Loyalty In The Things They Carried

Tim O’Brien’s novelThe Things They Carried focuses on the US war in Vietnam. In this novel the author providesnumerous details about the war and tries to rise as many themes as possible which are important according to the situation. O’Brien was a participant in the war himself. Almost all of the chapters in this book are narrated in a unique way. O’Brien emphasizes the theme of shame in his novel.

Such chivalrous values include but not limited to love, loyalty to the king, generosity, submission to authority and audacity (Lordsandladies.org, 1). The literary analysis in this paper is aimed at examining how the chivalrous values were induced in the narrative to develop Lanval’s character and fate as well. The first conflict introduced by the author in the beginning of the story broadens the reader’s understanding on Lanval’s character. Lanval is presented as a generous and loving individual, who is envied and hated for his amazing personality. His background as an abandoned king’s child is also revisited to help the reader get a better understanding.

Imagine a Vietnam soldier coming home after fighting and trying their hardest for their country, to be given no appreciation or recognition. In the riveting text, “Always to Remember: The Vision of Maya Ying Lin,” this is all explained by Brent Ashabranner, author of this nonfiction text and a Veteran from a previous war. Ashabranner’s word choice of the two part title contributes to two main ideas throughout the text, creativity from the memorial itself and remembrance from all the soldiers who were lost in war. An astounding memorial, a piece of artwork, and a commemoration of all the Veterans who died or went missing is all shown in this text. What started as not even being considered Veterans soon transformed into creating a whole memorial in memory of them.

Bilbo showed his kindness not only by putting others first, but also through his loyalty. He chose to give the precious Arkenstone away to Bard, and return home to his friends. He said, “I don’t think I ought to leave my friends like this, after all we have gone through together” (244). Bilbo was kind to everyone he was loyal and generous, which all show his

In Tim O’Brien’s The Things They Carried, the author retells the chilling, and oftentimes gruesome, experiences of the Vietnam war. He utilizes many anecdotes and other rhetorical devices in his stories to paint the image of what war is really like to people who have never experienced it. In the short stories “Spin,” “The Man I Killed,” and “ ,” O’Brien gives reader the perfect understanding of the Vietnam by placing them directly into the war itself. In “Spin,” O’Brien expresses the general theme of war being boring and unpredictable, as well as the soldiers being young and unpredictable. Unlike Henry Dobbins and Norman Bower’s chess games which were predictable and made it easy to see which side was going to win, war was the complete opposite.

The inner conflict while not obvious was present with the soldiers who returned back and having to deal with PTSD and other symptoms. Siegfried Sassoon’s Attack and Wilfred’s Owen Anthem for Doomed Youth both deal with inner and outer conflict through the use of figurative language and imagery. Firstly, Anthem for Doomed Youth uses figurative language in the first part of the poem to demonstrate the surroundings that might surround the soldier as he fights on. The “Monstrous Anger of the guns” “stuttering rifles” these are all sounds that surround the soldier as he goes into war. These weapons of war are given personification, they are viewed as people in this war fighting for one cause.

Throughout time and history, literature and art, the topic of civil discipline has always been an issue of debate and war. More than once people both innocent and guilty have died affirming their beliefs on the subject, effectively making them a martyr. To Kill a Mockingbird, a story set during the Great Depression by Harper Lee, critically analyzes this topic of punishment and forgiveness, and the consequences of unjustly condemning the innocent. The political concerns of this era also reflect the ideals present in the book, and show the conflicting ideas of the weak against the strong, and how history has always favored the latter. Especially within both the World Wars, figures such as Archduke Ferdinand, Chamberlain, Hitler, Winston, Stalin, and the League of Nations, to name a few, have gone through their respective struggles as they deal with persecution and salvation.

Similes like “ Bitter as the cud” and “ Obscene as cancer” show how haunting a real experience of death can be,one of the many sacrifices of fighting in a war. Nearer to the end of the poem it becomes apparent that he is frustrated that the media has put a glorified and glossy coating over war, unaware of the discordant reality that he and many other soldiers have been forced to live out in their

Some were true while some were just to portray heroism and were filled with false facts. The story “How to Tell a True War story” written by Tim O’Brien illustrates the difference between true and fictional war sorties. To show this O’Brien used two different stories and compared them. In both the stories, the common theme is that war brings melancholy and pain to everyone. The first story was about two friends Curt Lemon and Rat Kiley.

The soldiers in All Quiet on the Western Front, have experienced many hardships and they are expressed in a way of great horror and violence along with In The Field written by Tim O’Brien, and In Flanders Fields, written by John McCrae. Throughout the novel of All Quiet on the Western Front, which was written by Erich Maria Remarque, there are countless mentions that truly show the true horrors of war. Paul Baumer, the leading protagonist in All Quiet on the Western Front, states his surroundings in a way that entices the reader to his perspective and really coaxes with their mind to induce the harsh surroundings and environments that lie in war. In the beginning of chapter six, Paul and the other soldiers are settled along the front, which for the average person, is enough to scare them to a point where they would not even consider going into warfare because of the horrors that lie within Paul Baumer and the other soldiers. Paul describes it as a “cage in which we must wait fearfully” no matter what can happen(Remarque 101).

War is horrible, and it always affects the community; whether it be economically, physically, or mentally. The first theme; effect war has on soldiers. For the most part, the setting is on the battle field. We, as readers, witness first hand how the war is changing these men. You can see their personality changing.