Things They Carried By Tim O Brien: Character Analysis

Elijah’s approaches are ineffective at coping with adversity because he follows misguided advice and becomes apathetic during war, resulting in major impacts on his life which lead to his downfall. Elijah starts to follow misguided advice from other people which hinders his ability to cope with adversity. Elijah

But this cannot be the only reason for these wars. In some aspects the military can be said to be an end in itself but the author has failed to address its primary role as servant to the ruling interests. Though the book has some lacunas but it cannot be denied that Kathleen Barry has done a pioneering work on the concept of empathy which is the most important trait in all human beings. It also needs to be inculcated in the soldiers on the battlefield also so that they can effectively differentiate between right and wrong. The book provides a fresh and broad reaching critique of militarised masculinity.

In the novel The Things They Carried, Tim O’Brien expresses to the reader why the men went to the war and continued to fight it. In the first chapter, “The Things They Carried,” 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 not because they were courageous and ready to fight, but because they felt the need to go. They were afraid and coped with their lack of courage by telling stories (to themselves or aloud) and applied humor to the situations they encountered. The men who served in the Vietnam War were just barely men, some of them were just hitting the age twenty.

The issues of new world and old world misunderstandings as well as contrasting values made these relationships challenging to uphold. The relationship involving Henry and his father crumbled due to vigorous values each side possessed. Even though they couldn’t preserve their relationship it created a guideline for how Henry would father Marty. The relationship gave Henry a sense of how a father should act and be the father that he never had. Henry’s relationship to Marty succeeded because of these guidelines.

Esperanza calls out, shouting, “Sally, make him stop”, but her friend ignores her pleas (Cisneros 123). The man distracted Sally, resulting in her friend being scarred beyond all measure. The men overpowered Sally’s mind, causing her to fail her duty as a womanly protector. In addition, Esperanza places full blame on Sally because she “never came for [her]”, breaking her promise to return to Esperanza's side (Cisneros 123). Esperanza relies on Sally to protect her from the dangers in her community that she cannot face herself, and Sally’s renege left her truly defenseless.

Nothing is bigger than life.” (Trumbo 119). While Joe’s investment was coerced into him, he knows that some Americans choose to fight out of their own values and beliefs. His beliefs cloud him, however, with the idea of choice. Joe did not get the opportunity to choose his own destiny, and he is trying to protect those who do have the choice, and protect them. His newfound dedication to protected those who are manipulated into thinking they are invested in war is quite profound

Because of the interference of the Cyrano’s nose, he 's unable to state his love to Roxanne. Instead of taking the opportunity to tell Roxane that he loves her in Act 5, when Roxane finds out that Cyrano was the one that wrote the letters to her, he denies it. By doing that, Cyrano is unable to overcome that lack of confidence he has, and he does not have the strength to face his own fear and his insecurity. By not confessing his love to Roxane, he has been defeated by his insecurity that took a toll on his life. Even though, Roxane had seen past his “flaw” into his real self, unfortunately Cyrano cannot fully understands what Roxanne saw in him.

He needed other men to fight his battles and he couldn’t tell when those men would betray him. In “Suffocating Mothers,” Janet stated “he is nonetheless killed for his womanish softness, his childish trust, his inability to read men’s minds in their faces, his reliance on the fighting of sons who can rebel against him” (Adelman). What Janet Adelman meant by this was he was too weak and it proved he wasn’t worthy enough to be king. As a king you should have a little more backbone but he was so soft and gentle of nature that he wasn’t fit to have the title of being

Likewise, the journal emphasizes on Orgon, who is one of the main character and his decision on choosing spouses for his son; Damis and daughter; Mariane. Figuratively, Damis and Mariane are prisoners of dichotomous; emotionally and intellectually because they are powerless when it comes to deciding on their life partners. As a result, the author of the article presents the power of reasoning as it is displayed in the play by Moliere. More so, Orgon’s fuddle judgment is in question because of his religious beliefs. “Ah, brother, the man’s a strangely fashioned creature… who seldom is content to follow nature…” However, Cleante analyzes Orgon 's religious because of its surplus.

Neither of the men possesses this characteristic: Heathcliff's inability to judge his own character is apparent in the way he is unable recognize that the very actions he takes in order to get his revenge on Edgar are painful to Catherine, for whom he is driven to revenge in the first place. His frequent disappearances, the passionate, sudden entrances and the discord he sows at Thrushcross Grange hurt his heart's foremost desire more than they do Edgar, but Heathcliff lacks the ability to see the consequences of his actions or even to see the flaw in his motives. Edgar is similarly blind to himself. Neither man is able to express themselves to Catherine in an adequate manner. Edgar's best and only expression of love is in his proposal of marriage.