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Things they carried The Things They Carried Report "The Things They Carried" was a story about soldiers caught in the confusion of the Vietnam War. There are a lot
The Things They Carried.What Weighs More? What Weighs More? A Demonstrative Essay on "The Things They Carried" By Tim O'Brien In his story "The Things They Carried,"
The Things They Carried Nick Grainger Eng 112 March 16, 2004 The Things They Carried Tim O'Brien was an infantryman in during Vietnam War. He used those experiences
The Things They Carried The Things They Carried The story "The Things They Carried" is about war and the things that soldiers carry with them in the war. This is
The Things They Carried "The Things They Carried" by Tim O'Brien is a short story base on the lives of a group of soldiers during the later years of the war in Vietnam.
Submitted by millerbjay on February 20, 2007
Category: History Other
Words: 911 | Pages: 4
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Through The Things They Carried, Tim O'Brien moves beyond the horror of fighting in the Vietnam War to examine with sensitivity and insight the nature of courage and fear. Included, is a collection of interrelated stories. A few of the stories are brutal, while others are flawed, blurring the distinction between fact and fiction. All the stories, however, deal with one platoon. Some are about the wartime experiences of soldiers, and others are about a 43-year-old writer reminiscing about his platoon's experiences. In the beginning chapter, O'Brien rambles about the items the soldiers carry into battle, ranging from can openers, pocketknives, and mosquito repellent o Kool-Aid, sewing kits, and M-16 assault rifles. Yet, the story is truly about the intangible things the soldiers "carry": "grief, terror, love, longingÂ… shameful memories (and) the common secret of cowardice" (Harris & O'Brien 21).
Most of the soldiers did not know what the overall purpose was of fighting the Vietnamese (Tessein). The young men "carried the soldier's greatest fear, which was the fear of blushing. Men killed, and died, because they were embarrassed not to. It was what had brought them to the war in the first place" (O'Brien 21). The soldiers did not go to war for glory or honor, but simply to avoid the "blush of dishonor" (21). In fact, O'Brien states "It was not courage, exactly; the object was not valor. Rather, they were too frightened to be cowards." The soldiers went to war because they were too scared of being scolded by the entire country for being too much of a coward to fight for their nation.
Some of the soldiers were such cowards that they injured themselves just to be taken away in a helicopter and extracted from the war scene. The soldiers "spoke bitterly about guys who had found release by shooting off their own toes or fingers. Pussies, they'd say. Candy-asses" (22). However, deep down inside, the soldiers who did all the mocking "imagined the...
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