The Things They Carried by Tim O'Brien's

Introduction

"The Things They Carried" by Tim O'Brien was about the soldiers' life before and after the war as today's political instability in Iraq for US. Some didn't even have a chance to leave (O'Brien p 12). With the Hemingway's way writing, O'Brien gave the reader a shockingly visceral sense of what it felt like to march through a booby trapped jungle, bearing pounds of supplies with the constantly fear of getting shot. Made up by little stories put together, The Things They Carried shows us how war transform the individuals who were in it, not just physically but also emotionally.

Discussion

Having to go to war can ruin a person's dreams in life. Many individuals have goals for life that is disturbed by having to go to war just America went for war in Iraq and Afghanistan. Tim O'Brien is an instance of someone who had plans that were ruined by the war. In the novel, The Things They Carried O'Brien said, "I was too good for this war. It couldn't happen. I was above it. I had the world dicked - Phi Beta Kappa and summa cum laude and president of the student body and a full-ride scholarship for grad studies at Harvard" (House Committee of Veteran Affairs p 1). Tim O'Brien could have ceased up with a peaceful, happy life if he had not been drafted into the war at such a young age. Instead, he ceased up writing war stories the rest of his life, unable to move on.

Many researches have demonstrated that the more prolonged, widespread, and horrifying a soldier's or sailor's experience to war trauma, the more probable it is that she or he will become emotionally worn down and depleted. This happens to even the strongest and healthiest of individuals, and frequently it is precisely these soldiers who are the most psychologically disturbed by war because they endure so much of the trauma. Most war heroes don't feel brave or heroic at the time, but they do their duty, in spite frequently feeling overwhelmed and horrified, in order to protect others.

In this war, not only bullets could kill. For Norman Bowker, things were never the same when he returned home from Vietnam. "The war was over and there was no place in particular to go" (Taylor p 985). "After two hours he went off for a drink of water; he used a jump rope; his friends found him hanging from a water pipe".

All over this story the platoon set in Vietnam are physically bearing things are the instances of today's world, a burden in it. We see many things with true realism. An accurate description and the physical weight of each item are described in full detail. Along with "A .45-caliber pistol that weighed 2.9 pounds fully loaded" a "PRC-25 radio, a killer, 26 pounds with its battery" (William pp 74-156). With these actual descriptions we are able to visualize all the things O'Brien is depicting all over the ...