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Complex Emotions Of War Rhetorical Analysis

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The Complex Emotions Of War
The amount of feelings soldiers experience during and after war affect their actions for the rest of their life. Tim O’Brien is able to explain the complexity and impact of these many emotions in his novel, The Things They Carried. The soldiers feel an unbelievable range of emotions, but the ones with the most impact are guilt and obligation. Throughout the novel, The Things They Carried by Tim O’Brien, the themes obligation and guilt build off each other and are shown through the soldiers’ actions and emotions in different situations. In the chapter “On The Rainy River”, O’Brien shows the obligation he feels through his embarrassment and fear of dishonor. During the chapter, he talks about recieving a draft notice for the Vietnam War. He goes back and forth about whether he should flee to Canada or fight. After spending a week on the border of Canada and the U.S., O’Brien decides he’s going to go to war. While deciding, he talks about his fears and also says “I would go to war - I would kill and maybe die - because I was embarrassed not to” (O’Brien 57). The only reason O’Brien decides to go to Vietnam is because he is afraid of the embarrassment and dishonor that comes with fleeing to …show more content…

In the beginning of the chapter, O’Brien tells about a soldier that lost one of his best friends and decides to write a letter to the friend’s sister. In the letter the soldier talked about “what a great brother she had, how together the guy was, a number one pal and comrade. A real soldier’s soldier” (O’Brien 64). The soldier made sure the family knew their relative was a great guy so they could be proud of him and have a little closure. He got in touch with the family because of the significance of his friendship. The soldier felt obligated to write a letter to the family out of respect for the lost soldier and his best

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