Essays on The Things They Carried

“Metafiction is a term given to fictional writing which self-consciously and systematically draws attention to its status as an artifact in order to pose questions about the relationship between fiction and reality. ” –Patricia Waugh, Metafiction: The Theory and Practice of Self-Conscious Fiction. New York: Methuen, 1984. In many respects, Tim O’Brien’s The Things They…

Later on in the story you also see the slight psychological damages the soldiers will have. When referring to the items in the story the narrator uses them to symbolize, the characters, photos, and letters. “The items Structure both the story and the book. “(Winnfield 1) Allowing a great deal of vision in the story,…

It was not courage, exactly; the object was not valor. Rather, they were too frightened to be cowards” (pig 22). This quote perfectly embodies the view Tim O’Brien has on courage, as he eloquently demonstrates in his book The Things They Carried. Although all the characters of this novel display O’Brien point of view, the…

“The Things They Carried “simply emphasize that what the person may carry depends on the personality of the person. May it be for his necessity or passion he may carry the weight voluntarily or mandatory. Literally, the things the soldiers carried are, may be tangible or intangible. Tangible things such as P- 38 can openers,…

Tim OBrien, a contemporary American novelist and short story writer of immense, imaginative power, freely admits that the Vietnam War was the dark, jarring experience that made him a writer. OBrien served in Vietnam with the Fifth Battalion, Forty-six infantry from January 1969 to March 1970. He patrolled some of the most active and brutal…

In the novel The Things They Carried, written by Tim O’Brien, the author paints a portrait in the readers mind of all the realities of the war atrocities. O’Brien tells a different short story each chapter about characters and all the struggles and difficult encounters they face. Each character carries three things during the war….

Eyes of a Soldier Due to the rise of reform and fear of communism undulating throughout the United States during the 1960’s, Americans had gradually begun to transition from traditional values. Unequal rights had finally come to a conclusion legally and the voice of young Americans grew audaciously. At that time war also plagued the…

Tim O’Brien, in his collection of short stories called “The things they carried”, develops the theme of soldiers ‘carrying’ many burdens throughout their lives. Through his persona, also named Tim O’Brien, O’Brien contradicts the stereotypical reason as to why the men joined the war. Jimmy Cross explores the unwanted burden placed on a Lieutenant of…

rviving Things They Carried EssaysThe Things They Carried In the short story The Things They Carried Tim OBrien faces Jimmy Cross with the problem of surviving while fighting in Vietnam. While trying to maintain his sanity, Jimmy struggles between his old self and the person he has to become. Jimmy has to make some difficult…

Jimmy Cross – More than any other hereafter, Lieutenant Jimmy Cross has to deal with the weight of responsibility. All the other soldiers experience death and horror, but they also all seem to take solace in the senselessness of war. Because he is in charge of the platoon, however, Jimmy Cross blames himself for every…