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Poetic Elements In Tim O Brien's The Things They Carried

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Poetic Elements in “The Things They Carried” In the short story “The Things They Carried “ O Brien explores many poetic elements in the story. The author’s purpose of this story is to tell us about the effects and impact that the Vietnam War has left. War is truly horrific and should not be taken lightly. Going to war can be very devastating. Soldiers suffered from trauma they witnessed and from posttraumatic stress disorder. It has a tremendous impact on soldier’s lives something they can never change or forget. Many young men are often drafted in to war although they opposed it. This should not be the case people should not be forced to go to war against their will. Many soldiers carried things that were a reflection of them or things that were important to them during the Vietnam War. What the soldiers carried were both psychical and emotional loads. For example, Henery Dobbins carried his girlfriend’s pantyhose wrapped around his neck as a comforter. The soldiers carried things that helped them …show more content…

The protagonist Jimmy Cross was in love with a women named Martha. Every chance he got he would reminisces about the times they’ve had together. During the war Jimmy couldn’t stop imagining and daydreaming about him and Martha together. By doing so Jimmy was putting his men in danger because mentally he wasn’t there. The relationship failed before it ever even started because of the war. After the war, Jimmy reached out to Martha. She never ended up getting married which could possibly mean she did love him at a point but got fed up waiting on him. He tried to work on his relationship with her but sadly she rejected him. Perhaps, she taught it was too late to start a relationship together. Martha and Jimmy could have possibly been together but the war took away love from both of them. It could possibly be because Martha couldn’t handle that he went to war. It was too much for her to handle

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Irony In The Things They Carried By Tim O Brien

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In the book,” The Things They Carried,” by Tim O’Brien, an American novelist who is best known for his works of fiction which depict his experiences in the Vietnam War, he suggests to the audience how the Vietnam War was like to him and to the company he was in during the war. Through the use of his characters to show what they carried with them throughout the war and in the peace after the war, he uses sensory details to illustrate how it felt to be in Vietnam, he uses symbolism to depict certain points of the war, his use of irony to depict something which suggests but means something opposite, and his use of themes through the story. Tim O’Brien focuses on the characters, sensory details, symbolism, irony, and themes throughout the story

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War Altar People: The Things They Carried By Tim O Brien

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After losing a member of his team, Jimmy Cross was unhappy with the result and blamed himself for the lost of Ted Lavender and started to do what is necessary to win the war. Meanwhile after Mary Anne saw the village and what the soldiers go through everyday to protect their country, she changed changed by become one with the war and fighting among her country that she became one with vietnam. Jimmy Cross burned the letter as a way to show his new role as a leader while Mary Anne wore a necklace that has human tongues to represent the person, the war turned her to. Jimmy Cross and Mary Ann had someone that they love and care about, although Martha didn’t love Cross back, Cross stilled loved her so much that he evened told her that he loves her but she didn’t say it back.

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Powerful Motivator In The Things They Carried By Tim O Brien

686 Words | 3 Pages

While the Lieutenant was daydreaming about Martha, Ted Lavender, a soldier of Alpha Company, was killed by a gunshot to the head on his way back from relieving himself. Jimmy blamed himself for the man’s death. He blamed himself because he was distracted with thoughts of Martha instead of his own soldiers. “He loved her more than anything, more than his men, and now Ted Lavender was dead because her loved her so much and could not stop thinking about her, (O’Brien, 96).” After grieving over the soldier’s death, Jimmy decided that he would change.

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The Things They Carried Rhetorical Analysis

1158 Words | 5 Pages

The short story, “The Things They Carried,” written by Tim O’Brien (1990), appears to be an unpretentious narration that list the tangible items carried by the soldiers while fighting in the Vietnam War. Upon further review it becomes clear that the lists of “things” have a much deeper meaning and carry an abundance amount of emotional weight. Not only is their load a physical burden that consist of hefty equipment that is necessary for survival, but they also bear the burden of internal conflict. The internal conflicts identified in the story center around the disturbing afflictions carried by the soldiers revealing that the men long for an escape from their dreadful surroundings, feel responsible for the lives of their fellow soldiers,

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Things They Carried By Tim O Brien: A Literary Analysis

1292 Words | 6 Pages

Readers, especially those reading historical fiction, always crave to find believable stories and realistic characters. Tim O’Brien gives them this in “The Things They Carried.” Like war, people and their stories are often complex. This novel is a collection stories that include these complex characters and their in depth stories, both of which are essential when telling stories of the Vietnam War. Using techniques common to postmodern writers, literary techniques, and a collection of emotional truths, O’Brien helps readers understand a wide perspective from the war, which ultimately makes the fictional stories he tells more believable.

