Summary Of Tim O 'Brien's The Things They Carried'

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THE THINGS THEY “CARRIED”

Bombs exploding, friends dying in front of your eyes, sleeping with extreme fear every night. Have to be careful with every step: there’s always à possibility to not be able to see the next minute. Would you sacrifice yourself ? Would you acknowledge à profession that aims to die? That’s what soldiers are face-to-face all the time. Even though it sometimes seems politically right thing to do, Tim O’Brien shows us that the war is never the solution by the psychological problems that soldiers have during and after they come from the war. Again, would you sacrifice yourself? Or saying more properly, would you sacrifice yourself for à thing or à person that you don’t even have any idea of? Symbolizing the war as …show more content…
They are looking at soldiers as if they are superheros, that all of them are extremely powerful, scared of nothing, can kill and destroy really simply. They see every teen or young adult male as à potential destructor and expect them to act like that. “If I could have one wish, anything, I’d wish for my dad to write me à letter, and say it’s okay if I don’t win any medals. That’s all my old man talks àbout, nothing else. How he can’t wait to see my goddamn medals.” (34) Because even their own families are ready to leave them in any situation, they had to carry. They had to carry the “reason” why they should turn back home in such despair circumstance. That’s why the smallest objects are meaning biggest to soldiers, such as Jimmy Cross carrying photographs and à pebble from Martha. Most of them are there, not because they wanted to, but everybody else did. Because of the pressure on them, they are even afraid to not go to war, thinking that their family, their environment will …show more content…
Wars are more than physical hurt. It completely destroys soldiers’ psychology. The terrible situation they are in- gives them permanent damage. They can’t maintain to live their lives normally. They are not the same anymore. People turn back being à completely different person, such as Mary Anne -who came with à blue skirt and left with à necklace made of human tongues.- Sometimes people forget soldiers are “humans” too. Even though they seem like courageous gods from society's’ eyes, they are, in fact, not emotionless robots, and can be afraid of the war as much as everyone. The scenes they live, the death they witness, the pressure on them makes them even cannot fight with à clear mind. They have to take tranquilizers, or worse “premium dope” as Ted Lavender did in order to stay alive, in order to not die at least from fear to die. I also think that it is not only the fear of death, but also to make someone death. ”As the name of the book is “The Things They Carried” I want to ask you à question. How much an average person can carry? Like 50 kilograms? What is the weight of killing somebody? How can we measure the burden of carrying someone’s life with you? “You couldn’t blame the burden” explains O’brien after the death of Lavender. This’ll become à wound in their hearts and going to continue to
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