In the short story, “The Red Convertible” written by Louise Erdich, in the first person from the narrator Lyman’s point of view. It is about two Chippewa Native American brothers Lyman Lamartine and Henry Lamartine who were separated when Henry enlisted in the Vietnam War. During the short story, Lyman expresses his feelings about the bond him and Henry shared; and how their relationship changed from pre-war happy Henry to post-war mentally-haggard Henry. Louise shows how one thing, the red convertible, brought two brothers bond together and how it ended their bond. This presented us with something we do not know that will be brought to the light.
In Tim O'Brien's “Enemies” and “Friends”, O'Brien shows the effect the nature of war has on individuals and how war destroys and creates friendships. These two stories describe the relationship between two soldiers, Lee Strunk and Dave Jensen. In “Enemies”, friendship is broken over a fist fight about a stolen jackknife, which leaves Strunk with a broken nose and Jensen paranoid of whether or not Strunk’s revenge is coming. While in “Friends”, you see how the nature of war creates a bond of trust, even between people who first saw each other as enemies.
The Creighton’s had so many people they knew and loved in war. Two biological sons, and adopted son, and their children’s schoolmaster that their daughter was in love with, to be exact. In this story, so much goes on that messes up their family. Two sons go to fight for the Union, along with their schoolmaster, and one goes to fight with the Confederates. Their father, Matt, had something like a stroke or heart attack, and is not allowed to work anymore.
Throughout one’s life, one tends to adapt to the traditions of their family, and gain a significant bond with their loved ones, including their siblings. However, that connection a person gains can either be diminished or forgotten due to a sense of different mindsets between family members. The two stories “The Rich Brother” by Tobias Wolff and “Sonny’s Blues” by James Baldwin indicate that sibling rivalry occurs when each member does not understand or acknowledge their sibling’s perspective, and this builds a wall barrier between the siblings.
Charlie changes how he sees the world from three experiences. Charlie changed because of his father passing away by becoming an adult, Charlie became more confident because he protected his mother from an abusive man and had people ‘encourage’ his confidence. Finally, Charlie has changed by showing empathy towards people who are in debt of gangster that are going through hardship just like Charlie’s family. Charlie is the protagonist of the story, the Runner because he has made his character unique by showing character change, emotion and by displaying the theme of the novel through his character which has made this reading experience exceptionally
The narrator on the other hand is a family man. He's married and has kids. After his mother died he joined the military. While the brothers have a few things in common, they are very different
Bertrand Russell once said, “War doesn’t determine who’s right, only who’s left.” The Vietnam War was one in particular where soldiers often struggled with who the enemy was. War is too often thought of as something to be won, but this novel reveals it is simply something to be survived, and the shell of a person that is left will not be the same one that walked into battle. That is a jarring reality very prominent in Fallen Angels by Walter Dean Myers. It is a lesson soldier Richard Perry learns all too well on his journey from innocent young boy to Vietnam veteran.
A life that 's not easy to overcome if it ever is possible to overcome. With only one easy way out and the cost is her life. The book starts of with Summer in her home where she lives her mother father and older brother Henry. She dating her brother’s best friend Lewis.
Readers, especially those reading historical fiction, always crave to find believable stories and realistic characters. Tim O’Brien gives them this in “The Things They Carried.” Like war, people and their stories are often complex. This novel is a collection stories that include these complex characters and their in depth stories, both of which are essential when telling stories of the Vietnam War. Using techniques common to postmodern writers, literary techniques, and a collection of emotional truths, O’Brien helps readers understand a wide perspective from the war, which ultimately makes the fictional stories he tells more believable.
After the ordeal Tom goes through to retrieve the yellow paper that nearly resulted in his demise, the paper gets blown away once more. This time, he allows the wind to sweep the yellow scrap out of his apartment window. Rather than endanger his life repeatedly, he decides that there are other, more important things to concern himself with. His experience changes him for the better. Living life in the moment shifts to be more important to him than any project for work.
”Listen. We have to stay together. We have to try to keep each other safe. We are brothers, we are family” (95). With Jacob's words to Norman, after being beaten, we are shown in Sharon E. Mckay’s War Brothers, that war can solidify friendly relationships into a sense of family.
Robert fights with himself to survive and realizes that he must push forward, away from his past and drinking. But by doing this, Robert begins to lose his humanity and faces the harsh realities of his world. Matheson's writing challenges the reader to think about what and how they would change if they were in the same situation as
The older man 's behavior contrasts with that of the persona who is young and has barely experienced life. Whereas the speaker is eager to discover life and have new experiences to escape her reality, the older man avoids his truth by focusing on mundane details of his experience in the Vietnam War. Furthermore, the older man was once a young man himself, surely eager to have new experiences, as he enrolled in the army. Instead of having these desires fulfilled, his memories of the war have caused his view of the world to greatly deviate from that of the persona and
Tom not only stays with his mother and sister well into adulthood but he also does not pursue a wife, a well paying job or a family of his own. Instead Tom dreams of a life that is more: a life filled with exploration, like the ones in the movies he adores. Throughout the play, Tom argues with his mother, drinks heavily and goes to the movies to forget about his problems. In this melancholy life filled with dissatisfaction he finds comfort in his sister who is shy, sweet and undeserving of the harshness life has thrown as her.
Literary analysis America’s war heroes all have the same stories to tell but different tales. Prescribed with the same coloring page to fill in, and use their methods and colors to bring the image to life. This is the writing style and tactic used by Tim O’Brien in his novel, “The Things They Carried”. Steven Kaplan’s short story criticism, The Undying Certainty of the Narrator in Tim O’Brien’s The Things They Carried, provides the audience with an understanding of O’Brien’s techniques used to share “true war” stories of the Vietnam War. Kaplan explains the multitude of stories shared in each of the individual characters, narration and concepts derived from their personal experiences while serving active combat duty during the Vietnam War,