptions of his past as well as present situations. 5. The author successfully uses rhetoric devices such as imagery, personification, and repetition of O’Brien to provoke deep thought and allow the reader to see and understand the burden of the war through the eyes of Tim O’Brien and his soldiers.
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.
The Things They Carried is a collection of stories about the Vietnam War, but in reality, the book centers around the relationships the men make, their connections to the world they left behind and the connections that they formed to Vietnam. The stories are not war stories, but stories about love, respect and the bonds made between men when they spend day after day fighting just to stay alive.
Tim O’Brien’s The Things They Carried is a very uniquely written book. This book is comprised of countless stories that, though are out of order, intertwine and capture the reader’s attention through the end of the novel. This book, which is more a collection of short stories rather than one story that has a beginning and an end, uses a format that will keep the reader coming back for more.
When Ralph and Jack placed their own personal needs of being in control of the other boys, order on the island broke down. Ralph stated that he was chief and as long as he was voted chief, the boys would do as they were told to, as stated in the chapter, The Beast from the Water, ‘You voted me for chief. Now you do as I say’ (81). This quotation incorporates the fact that Ralph has grown aware of the fact that he has the power to make decisions that affect the rest of the boys deeply and that he has the top power on the island at that point. Becoming chief was not necessarily a personal need for Ralph at first, but as events occur, he became aware of the fact that he has ultimate authority and will do make sure the boys complete their tasks in order sustain order, even if it meant disciplining them. When Ralph held the meeting by the beach at night in chapter five, chaos ensued as a result of his personal need of being...
Written by author Tim O’Brien after his own experience in Vietnam, “The Things They Carried” is a short story that introduces the reader to the experiences of soldiers away at war. O’Brien uses potent metaphors with a third person narrator to shape each character. In doing so, the reader is able to sympathize with the internal and external struggles the men endure. These symbolic comparisons often give even the smallest details great literary weight, due to their dual meanings. The symbolism in “The Things They Carried” guides the reader through the complex development of characters by establishing their humanity during the inhumane circumstance of war, articulating what the men need for emotional and spiritual survival, and by revealing the character’s psychological burdens.
The Roman philosopher Seneca the Younger once said “Perjor est bello timor ipse belli”, which translates to: “the dread of war is worse than war itself”. With this quote, Seneca identifies that war has both its physical and mental tolls on its participants. The psychological and emotional scars of war do much more damage to a solider than the actual physical battles. Tim O’ Brien repeats this idea many years later in his novel “The Things They Carried”, by describing how emotional burdens outweigh the physical loads that those in war must endure. What keeps them alive is the hope that they may one day return home to their loved ones. Yet, the weight of these intangible “items” such as “grief, terror, love, longing” overshadow the physical load they must endure since they are not easily cast away.
The Things They Carried is a classic because it approaches the gruesome subject of war in a way that is truly unique and honest. O’Brien’s unique point of view results in a book that is revered by the majority of its readers. “Now and then, when I tell this story, someone will come up to me afterward and say she liked it. It’s always a woman. Usually it’s an older woman of kindly temperament and human politics. She’ll explain that as a rule she hates war stories; she can’t understand why people want to wallow in all the blood and gore. But this one she liked” (pg.65-66). Many soldiers come home from war and try to hide the brutality of war from the rest of the population. Tim O’Brien allows readers in on the horrid truth of war! Throughout the novel, Tim O’Brien depicts how his fellow platoon members are held captive by their subconscious minds. “He shot it in the hindquarters and in the little hump at its back. He shot it twice in the flanks. It wasn’t to kill; it was to hurt. He put the rifle muzzle up against the mouth and then shot the mouth away. Nobody said much. The whole platoon stood there watching, feeling all kinds of things, but there wasn’t a great deal of pity for the baby water buffalo” (pg.75). It would be impossible for someone who has not experienced war to understand how the subconscious mind can imprison a soldier. However, O’Brien’s stories are so vivid that the reader feels that he or
In Tim O’Brien’s novel, The Things They Carried, numerous themes are illustrated by the author. Through the portrayal of a number of characters, Tim O’Brien suggests that to adapt to Vietnam is not always more difficult than to revert back to the lives they once knew. Correspondingly the theme of change is omnipresent throughout the novel, specifically in the depiction of numerous characters.
Rastafarians believe that Haile Selassie is the messiah, who they refer to as “Jah” or God. They believe that one day he will lead them to the Promised Land. Although, Selassie died in 1975, his death is not accepted by many due to the fact that they believe he will come back one day; reincarnation. Selassie was known as “Ras Tafari Makonnen”, and this is how the name of the religion came to be. Rastafarianism began as a social stand against white people and middle-classes, because they viewed them as oppressors. They also wanted to recapture and reestablish their African heritage, because many of them felt that by being captured and taken to the Caribbean by slave traders, they were defrauded out of their heritage.
The Romanov family story is one that ends in tragedy and mystery. The Romanov dynasty ruled Russia for over 300 years coming to an end with Nicholas II. The book The Family Romanov: Murder, Rebellion, & The Fall of Imperial Russia, written by Candace Fleming, tells the story of Tsar Nicholas II of how he came to become the Tsar and fell trying to protect his family. Fleming tells the story of young Nicholas coming to power when his father, Alexander III, died and how ill-prepared Nicholas was to rule due to his father’s inferior teaching skills. The story goes on to Nicholas meeting his future wife, Alexandra, and how they had four daughters, Olga, Tatiana, Marie and Anastasia. With each daughter came a disappointment of not having an heir
Tsar Nikolay Alexandrovich Romanov was the last Emperor and Autocrat of All the Russias. The eldest son of Alexander III, he was born on May 18, 1868, in Tsarskoe Solo, Russia (Nicholas II). Nicholas received his education through a network of private tutors who taught him many languages, including very strong English. One of these tutors and the most influential was a renowned university professor named Konstantin Pobedonostsev (Nicholas II). Pobedonostsev is known for teaching Nicholas that the Romanov family ruled as ‘agents of God’ and that the unlimited powers of a Tsar could never be surrendered without throwing away a precious and ancient part of Russian tradition (Nicholas II). Nicholas spent many happy years as a young military commander in the Imperial Guard, a position he expected to hold for a long time. During these years, Princess Alix of Germany agreed to be his wife. Just as everything seemed to be going perfectly for the young man, tragedy struck.
Literature has many purposes, and opens doors to unique worlds. Through Literature, we discover ourselves and world time and again.
Literature is rarely, if ever, merely a story that the author is trying to tell. It is imperative that the reader digs deep within the story to accurately analyze and understand the message the author is trying to portray. Authors tend to hide themselves in their stories. The reader can learn about the author through literary elements such as symbolism, diction, and structure. A good example of this is Robert Frost’s poems The Road Not Taken and Nothing Gold can Stay in which he uses ordinary language unlike many other poets that became more experimental (Frost, Robert. “1.”).