The Things They Carried Analysis

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Tim O’Brien’s The Things They Carried is a collection of essays, all centered on anecdotes of American soldiers during the Vietnam War. The seemingly straightforward recollections slowly reveal dense layers of personal and metaphorical meanings upon closer inspection, with the exploration of the characters’ emotions and the underlying motif of love creating the opportunity to trace how war changes a person in the realm of his emotions. The Vietnam warfare acts as a catalyst for all of the unsettling changes in the soldiers’ minds, raising the question whether the battlefield is actively responsible for this result or merely accelerating the inevitable manifestation of these personal issues, inherent in every person.

In the collection of essays …show more content…
The first mention of love is in “The Things They Carried,” when Lieutenant Jimmy Cross’ strong infatuation with Martha is revealed. His attitude seems innocent enough as he “want[s] Martha to love him as he loved her” (1). The reciprocity of this pure emotion, illustrated by the repetition of “love,” is quickly shot down as the officer is portrayed as obsessed with Martha’s rejection of him rather than simply in love. One of the most striking moments that interweaves the violent nature of war with his memories of the girl is presented in his desire to “carr[y] her up the stairs to her room and t[ie] her to the bed and [touch] that left knee all night long” (4). The run-on structure of the sentence conveys the unhealthy excitement of a man who plays this moment over and over again in his mind. In the context of war, such an act does not seem too extreme of harmful, but from a human standpoint it is still unthinkable. The character’s desensitization at the hands of the violence of Vietnam bleeds into his universal judgment of right and wrong, resulting in his reminiscence of Martha’s affections taking on a disquieting

The Vietnam War In Tim O Brien's The Things They Carried

The Vietnam War raged from 1955-1975. The United States had intervened in an attempt to contain Soviet influence as part of the bigger Cold War in progress. Ho Chi Minh and his communist Viet Minh party were battling South Vietnam and its ally, the U.S. More than 3,000,000 people died in the conflict - half were Vietnamese citizens and about 58,000 were Americans (History.com Staff). The intervention of the United States began in 1955 when President Dwight D. Eisenhower pledged to support Ngo Dinh…

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Tim O Brien's The Things They Carried

Tim O’Brien, Vietnam War veteran, perhaps more than any other author gives eloquent and contrary voice to American involvement in war. From his own experiences in Vietnam, O’ Brien wrote a series of anti-war theme novels, including his acclaimed 1987 short story “The Things They Carried,” considered one of the top 100 short stories of the twentieth century (e.g., John Updike and Katrina Kenison, eds., The Best American Short Stories of the Century, New York: Houghton Mifflin Company, 1999). In his…

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Tim O Brien's The Things They Carried

1990, The author Tim O'Brien wrote a book called "The Things They Carried" which was about a Vietnam war. It was the longest battle in U.S history. Since the U.S. couldn't get control of a South Vietnam and eventually North Vietnam took control of South Vietnam. The Vietnam war occurred in the year 1959 and ceased in the year 1975. There was a conflict between the U.S and communist government. The main idea of this war was to prevent the expansion of communism in Asia and Vietnam. The combat was…

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Tim O Brien Rhetorical Analysis

The Twisting Views of War Through Imagery “The war in Vietnam is but a symptom of a far deeper malady within the American spirit” (Martin Luther King, J.R.). War is a topic today that is greatly controversial. In Tim O’ Brien’s novel The Things They Carried, O’ Brien describes the pointlessness and horrifics of war. Meanwhile just recently Chris Kyle published the book American Sniper where he talks about his pride of the war and the honor of serving your country. While Tim O’ Brien uses imagery and…

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Tim O Brien

Author Study: Tim O’Brien The Things They Carried, by Tim O’Brien details the lives of several soldiers of the Vietnam War and the trauma, guilt, regret, loneliness, and heartbreak, among the millions of other tragic emotions felt by these young men. Told through the eyes of the author, Tim O’Brien, who at the time, like many other young men, weren’t planning on fighting their government war but unfortunately were dealt an unfortunate hand, experiencing the pain and hardship that ensued throughout…

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The kid Essay

disasters, terrorist incidents, or serious accidents. Tim O’ Brien’s The Things They Carried and “A Soldiers Home” by Ernest Hemingway, these authors share their experiences and talk about the damaging effects of war. Though there is a plethora of disadvantages and hardships of going through PTSD, the disorder can be overcome with the help of others yes, but the person suffering from the disorder is the most important piece of the puzzle. Tim O’Brien and Ernest Hemingway both have military backgrounds…

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