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Research Paper

Uploaded: 5 years ago
Contributor: tturner03
Category: Literature
Type: Lecture Notes
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Filename:   Research Paper.docx (109.6 kB)
Page Count: 5
Credit Cost: 1
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Transcript
Taylor Turner Mr. Rodgers ENC 1102 12/2/17 Final Research Paper Tim O’Brien’s, ‘The Things They Carried’, was written based on a true story. O’Brien, was twenty-two when he was drafted into the military to serve in Vietnam. Prior to being drafted, O’ Brien was against the war, as many Americans were against Vietnam. Seventy-one now, O’ Brien has a bachelor’s degree in political science, and graduated from Harvard after serving two years for the United States Army. After the war, is when O’ Brien’s writing career began. Telling stories based off his experience in Vietnam, O’ Brien wrote many short stories, including ‘The Things They Carried’, ‘If I Die in a Combat Zone, Box Me Up and Ship Me Home’, along with many more short stories relating to war. Specifically, in ‘The Things They Carried’, O’ Brien helps the audience visualize what it is like living in Vietnam, and in his platoon. In the platoon, O’ Brien was in, he was surrounded my many different men, who are featured as main characters in his short story. These men were; Jimmy Cross, the platoon leader, Mitchell Sanders, platoon phone operator, Kiowa, a solider, and Ted Lavender, another platoon member. Writing about the people in his platoon, helps O’Brien achieve by showing the different ways people handle doing something extreme, for instance war. O’ Brien’s creates emphasis on his short story by using appropriate tone, and themes throughout his short story. Vietnam was not an extremely popular war, causing Americans to protest, and not support their soldiers before or after they were in Vietnam. When O’ Brien was drafted into the war he claims that he thought about fleeing to Canada, to avoid going to fight in a war he did not believe in. O’ Brien did not flee to Canada because he did not want to be humiliated in front of his family, and his community. This shows the reader the theme of fearing shame as motivation. This means that people who fear being looked down upon, use fear as motivation to fight through what they despise doing. Besides being ashamed in front of people in your family, and your community, but people also feared being shamed in their platoon. Stereotypically, men want to show their dominance, therefor, in the platoon, the men who reside there have to show that they are not ‘wimps’. In many male athletic teams, like in the platoons, the one who gets humiliated turns out to be the strongest, and they one who works the hardest. The male species turns shame, into motivation to help them achieve. While writing this short story, O’ Brien utilizes his characters to show that the fear of shame is misguiding, but unavoidable for providing motivation going into a war. Another theme that O’ Brien creates is the physical and emotional burdens of going, serving, and leaving the war. Post-traumatic stress disorder is a serious problem, that does not receive any attention. O’ Brien writes about the theme on physical and emotional burdens that are placed onto these man’s shoulders, literally, and figuratively, before, during and after war. The physical burdens these men have are the things that they must carry in their backpack, along with some extra personal things. O’ Brien goes into detail about what everyone in his platoon carries to keep themselves sane while in Vietnam. O’ Brien includes these crucial details about each of these men to show how everybody copes in different ways. For example, Ted Lavender has a pair of his girlfriend’s pantyhose to remind himself that he must go back home to her. Members of the platoon also carry, books, a bible, pictures and more miscellaneous items. These men cannot carry large items because they have guns, ammo, and other personal care items to care for themselves in the field. My grandfather served in Vietnam, and the main problem he had to worry about is keeping his socks, feet, and shoes dry. O’ Brien mentions that it rains constantly in Vietnam, and that he carried an extra pair of socks to prevent his feet from being wet, and prevent getting blisters from his feet rubbing against wet socks while they walk. These men, have been though or will go through an emotional burden while they are in the war. Some emotional burdens include; grief, terror, love, longing. These men walk for miles and miles, which allows them to think about all four of the emotional burdens. They may miss their love back home, or long about leaving the ‘hell hole’, Vietnam was during the war. Besides the emotional effects while in the war, psychological burdens after the war also play a major role in these men. Post-traumatic stress disorder; or reliving certain events after the men serve in the war. Some post war burdens, could be guilt, grief, remorse, and confusion. O’ Brien writes in ‘The Things They Carried’, “Jimmy Cross will never forgive himself for Lavenders death”. At the end of this short story, the men, long about what they did or what they should have done to keep everyone alive. There was not medical treatment or medication that will impact the men who served, like there is treatment for those who just got done serving overseas. Overall, O’ Brien, highlighted the not so glorious moments that him and his platoon has to go through both emotionally and physically. The final theme that O’ Brien writes about is the subjection of truth and storytelling. When the audience reads ‘The Things They Carried’, they do not know if the stories O’ Brien is telling are true. The reader can infer that the stories are true because of the extreme detail that this short story is written in. When O’ Brien is listing off all of the mandatory supplies that a solider need in their backpack is when I realized that this short story was true based on living and being in the war. After researching Tim O’ Brien, and ‘The Things They Carried’, I found that the way that O’ Brien writes with his confidence, using his real name in the short story, and the real names of the other men that were in his platoon. He does this to distinguish between fact and fiction, when it comes to the differences of war. O’ Brien also writes in many different tones throughout this short story. Some tones he creates are; clinical, manipulative, epic, and emotional. All four of these tones were used to make a deeper impact on the reader and that specific spot that O’ Brien wrote. O’ Brien uses an introspective memory and self-conscious examination methods behind his story telling to make it feel like the reader is in Vietnam with the author himself. While reading, the different tones alternated based on what you were reading, and that specific context. Alternating the tones helps the reader engage, and feel what O’ Brien was feeling when he experienced it, and when he wrote about it. As well as alternating the tones, O’ Brien tells these stories with confidence, showing the reader that he is a trust worthy source and that he is right about this specific experience. He also understands the ‘in’s and outs’ of the war and what he had to endured. O’ Brien achieved writing in the clinical, manipulative, epic, and emotional tones; without these four tones, and the confidence of O’ Brien, ‘The Things They Carried’, would not have been such a success as it currently is. We as readers know, that O’ Brien has and created a strong attitude, and opinion for the readers on his short story ‘The Things They Carried’. O’ Brien clearly states his opinion on the war he had to participate in, considering he was against all war in general after college. We as readers can see his attitude and opinion, when we not only read his piece, but look to see the extreme detail O’ Brien incorporates into ‘The Things They Carried’. Without the detail, and confidence that O’ Brien writes and wrote with, then this short story would have been another war story, not a war story with a deep personal meaning. O’ Brien shows the reader all of the different point of views that a person has on war, telling everyone’s story throughout ‘The Things They Carried’. Without O’ Brien’s first-hand experience, and his platoon-mate’s stories, the attitude would have been completely different, and would not have made such an impact on the many people who have read ‘The Things They Carried’. Without O’ Brien’s use of the three major themes, and the alternating tones, I believe that this Short Story would not have been as much of a success as it was. Overall, Tim O’Brien’s ‘The Things They Carried’, delivered an impeccable message for all his readers. ‘The Things They Carried’, relates hand in hand with many novels and poems on war, but the way O’ Brien creates the structure, and uses the themes and tones is what separates ‘The Things They Carried’, from all the others.

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