In times of war, soldiers must surpass obstacles and be ready to face challenges. Witnessing the valiant efforts of these men that throw their lives on the line instills an insurmountable sense of pride in the hearts of spectators. Both Lord Alfred Tennyson’s poem and Richard Caton Woodville Jr.’s illustration entitled “The Charge of the Light Brigade” incorporate literary terms to express their feeling of pride towards the Light Brigade. Tennyson exhibits this by using repetition to signify the danger of fighting in battle, in addition to imagery to help the reader imagine how terrifying war is, while setting a respectful tone. Woodville shows a feeling of pride through the setting, symbolism, and powerful imagery. Tennyson uses repetition, imagery, and tone to convey his feeling of pride of the Light Brigade. One literary device he uses is repetition. While on the battlefield, the Light Brigade faces a “cannon to the right of them, [a] cannon to the left of them, [and a] cannon in front of them.” Through this image of bombardment Tennyson reveals the men are surrounded by multiple powerful weapons and that there is little chance of them surviving. Yet the men are still relentless and brave while fighting despite being aware of the dangers surrounding them. Tennyson is proud and appreciates the Light Brigade’s persistence while fighting. He is also proud that they proved themselves as real men and did not run away from their problems. Additionally, the poet utilizes
Hess points out the most common metaphorical images employed by soldiers to explain battle to themselves and to their audiences used cutting grain, hammering metal, falling rain, pounding hail, and other similar mental pictures to convey the experience and impression of combat. By turning combat into a common everyday experience through metaphorical imagery, the soldier exercised control over his immediate environment and his memory and reduced the trauma of battle. Hess argues that because the soldiers’ implemented comparisons and metaphors of their civilian lives to their battlefield experiences they were able to form their own understanding of combat. “Through this process,” Hess argues, “soldiers tamed battle”. “This way, they were not just passive victims of combat, but tried to make sense of this unique experience in their lives.”
In Tim O’brien’s short story, “The Things They Carried,” O’brien explains more than just what people face at war. O’Brien gives detail of each burden, struggle, and memory each soldier carries into the war. He describes of a battle more destructive than a war filled with guns, bombs, and knives. He describes of a mind battle, one in which is the hardest any man can face. A mind battle controls your every decision.
The Harvard University professor and civil rights activist Dr. Cesar A. Cruz once said, “Art should comfort the disturbed and disturb the comfortable.” During World War One, many artists started to create works of art that portrayed the horrors of war. It brought the attention of those who lived in oblivion, and opened up the reality of war. Many of these artworks were also used to show the artist’s objection to war. Like in the historical fiction novel All Quiet on the Western Front by Erich Maria Remarque, the story is narrated by a eighteen year old German soldier fighting on the Western Front named Paul Baumer, and it illustrates the daily terrors soldiers faced while being neglected and mistreated by the power holding authorities.
The Things They Carried Analysis More often than not, a reader picks up the story, “The Things They Carried,” and notices the unavoidable overload of symbolism intertwined. The heavy burdens the soldiers carry is portrayed extremely well by the author’s use of symbols, as it is one of the main focuses the author seeks to make evident to the reader. However, the author does not only want you to focus on the symbols of the burdens these fictional characters carry, but he wants you to understand what they really went through and that his story symbolizes the lives of these real, brave soldiers. “War is hell, but that's not the half of it, because war is also mystery and terror and adventure and courage and discovery and holiness and pity and
In “The Things They Carried,” Tim O’Brien explores how war affects the mental state of those involved. O’Brien uses the things the soldiers carried with them through the war as symbols of how they dealt with their grief and guilt. The author focuses on Lieutenant Jimmy Cross and his attachment to his high school crush, using this obsession to showcase how some people cope with guilt by detaching themselves from their present situation. In addition, O'Brien uses shocking and detailed imagery to illustrate how the soldiers distracted themselves from their circumstances. O’Brien explores the theme that people carry guilt differently through his use of imagery and symbolism.
