While he was in the country he “wrote a few letters home; didn’t go into much detail; motive was "more superstitious" than protecting parents; wrote some short pieces for the Minneapolis newspaper and one for Playboy (published after he returned) that became the basis for his first book, If I Die in a Combat Zone; had always wanted to be a writer, but Vietnam made him need to be a writer; pieces were about events and other people, not about him; went to graduate school at Harvard after his return, kept writing short pieces, not intending them to be a book, but at some point, they accumulated into one. ”[Interview, 04:19] H said that the books he read inspired him to be a writer even if he hadn't gone to Vietnam, though “his experience made him a certain kind of writer; all his books are about the individual’s struggle to do the right thing against outside forces” [Interview,06:15] O’Brien takes the “awful experience of war; tries to reflect the non-linear experience of Vietnam; of his books, The Things They Carried and In the Lake of the Woods best capture that.” [Interview, 06:15] “I was drafted in 1968 and spent the summer playing golf and worrying about Vietnam and dying and killing. But it’s abstract.
Turns out he is a spy for the American army working under cover. John did not want Jemima to find out but she did. He tells her not to tell a soul. He has to be very cautious throughout the story cause if he isn’t he will be killed immediately. After a while Jemima and John Reid fall in love.
Tim O’Brien and Brian Turner are both war veterans, who published books based on their war experience. Both of their books expresses their feelings and both have a unique way of telling war stories. However, Tim O’Brien’s The Things They Carried book captures the reality of war better than Brian Turner’s Here Bullet book. Tim O’Brien is very descriptive with his story, He is very direct and very good at telling a war story to make it more interesting.
They continued a flawed and sad relationship for many years past the point of recovery and ultimately paid the price for it with Kathy’s suicide. Issues such as fear and dishonesty both consciously and unconsciously began and persisted from the beginning to the end. John developed mental issues after his father committed suicide, one of the results of these issues was that John has metaphorical mirrors in his head that deflect and protect him from the truth (65-66). When undesirable things happen in his life, he tried to bury and
In the novel, Kathy and John both possessed secrets in which they kept from one another. The secrets, instead of drawing the two apart from each other, made them more interested in one another. Kathy was certainly mystified by John’s personality and his actions. Perhaps, this is why she stayed with him for years. He provided a sense of excitement for the time they were together, rather than boring her.
As a result, he suffered from PTSD. In the article, “Madness, Mystery, Reality and Illusion,” Liam Clarke argue that there is a connection between the way magic captures an audience and psychiatric patients, in the sense that they are transported to another world. John is trying to preserve his mind, the same way how he felt when he did magic is the way he wants to feel now. John has his illusion of being innocent and naïve about everything. His wife, Kathy Wade is missing and there is the misery of what happened to her.
Last Child in the Woods was a well written Non-fiction book by Richard Louv, an American journalist and nonfiction author. His purpose for writing this specific book was to document the decreased expose of children and nature in American society. In todays ever-changing environment, society is increasingly disconnecting themselves with nature. Louv claims that this is a sad truth that continues to progress in severity. In a well-developed excerpt, Louv effectively argues against the separation of mankind, nature, and the growth of technological consumerism.
As a kid grows up, they learn from their parents how to deal with situations. In the case of John, his dad had a huge influence on him and seeing his dad sneak into the garage at night to have a drink had a huge impact, whether he knew it or not. John learned from his father to put up a front that everything is normal, even though things were far from that. Alike his dad’s secrets of being an alcoholic, John withheld the stories of the horrific things he did in Vietnam from Kathy. In this respect, the events of him killing innocent people and committing war crimes in Vietnam contributed to his secretive nature as well.
Without this scene you may think she doesn't obsess over him as she once did. This scene confirms that through it all she stills love John and wants him to come with her. Of course he turns her down, again proving John’s (better late than never)
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.
Originally published in 1990, The Things They Carried is a collection of war stories that took place during the Vietnam War. Due to its accurate and honest depiction of war, it has been banned for crude language, violence, drug use, and sexual innuendo. The author, Tim O’Brien, was born in Austin, Minnesota in 1946. Due to his service in the United States military during the Vietnam War, O’Brien is able to depict the war in a more graphic, and realistic manner.
The short story,The Painted Door, by Sinclair Ross, focuses on a woman who commits adultery due to her husband's absence and neglect of emotions. It is set in a rural farming community. It is written in the third person’s perspective and produces high levels of intensity, emotions, and drama. The Painted Door compels the reader to ruminate on the implications long after the reader has finished reading the story through the use of symbolism, and an interpretative plot.
The complexities and dark backgrounds of the core relationships experienced by John Wade in the text In the Lake of the Woods, parallels the structure and presentation of the plot line that warps the underlining truth understood by the readers. Understood by the readers as manipulative, John Wade’s persona has the potential to be altered in the face of each relationship he forges through the modification of information flow towards his audience. In a similar manner, the configuration of chapters through the text promotes the reader’s natural thought process through decision making to determine the guilt of John Wade. As the text advances repeatedly through background, evidence and finally hypothesis with new situations suggested, the information
Into The Woods The musical “Into the Woods” by Stephen Sondheim and James Lapine is a metaphor for life in many ways, but the most prominent one is the woods symbolizing life itself. The prologue song “Into The Woods” is about each of the character’s dreams and wishes. Cinderella wishes to go to the festival, Little Red Riding Hood wants to deliver bread to Granny, and the Baker and his wife want to have a child, even though the witch cursed their lineage.
Characterization: John is a very intrusive person, and very good at manipulating people. He has underlining trust issues that reflect in his daily life. Motif: Kathy has a history of disappearance, which hurts her later in the novel, when John fails to recognize she was