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The Things They Carried Swot Cross Character Analysis

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Tim O’Brien’s novel, “The Things They Carried,” is a short story that talks about a group of soldier’s experiences during the Vietnam War. O’Brien tells the reader about the different objects the soldiers each carried in order to show emotional appeal of the object. Throughout the whole story, the protagonist, Lieutenant Cross, is a soldier who fails to keep his mind focus away from his real life back at home. The author tells us that all he ever focused on was his college sweet heart named Martha. Cross usually separated himself from his men to fantasize about his beloved Martha.

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The Things They Carried: An Analysis

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“That’s what stories are for. Stories are for joining the past to the future ... Stories are for eternity, when memory is erased, when there is nothing to remember except the story” (36). The Things They Carried is a captivating novel that gives an inside look at the life of a soldier in the Vietnam War through the personal stories of the author, Tim O’Brien . Having been in the middle of war, O’Brien has personal experiences to back up his opinion about the war.

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Jimmy Cross Martha Quotes

601 Words | 3 Pages

When she came aware of the obsession Jimmy Cross had for her eventually it turned her off . In The things they Carried Martha and Jimmy Cross situation is a symbol of love that Jimmy cross have

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Imagery In The Things They Carried

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The Things They Carried, written by Tim O’Brien, illustrates the experiences of a man and his comrades throughout the war in Vietnam. Tim O’Brien actually served in the war, so he had a phenomenal background when it came to telling the true story about the war. In his novel, Tim O’Brien uses imagery to portray every necessary detail about the war and provide the reader with a true depiction of the war in Vietnam. O’Brien starts out the book by describing everything he and his comrades carry around with them during the war. Immediately once the book starts, so does his use of imagery.

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The Things They Carried Rhetorical Analysis

1603 Words | 7 Pages

The Stories Told by the Soldiers In the book The Things We Carried by Tim O'Brien, he tells the reader stories about his experience in the Vietnam war. He tells stories about before, during and after the war. O’Brien explains his feelings towards the war by hinting it in many of his stories. He uses juxtaposition, diction, irony, metafiction, and repetition.

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Theme Of Jimmy Cross In The Things They Carried

301 Words | 2 Pages

(O’Brien, 1986) Jimmy shows shame, guilt, and regret every time he reads the letters or looks at a picture of Martha. “Whenever he looked at the photographs, he thought of new things he should’ve done.” (O’Brien, pg 115, 1986) Jimmy frequently day dreams about Martha and her “love” letters, even when he is supposed to be giving commands to

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Emotional Burdens In The Things They Carried By Tim O Brien

1509 Words | 7 Pages

The author was writing the story “The Things They Carried” expressed so many thoughts and feelings about what the soldiers had faced, they showed their feelings and duties, life or death, and overall fear and dedication. This story shows the theme of the physical and emotional burdens that everyone is going through in the war. By showing his readers what the soldier’s daily thoughts are and how they handle what is going on around them. Tim O’Brien expresses this theme by using characterization, symbolism, and tone continuously. In the story, physical and emotional burdens plagued several characters as they all had baggage weighing them down.

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Symbolism In The Things They Carried By Tim O Brien

648 Words | 3 Pages

Jimmy Cross is the first lieutenant who carries pictures and letters from Martha, the woman he loves who—sadly—does not love him back. The pictures and letters from Martha symbolize Jimmy’s longing to be loved and comforted. It is ironic that although he is the first lieutenant who is expected to take charge and lead others, yet he never took charge of his own love life. This is a regret and burden Cross carries to the end of the story. “It was very sad, he thought.

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All Is Not Fair In Love And War Analysis

1009 Words | 5 Pages

Along with his military gear, O’Brien states, “Lieutenant Jimmy Cross humped his love for Martha up the hills and through the swamps” (p. 115). Cross loves Martha, and “More than anything, he wanted Martha to love him as he loved her” (p. 114), but is unsure of whether she loves him back. Despite his uncertainty,

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Weight In The Things They Carried

770 Words | 4 Pages

The Things They Carried: Weight Through his novel The Things They Carried, Tim O’Brien, shares his insider’s perspective on the Vietnam War. O’Brien retells his experience and adventures as a soldier of the Vietnam War’s Alpha Company, through a collection of short stories in which all seem to be connected. In chapter one—The Things They Carried—O’Brien introduces many characters and includes the object(s) in which they carried, literally along with the figurative things they carried during their time in Vietnam. Each of the men carries heavy physical loads while they also all carry heavy emotional loads, composed of “grief, terror, love, longing […]” (O’Brien 20).

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