The Things They Carried by Tim O'Brien, a piece of Fiction

Introduction

The book is a compilation of connected stories by Tim O'Brien, about a squad of US soldiers in the Vietnam War. The stories we originally published in Board cover by Houghton Mifflin, 1990. The book is somewhat related to the author`s own experience to an extent, while the title page refers to the book to be a work of fiction. This work of meta-fiction is visible in the book at many places, but is portrayed in a very creative way. The writer has created the characters to be fictions, but they are greatly inspired by the people he came to know in the army, and show clear resemblance. The book and the stories are clear fiction, but told in a way to relate to real people and events, not making it reality in any way (O'Brien Pp.7).

Narrative

The writer's flow is designed in a way that it does not tell a real story which would not elicit the mystery and emotions which a novel could, nor did the writer simply write a novel which could not make the reader think and wonder. The work was done in a genre of meta-fiction relating to reality in such a way as to intrigue the audience. The narrative varies from event to event and story to story, from Grief to terror, and love to longing in an amazing way.

Character

The characters are very accurately designed and relate to many people the writer actually knew during the way. This is noted as he dedicates the book to the Alpha Company. The characters portray the realities of war, with reference to real solders in a way, as to create interest and astonishment in the readers.

Plot

The story relates to lt. Jimmy`s squad of soldiers which consist of a team of young men, who are not prepared for the war. The carry heavy loads of supplies and rations, and the pictures of the girls they liked, full of fear and confusion. These young soldiers pretend that they are not sad or scared, just so they are not perceived as cowards or childish to others. Jimmy himself loves a girl who does not love him back, and goes on loving her years after the war. The emotions of the men in the story can be seen coming out in funny and hilarious ways, which add to the feeling of the ...