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Taking A Look At War In Tim O Brien's The Things They Carried

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The lasting effects of war are more than anyone could ever imagine. War is a traumatic experience for many soldiers and oftentimes they are unable to return to the way things were before. In The Things They Carried, Tim O'Brien uses sadness in people's eyes and life after war to convey the idea that it is nearly impossible to relate to the feelings during and after war if people did not experience it. The Things They Carried by Tim O'Brien emphasizes the effects that war has on different soldiers. It illustrates their separate but similar struggles. To begin with, the experience of being at war has the power to change the way a person views the world around them. One example of this is in chapter 9, “Sweetheart Of The Song Tra Bong”, Tim O’Brien …show more content…

For example, Tim O’Brien, Chapter 18, makes an interesting point: “ I did not kill him. But I was present, you see, and my presence was guilt enough” (171). This is a valuable point, O’Brien includes this to show the emotional guilt of war. Emotional guilt for things that people technically didn’t do but were present for. Tim O’Brien watches a man die and ever since then he feels this overwhelming sense of guilt. He feels this way because he knows that this young man had a whole life ahead of him, he knows that he had plans for his future and O’Brien watches all of it get taken away in an instant. With that being said most people cannot even begin to relate to the way he feels because they have never had to watch someone die right in front of …show more content…

In the words of Norman Bowker “ The thing is, '' he wrote, '' there's no place to go. Not just in this lousy little town. In general. My life, I mean it’s almost like I got killed over in Nam” (150). It is important to consider the way soldiers feel when they come home after being in such a harsh environment. Nobody can understand this feeling if they have not been to war themselves. After the war Norman struggles to find himself, he always feels trapped almost like he may have made it home but emotionally a part of him will always be at

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