Rat Kiley In The Things They Carried

Words: 512
Pages: 3
Open Document
Tim O’Brien, the author and narrator of the novel The Things They Carried, uses the Vietnam War to portray a true war story. The narrative depicts a clear image of what the Vietnam was like for many soldiers. No morals and the senseless killing of innocents without purpose. Every soldier is damaged by war and each is affect psychologically by his or her experiences. Yet, like a truthful war story, these experiences are conveyed differently or each soldier. Rat Kiley carries the baggage of death, Curt Lemon carries the fear of being inadequate, and Mitchell Sanders carries the burdens of the stories told. Through symbolic and spiritual items, O’Brien demonstrates that each soldier carries an emotional baggage due to the lack of morals in war.
Rat Kiley’s physical baggage represents how the innocence of people important to him is lost to the violence of war. …show more content…
Mary Anne Bell, the girlfriend of a young medic named Mark Fossie, appears at a small medical detachment in the mountains west of Chu Lai where Rat is stationed. She is “an attractive girl. Too wide in the soldiers, maybe, but she had terrific legs, a bubbly personality, a happy smile” (90-91). Her appearance at the facility boosted the moral of the men, lifting their spirits during the war. She represents a light of purity and innocence that is soon lost to the darkness of Vietnam. Once the war begins to consume her, she starts to change. She is “too stiff in places, too firm where the softness used to be. The bubbliness was gone. The nervous giggling, too” (95). Her light is flushed out and her purity is lost and can never be regained. She slips into the darkness of war and never returns. Similar to the candy, Mary Anne represents the sweetness in Rat Kiley’s life. Once that sweetness is consumed by the blackness of war, it never returns. Piece by piece, as his loved ones and friends are taken by the darkness, Rat Kiley slowly losses himself to
Show More

Related Documents: Rat Kiley In The Things They Carried

The Things They Carried Essay example

The Stories They Carried The Things They Carried by Tim O’Brien makes apparent that stories are a way to explain to the full reality of the war, a burden in and of themselves, and also a way to carry the emotional burdens of the war. O’Brien is careful to maintain his credibility as a story teller, but he makes clear that the truth of the story goes beyond the literal historical facts and that the apparent credibility of the story should in no way distract from the essence of the story, “there is…

Words 1024 - Pages 5

They Things TheyCarried Essay

“The Things They Carried” the author, Tim O’Brien, recounts the experiences he had during the Vietnam War through the eyes of his fellow soldiers. Throughout the story O’Brien also describes the personalities of each one of his comrades, but without using any direct statements. He describes them through the art of symbolism. All the items listed in “The Things They Carried” are directly correlated to the characterization and overall nature of Jimmy Cross, Kiowa, Henry Dobbins, Bob Rat Kiley, Ted…

Words 1155 - Pages 5

Tim O Brien's The Things They Carried

According to Tim O’Brien, the author of The Things They Carried, “A true war story is never moral… If a story seems moral, do not believe it” (68). The truth about war is that they are immoral and by denying the truth of being immoral in war is a lie. To kill or be killed, is the decision that soldiers are faced with during times of war, it is a decision of being moral or immoral. According to war veterans, many war stories revolve around the subject of dehumanization being inevitable in war by including…

Words 644 - Pages 3

Tim O Brien's The Things They Carried

The Things They Carried: Literary Analysis The Things They Carried, by Tim O’Brien, is nothing short of a literary masterpiece. Told through the eyes of Tim O’Brien, we follow the lives of a platoon of men experiencing the tragedies of the Vietnam War, carrying not only the physical burdens of their supplies, but also artillery, rations, and personal belongings, as referenced by the title. but also symbolically, a burdensome emotional load of heartache, horror, loneliness, regret, and fear, as they…

Words 1533 - Pages 7

Tim O Brien's The Things They Carried

Art and literature, although sometimes produced by the imagination of the artist, has always influenced people’s minds, causing wonder and introspection. Tim O’Brien’s The Things They Carried is about the Vietnam War and his experiences, but he claims the book is mostly fiction. Later, in an interview with Texas Monthly, he states that “accuracy is irrelevant” and that when discussing the Mona Lisa and its accuracy, he says, “Who cares? It's a great piece of art! It moves us to the next level. It…

Words 1511 - Pages 7

Surrealism In The Things They Carried

In the novel, The Things They Carried by Tim O’Brien, it has multiple instances that have surrealism. The simple meaning of surrealism is unusual or dreamlike. Surrealism is something that would be rare to happen in the real world. In the chapter, How To Tell A War Story, it has many examples of surrealism. One example of surrealism in this chapter is, on page 68 the first paragraph on that page, when Tim O’Brien states, “Often the crazy stuff is true and the normal stuff isn’t…”. He says this because…

Words 457 - Pages 2

Tim O Brien's The Things They Carried Essay

O’Brien’s, The Things They Carried is a collection of short stories about the Vietnam War, but in reality, the book centers around the relationships the men make, their relationships to the world they left there and the relationships that they formed to Vietnam. The author of the book is the narrator of the book, he tells all the short stories and effects of it as he’s writing it after the war. The stories were not all war stories, but stories about love, respect, and the bonds they carried for each other…

Words 917 - Pages 4

Tim O Brien's The Things They Carried

just impulsive in his decision or stupid, but in fact he did this because he loved someone else whose hair was on its last roots. An all-time favorite author of many, did the exact same thing. He turned a couple of war stories into a love story. The geniuses’ name is Tim O’Brien. He wrote The Things They Carried, which is a war novel that talks about the author’s experiences in the heart of Vietnam. However, the idea that the book has is to not only tell people how…

Words 1436 - Pages 6

Tim O Brien's The Things They Carried

learned, and that is what Tim O’Brien is trying to express through his novel The Things They Carried. War stories are hard to tell because they have no morals or lessons. All they are is the experiences of boys who were forced to fight in a hopeless war. They are the only thing these soldiers have to show for their efforts, and O’Brien is no different. One of the earliest stories O’Brien…

Words 888 - Pages 4

The Things They Carried By Tim O Brien: Literary Analysis

In the book, The Things They Carried by Tim O’Brien, O’Brien conveys colorful literary devices to illustrate the beliefs and values of the characters’ cultures. Many times throughout the book O’Brien finds ways to express the characters’ personalities without forgetting important details that will stick out to the readers. Some of the most prominent literary devices that reveal the character’s morals and values are vivid diction, detailed dialogue, and descriptive imagery. O’Brien utilizes literary…

Words 627 - Pages 3