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.

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.

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. Love and respect is shown throughout both stories through different ways.

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.

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. The protesters were trying to improve what they thought was a mistake by their country.

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.

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.

The pacification missions his platoon goes on are one example of that war within his own mind. He states multiple times that he is bothered by the fact that they have to convince the villagers that the American soldiers are the good guys (112). Richie doesn’t truly know who the enemy is or if either side is “right”. He makes the comment, “The real question was what I was doing, what any of us were doing, in Nam” (69). It’s hard for Perry to fight when he doesn’t know what he’s fighting for.

How he can 't wait to see my goddamn medals.” (O’Brien 33). This quote is a key example of this because the father believed that going to war was all about getting medals, but Norman Bowker was totally against the thought. This may not be a positive or negative effect but it really is a change of thought from being in the war. A man’s whole life could be changed from war, and especially in the way they would think from day

Where the misdemeanour, and no matter how clear their own child’s guilt, parents ask immediately: Were you with Jasper Jones? (P.g 5, Jasper Jones) This quote demonstrates how the audience originally believed Jasper was nothing but an annoyance to the community. Due to the Vietnam War being such a violent and tragic period in time, this added to the overall ferocity of the setting of the novel as the war influenced the 1960’s immensely. The Lu family who were Vietnamese immigrants were constantly outcast by traditionalists because of their Vietnamese heritage.

“Dorbeck has made a new man of me, he thought”(97). Osewoudt wanted a meaning to his life and he believed his actions portrayed him as a soldier fighting for the right cause… “I had no skilled, no ambition. “It wasn’t until I met Dorbeck that I felt I wanted something “(204). Osewoudt’s uncle called him a coward because he believed it was his responsibility to protect his wife and mother, and instead, he just selfishly decided to look after himself(112). I don’t classify Osewoudt’s as a hero and despite the actions he took for Dorbeck, I don’t believe he is fully a traitor.

But because all of his reactions to extreme situations he is thought to be