Interpreting Connections In The Things They Carried 'By Tim O' Brien

Jack Schlachter

Ms. Buyers

Period 4

8 February 2023

The Things They Carried Essay

Sharing stories is an important way for humans to make meaningful connections with each other. They can relate with each other and make a stronger relationship. In the book, The Things They Carried, Tim O’Brien shares stories about his experience in the Vietnam War as a way to connect with others and teach people about the war. The book gives good examples about telling stories and how the stories affect others. Stories help humans relate to each other and make connections. In the story The Things They Carried, Tim O’Brien was shot in the butt during the war and was sent to a base camp to recover. He says, “I felt something shift inside me. It was anger, partly, but it was also a sense of pure and total loss. I didn’t fit anymore. They were soldiers, I wasn’t.” (O’Brien 188) He had built a relationship with the platoon and when he was sent to base camp, he felt that he lost that relationship. He related with them and when he got shot, he lost that relationship. This is why it is important to tell stories so that you can remember the connections you had with people.

In the chapter, the Man I Killed, Tim O’Brien killed a Vietnam boy. It says, “Secretly, though, it also frightened him. He was not a fighter. His health was poor, his body small and frail. He liked books. He wanted someday to be a teacher of mathematics.” (O’Brien 87) When Tim killed the boy, he thought about his perspective and what he could have grown up to become. He also thought about what would have happened if he never killed the boy. He continues to think about the boy in his dreams and thoughts. This is why it is important to see things from everybodies perspectives when telling