Figurative Language In The Things They Carried

O’Brien was honorably discharged in 1970 and came back home to continue his education, attending Harvard University. After graduating from Harvard in 1973, O’Brien became a writer for the Washington Post and started writing short stories based on his childhood growing up in Worthington. Yet, another impactful time that influenced his writing was the time he spent in Vietnam. In fact, this time in

In the novel The Things They Carried by Tim O’Brien we learn about O’Brien and his soldiers during the Vietnamese war. The Vietnamese war was a deadly and very costly war between the North Vietnam and their communist allies versus the Southern Vietnam and the United states. Throughout the novel Tim O’Brien narrates many stories about the war. Stories about traumatic incidents, pleasant occasions, sorrowful events, and even peculiar event. Personal accounts about himself and also tells about experiences his fellow soldiers faced.

On November 1, 1955, the Vietnam war began. The war was between North Vietnam and South Vietnam along with the United States to stop the spread of communism. Tim O’Brien walked alongside the South China Sea during his time in Vietnam. He and his soldiers called it Pinkville because of the color it was on the map which represented a misleading area. O’Brien published his novel The Things They Carried on war stories to show how storytelling can be believable although his novel is fiction.

O’Brien also states all of the soldiers belonging and the importance they are to the me. In the beginning of the book, many men did not want to get drafted in the war. So some would go off to Canada and stay at Tip Top Lodge. After a few days when the drafting started some of the men would come back to the USA to get drafted into Vietnam War. One of the men stayed at the Lodge with Elroy Berdahl.

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.

By writing this story O 'Brien's personal history, His principles and conscience clashed with the country and society requirement. He wrote about the Vietnam war soldiers, They usually reluctant to conflict. But

He fought a war in Vietnam that he knew nothing about, all he knew was that, “Certain blood was being shed for uncertain reasons” (38). He realized that he put his life on the line for a war that is surrounded in controversy and questions. Through reading The Things They Carried, it was easy to feel connected to the characters; to feel their sorrow, confusion, and pain. O’Briens ability to make his readers feel as though they are actually there in the war zones with him is a unique ability that not every author possess.

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.

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.

He tells stories about when he fled to the border of Canada due to his pride, feels guilty for letting his family and friends down, and then comes back. This trend of guilt felt due to decisions that were made based on pride is also shown when Jimmy Cross has too much pride to tell his higher ups that the place in the field isn’t safe for the troop to settle down, so he feels guilty when Kiowa is lost in the muck. The situations that O’Brien and his comrades are put in because of their pride can lead them to do things out of character and lead to a deep sense of guilt later. These themes in The Things They Carried give the readers a better idea of how soldiers made tough choices in Vietnam and how it affected them

There are three main reasons why Tim O'Brien writes war stories. The first reason is to help us heal. The second reason is to encourage us. The last reason is to help us see others point of view.

The loss of innocence is demonstrated time and time again throughout the course of The Things They Carried. This concept weighs heavily upon the author, as he re-visits it in nearly every single passage in the novel. It is a theme that goes hand in hand with not only war-time combat experience, but from any military service. Particularly during times of war, however, it becomes increasingly prevalent, as innocence is not only lost but often replaced entirely by the burden of realities faced during combat. Whether it is through witnessing warfare, suffering directly from it, or even having one’s life cut short by it, the loss of innocence is one of the biggest overall impacts felt by every soldier.

The Vietnam conflict veteran and renowned author Tim O'Brien has created a lasting legacy via his in-depth studies of conflict, memories, and the toll war can take on a person. The classic novels "The Lives of the Dead" and "The Things They Carried" are two examples of O'Brien's excellent storytelling and his skill at fusing historical accounts with personal accounts. This article will study these works using the historical literary critical method, looking at how O'Brien's personal experiences in the Vietnam War and the socio-political climate of the day impacted his depictions of war, memory, and the toll war takes on people. Investigating O'Brien's personal history and his experiences in the Vietnam War are crucial for comprehending the

Toward the end of the twentieth century, American literature saw a wave of fresh analysis about the Vietnam War. Tim O’Brien, one of the most popular authors of this historical event, wrote a few of the popular Vietnam-themed novels. In the Lake of the Woods is among these novels about the Vietnam War, fictitiously depicting events that have changed society’s perspective on the history. Tim O’Brien expresses his rebuke of numerous ways, including how the war has changed modern warfare. He also displays his views in an anti-war tone, speaking out against the war itself and the individual damage it has caused.

War not only impacts the nations involved, but their inhabitants too. Usually, the ones most directly affected are those on the battlefield. Within Tim O’Brien’s The Things They Carried, through the perspective of a war veteran himself, he illustrated the psychological effects of relocation and of the brutal atmosphere that war was. O’Brien’s internal struggle began as he was contemplating what to do about his draft notice. His “hometown was a conservative little spot…,where tradition counted, and it was easy to imagine people… [talking about] the young O’Brien kid, and how [he was a] damned sissy [for] taking off for Canada” (O’Brien 42-43).