The award-winning author, Tim OâBrien, wrote the novel âThe Things They Carriedâ, which was a collection of short stories based on OâBrienâs experiences in the Vietnam War. He elaborates on the brutality soldiers go through during battle and the morals of a true war story. Introduced in the chapter âThe Things They Carriedâ, Ted Lavender is a young soldier, who is always apprehensive and copes with his fears with various items, such as dope and tranquilizers, that he carries throughout...
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Postmodernism is a cultural movement that emerged after World War II. When Modernism was mainly concerned with making it new; postmodernist literature examines conventional ideas like truth and fiction, suggesting that there is no ultimate truth or distinction between the two only multiple, fragments of truth. Postmodern authors, to covey those ideas use several different literary techniques. One of those is metafiction, which purposely draws attention to the fact that the reader is reading a fictional story, blurring the lines...
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The reader â like the soldier â never knows how the day will turn out. OâBrien even adds stories whose veracity is challenged later on, thus allowing the reader to understand that the stories are not the most important thing. Stories are used only to provide insight into the emotions of war; from these stories, OâBrien effectively teases out the psychological burdens carried by Vietnam veterans. Initially the soldiers, new to the field of course, carry personal effects, physical burdens,...
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How Do Writers Protest War War has now become the norm because of its impact on society. Poets include literary devices in their works to help illustrate their meaning. With this, each writer can share their protests against different wars. Writers have used literary devices throughout all of their writings. All four writers protest the war in various ways. The poem âWar is Kindâ by Stephen Crane depicts the Spanish War while âDulce et Decorum Estâ by Wilfred Owen displays...
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The idea of morality during times of war is far from a black-or-white concept. It is more of a muddied, gray area in the middle. There isnât a definitive right or wrong when it comes to war, as it depends on whoâs view you choose to see it from. Author, Tim OâBrien recounts his experiences during the Vietnam War in the memoir titled âThe Things They Carried.â This classic piece of literature only further proves the notion that war is...
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Although many different lenses can be applied, Tim O'Brien challenges typical gender roles in 'The Things They Carried' through his distinctive portrayal of men's masculinity mixing with traits and of women's involuntary lack of expertise resulting in an absence of understanding. Men are seen to be less manly whereas women turn rock hard, while also men are the opposite of what they seem to be. Soldiers are always portrayed as tough, hard, and down to earth, meanwhile in reality it...
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âOnce people are dead, you canât make them undeadâ (OâBrien 39). In The Things They Carried written by Tim OâBrien, the author mainly depicts the American soldierâs life in Vietnam during the Vietnam War. In 1954, the U.S., under the Eisenhower Administration, became involved in the Vietnam Conflict. However, controversies about whether America should get involved in Vietnam began rising as the conflict intensified. Likewise, OâBrien describes the dispute that was going on within the country in the 1960s. âThe...
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This quote brings to light the theme of death that is all over the story. OâBrien and the rest of the men nonchalantly talk about and prefer death to being embarrassed. I know for many of the men as the war is going on, it is hard to tell whether the men who are alive see themselves as the fortunate ones. The different stories being told throughout the novel were one of the major motifs that were present. OâBrien has...
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Repetition is needed to remember the men as they were and not the men the war has turned them into. This literary device gives insight and more importance to the physical and mental weight they carried on their shoulders. We learn what kind of men they are. Mitchell Sanders is a man who disguises his fear with misplaced and slightly sadistic behavior when he cuts off the thumb of a dead VC and gives it to Bowker. Ted Lavender is...
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