Tim O Brien's The Things They Carried

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Choices define a person’s identity, but someone can also make the wrong choice, leading to serious consequences. The novel The Things They Carried, written by Tim O’Brien, explores the topics of death, trauma, and the enduring effects of war on the individuals who partake in it. It is a compilation of short stories that portray the experiences of American soldiers during the Vietnam War. O’Brien writes from his own experience, blurring the lines between fiction and nonfiction as he provides details on the impact of war on the human psyche. Author Tim O’Brien expresses the idea of how war can change a person’s identity through the character of Mary Anne Bell. He uses her to serve as an example of how the disturbing realities of war and the changes …show more content…
This later changed when Mary began to learn more about the war and even started to participate in the activities. At night she would often be late, but after a while she wouldn’t “come in at all” which caused the relationship between the two to be strained and questionable (O’Brien 95). This is one of the consequences of war, as the change in the person also causes the change in the relationships around them. In Fossie’s eyes, Mary was “lost” and he really wanted to help her because he “can’t just let her go like that,” because in his eyes, Mary does not seem happy, she seems driven by a false sense of purpose (O’Brien 100, 107). Mary Anne has become so immersed in the war around her that she has failed to consider what the others might feel about her change. Another consequence of war is the way it hurts the people that care about an individual when they change. Mary Anne had made friends with the soldiers at the camp, and Rat even claimed that he “loved her” (O’Brien 108). Once she started to spiral and lose herself, the others could not get her back. Try as they may “she’s already gone” (O’Brien
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