A masterpiece in its own right, it reflects a story that illustrates the brave and courageous acts of those who valiantly fought. The soldiers, regardless of which side they represent, pushed through their fear to become men of honor and valor. Many perished and those who survived are cursed to remember it. It reflects the sentiment that “Courage is more than charge; More than dying or suffering. The loss of love in silence or being gallant; It is temperament and, more, wisdom”
M2A1: Illustration Essay Applying a Literary Theory to an Assigned Story Timothy Sibley ENG102 02/04/2018 I’ve chose to analyze the many themes evident in “The Things They Carried” (O’Brien, 1990) using the reader-response literary theory with a psychoanalytical approach. In the shorty story the men at war carry a plethora of items with them, both figuratively and literally. Aside from the necessities of war i.e., weapons, protective gear, and medical bags, soldiers carry with them trinkets and items from home that remind them of what they will hopefully return to. While at war there are certain aspects soldiers silently carry with them as well.
After illustrating the war, Churchill appeals to his audience's emotions by acknowledging the perseverance and compassion of British troops. These soldiers “had to operate,…often in adverse weather…and an increasing concentration of artillery fire”; however, they “carried on, … [always] bringing with them men whom they had rescued”. In preparation for the call for action, Churchill inflicts feelings of patriotism and pride because
Basically everything in a war could look beautiful in humans eyes, but every soldier hates war at the same time. The truth reached by the reader from this contrast is that why some might like going to war and what makes soldiers to keep going in
Tim O'Brien's “The Things They Carry,” tells a story about the lives of young men during war. The narrator tells his story from first person, marking all of his adventures and experiences of his companions. O’Brien crafts his piece through the use of repetition, symbolism, and metaphors to convey the idea of physical and psychological hardships of soldiers during war. Though the literary device of repetition, O'Brien portrays the physical and psychological hardships of a soldier.
In the novel The Things They Carried by Tim O’Brien, the author skillfully presents a paradox about war and how it is both horrible and beautiful. Through O’Brien’s vivid storytelling and sorrowful anecdotes, he is able to demonstrate various instances which show both the horrible and beautiful nature of war. Within the vulnerability of the soldiers and the resilience found in the darkest of circumstances, O’brien is able to show the uproarious emotional landscape of war with a paradox that serves as the backbone of the narrative. In the first instance, O’Brien explores the beauty in horror within the chapter “Love.”
When the author expresses the feelings within Lieutenant Jimmy Cross’s troops we see their individual personalities. When the author used characterization, symbolism, and tone, they truly brought out the theme of physical and emotional burdens throughout “The Things They
“They carried the common secret of cowardice barely restrained, the instinct to run or freeze or hide, and in many respects this was the heaviest burden of all, for it could never be put down, it required perfect balance and perfect posture.” (O’Brien 77) Tim O’Brien clearly demonstrates to the reader that one of the most difficult burdens to bear is being a coward because even though carrying over fifty pounds of equipment is hard on the body physically cowardice is among the worst pain because you can never put that feeling down for even a second to relieve the pain. The novel The Things They Carried, by Tim O’Brien, intends to show the reader how the platoons soldier’s cowardice and dread can effect them in the form of regret later in
The True Weight of War “The Things They Carried,” by Tim O’Brien, brings to light the psychological impact of what soldiers go through during times of war. We learn that the effects of traumatic events weigh heavier on the minds of men than all of the provisions and equipment they shouldered. Wartime truly tests the human body and and mind, to the point where some men return home completely destroyed. Some soldiers have been driven to the point of mentally altering reality in order to survive day to day. An indefinite number of men became numb to the deaths of their comrades, and yet secretly desired to die and bring a conclusion to their misery.
Formalistic The recurring patterns is The Guerilla is Like a Poet is about the soldier training and accomplishing their mission to attack. The effects of these patterns or motifs is about the soldiers helping each other on the battlefield. The tone/mood created at various parts of work is about nature the ripples of river, the break of twigs, keen to the rustle of leaves. The author perceived the tone that the soldiers are eager to do their best.