Courage In Tim O Brien's The Things They Carried

In the story Red Badge of Courage by Stephen Crane, Henry Fleming joins the war with the hope of becoming a hero, although Henry shows no sign of heroism throughout the story. In fact, Henry shows traits of cowardice in a multitude of ways during his experiences at war. Henry's high expectations for himself do not make up for his actions in Red Badge of Courage. Despite Henry's high ego, dialogue in Red Badge of Courage reveal his cowardly true nature. Henry saw himself as a hero before he got into a battle, but when faced with the reality of war, his imaginations did not come true.

His views on nationalism, as shown by the statement "I survived, but it's not a happy ending. I was a coward. I went to the war"(The Things They Carried, 79), are not extremely prominent. This quote clearly shows that he did not feel strongly enough for his country to potentially die for it. He believes patriotism is almost non-existent which is expressed through the idea that his only motivation for joining the army is the opinions of others and the statement “they carried their reputations.

He couldn't attack, because they were ambushed; and if he had not ran he would have died. After his grandfather tells him how he had no choice his previous opinion changes . In "Friend's Dilemma" the overall theme is love respect and friendship. The two men fight on different sides of the war, but do not want to fight each other, because they are friends. They have different opinions on slavery but still respect each other and their views.

Paul and his comrades had no idea what the war would do to them and sadly learned that the war was more a misfortune than an honor. Paul and his friends were eaten out, mentally, by the war and remained casings of their old lives. Further exemplifying their inability to reconnect to their past lives and in turn the normal world. Remarque creates Paul Baumer to represent a generation of men who are know to the outside

In this part of scene five Johnny’s little brother knows the sacrifice that Johnny has to do, and his brother wants to take his place in the Vietnam War and says he’s not afraid to die. Johnny told his father that it was an accident because Johnny new way he brother said that, this raised suspicions through the family. Johnny wants to show people that he cares for his little brother and hope he does good things in Johnny sets the example for people who care for their siblings, and want them to have better lives than their own. In conclusion Valdez wanted to entertain young adults and to show them the dangers and horrors of the Vietnam War. Young people in the 1960’s would have paid attention because it's talking about people their age.

To me, it just means that they have a different opinion than the ones presently represented. In the case of the Vietnam war, they weren’t hating America for fighting with the Vietnamese, they just disagreed with the choice of America. They were trying to protect their family members and their friends. People had brothers, sisters, mother, fathers, friends, all of them in the line of fire overseas. It wasn’t out of hatred that they were protesting, it was out of fear.

Synthesis Essay In the Vietnam war, there were many soldiers at war with each other, and most soldiers were not prepared for the fight. In the novel The Things They Carried, Tim O’Brien was in the Vietnam war when he was young. The book was not in order but he still talks about his experiences while in the war. His purpose for writing this novel was because he wanted younger audience to know what happened in the war and what the soldiers experienced. O’Brien’s intended audience was young people who were not educated about the war and he discussed the themes shame/guilt and mortality/death.

This description of pilgrim in the war showed that he did not belong in the war as he was unprepared for it. Many prepared soldiers of the war die but somehow Billy who is unprepared survives, this part of the story helps to backup the Tralfamadorians way of thinking. The ability to act at one’s own discretion is what free will is and the author uses the background of Billy Pilgrim to prove that there is no such

In Tim O’Brien’s novel, “The Things They Carried,” about the Vietnam war, courage is described as a necessity for all soldiers. He uses both him and his comrade’s circumstances to describe this. Throughout the novel the motif of courage evolves as characters serve in the Vietnam War. Being drafted into the Vietnam war forced O’Brien to become a soldier and participate in the war. His distaste for the war made it difficult for him to find the mental courage to fight in Vietnam which he thought was avoidable.

War stories with meaning have to sugarcoat war to make it more appealing to the readers. Tim O’Brien writes about how this sugarcoating of is not a true war story. He explains, “A true war story is never moral. It does not instruct, nor encourage virtue, nor suggest models of proper human behavior, nor restrain men from doing the things men have always done” (O’Brien 316). The war stories with morals and deeper meaning gives war character which it does not have.