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Brotherhood In The Things They Carried, By Tim O Brien

974 Words4 Pages

There are many valuable things in life, and one of the most significant is friendship. To live a life deprived of the experience of friendship is simply a life without living. Throughout our lives we are always meeting new people and forming relationships that may or, may not grow into anything more serious than a casual conversation. Throughout the novel, The Things They Carried, by Tim O’Brien, friendships develop into a very serious form of brotherhood. Friendship, as well as “brotherhood” are essential parts of the novel. Love, friendship, along with brotherhood become the main source of joy and positive energy for the men of the Alpha Company at the Vietnam War. Without the compassion and support the men of Alpha Company feel for one …show more content…

Tim O’Brien thoroughly described that the men carried one another and brotherhood was the key to survival. Tim O’Brien shows us the strongest form of love through friendship. The men of Alpha Company were far from home and their loved ones. Many were forced to fight a war they didn’t want to fight with strangers. Plus, many were young men deprived of love and compassion they desired by their loved ones. Being so deprived of closeness and love, many of the men created incredibly close bonds with other men while at war. “You make close friends. You become part of a tribe and you share the same blood – you give it together; you take it together” (O’Brien 9). Throughout the novel, many of the men meet a handful of great friends while at Alpha Company. The men are not just friends, they are part of a tribe, they are blood brother. Some men created such close bonds with each other they believed they are soul mates with one another. “Rat pours his heart out. He says he loved the guy. He says the guy was his best friend in the world. They were like soul mates, he said, like twins or something, they had a whole lot in common (O’Brien 5). During war death is inevitable, these men, for example, Rat experiences death and loss everyday. However, it is emotional dwelling when someone so close to home dies. In this quote Rat is going crazy, his best friend and his soul mate whom he loved, Lemon, has died. And this was something Rat would have to carry like a stone on his back for the rest of his

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