Feeling Death in The Things They Carried by Tim O’Brien

Laurence Stern wrote, “ No body, but he who has felt it, can conceive what a plaguing thing it is to have a man’s mind torn asunder by two projects of equal strength, both obstinately pulling in a contrary direction at the same time.” By interpreting this quote, Stern says that no one can understand what it feels like for a man to have his mind torn apart by two equivalent forces that pull him apart in opposite directions inside. There was much underlying meaning and connection from Laurence Stern’s quote and to The Things They Carried. In The Things They Carried, Tim O’Brien is the author as well as the character who is pulled apart by two projects: war and morals. The war in Vietnam heavily impacts each soldier causing them to yearn for

In Tim O’Brien’s novel The Things They Carried, the chapter “In the Field” O’Brien expresses how similar the shit field that Kiowa died in is a metaphor for war. Kiowa, a good man, drowned in the field can correlate to how many good men die in war and how for other people it stays on, they can taste it in their mouths and smell it for a long time afterwards, in the form of ptsd and the ecetera.

Emotions and Burdens – “They carried all the emotional baggage of men who might die. Grief, terror, love, longing – these were intangibles, but they were tangible weight.”(20). O’brien, as well as his platoon members, had to b prepared for death at any given point in time, whether it be his own death or the death of his comrade in arms.

Tim O’Brien brings the Vietnam War back to life in The Things They Carried (1990) and elucidates the wounds suffered by soldiers during and after the war. The three main characters in this novel that exemplify the physical, social, and emotional wounds are Tim O’Brien, Norman Bowker, and Mark Fossie. These men go through immense pain both during and after the war, which is not easy to heal.

Soldiers have their own way of coping with death. Some might try to make a joke out of it and make it humorous while others might think about what they could have done differently to prevent the death from occurring. Soldiers will often put the blame on themselves for the death. As soldiers go into war they know that they have a chance of dying. They also know that the friends they are going to make during this time have a chance of dying. There is no “right way” to cope with death. There are positive and negative outcomes by making the idea of death humorous or by dwelling on it.

Having spent over five years in the military, I often wondered what it would be like to deploy. I never did, you see. However, I have experienced preparations for deployment. Soldiers undergo medical examinations, prepare their gear, prepare the equipment, and ensure personnel documents are in order. These are just a few items that need to be checked off of a to-do list, or inventory if you will. In “The Things They Carried” by Tim O’Brien, the main character, First Lieutenant Jimmy Cross, runs through a series of events that he had his squad carried, both on their person and in their minds.

The outcome of war can distort a person completely, not just physically due to injuries, but also mentally and emotionally as the character Rat Kiley from The Things They Carried experienced. Kiley had been injured and

Every veteran of war you see went through something that changed them, either from their own experience or from their “brother’s” and in the book The Things They Carried by Tim O’Brien it shows exactly what I’m talking about. While using the psychological lens, specifically, Maslow’s Hierarchical Theory of Human Needs and Holmes-Rahe Stress Scale, the reader can see in chapters “On The Rainy River,” “The Man I Killed,” and “Field Trip” that Tim O’Brien is emotionally unstable due experiencing the trauma of war.

Actions tested there ethical and moral values. After this point these soldiers have to cope with the cause and effect from their actions. Coping can cause mental illnesses, and addiction but also you can cope with these some things plus more things such as love, and mortality. This is the most important struggle that had to take care of for their survival. But why is this still relevant to today's society? Tim o’brien used many methods while writing this book to help the reader to understand the soldiers experiences and feelings throughout the war. These methods include imagery, repetition, hyperbole, metaphors, allusions, and many

"I could not weep, it pained me I would not weep",(Night112). He felt like they would never be rescued. It also made him silent because he was scared to stand up for his father. "I stood there watching the SS officer give him lethal blows",(Night114). He knew that he would be killed if he stood up to the SS officers.

The story “The Things They Carried” reveals emotional and physical challenges soldiers face during the Vietnam War. Tim O’Brien introduces the reader not only to the subject of war and physical exhaustion, but also to human feelings and inner struggle soldiers are going through at this war. Besides the equipment and necessary things, soldiers carried emotions which strengthen their hope of staying alive in order to continue their mission. Tim O’Brien uses female figure, Martha, to create psychological escape which distracts a young soldier, Lieutenant Jimmy Cross, from the war. However, such a distraction leads to the death of a group member, Ted Lavender. The illusion of love for Martha and false hopes gradually transform into bitter feeling of guilt and the harsh reality of war. Tim O’Brien masterfully describes Jimmy Cross’ and other soldier’s experience and feelings during

Throughout The Things They Carried, Tim O’Brien demonstrates that mental fear is worse than physical pain. This is shown through the soldiers being so afraid and paranoid of being physically harmed, that it infected their minds to the point of mental deterioration. He shows this through Dave Jensen, who was so paranoid of Lee Strunk’s retaliation, that he broke his own nose to escape his mental anguish. Also, through Lee Strunk and Dave Jensen’s desire to die if their pain ever becomes too unbearable, and lastly through Tim O’Brien’s mental and physical harm caused by Jorgenson not healing him in time.

Emotions show from many people in the story, The Things They Carried, ranging from distant memories, such as Tim O’Brien’s 9 year old crush, Linda, to the deaths of Kiowa, Curt Lemon, and other fellow soldiers in the war. Tim O’Brien would surely disagree with what was asked on statement 5 saying, “Physical injuries are more painful than mental or emotional injuries.” To show evidence that was stated in the book, the first example is brought up on page 28, when Lavender had died and Jimmy had kept a picture of his crush, Martha. Jimmy Cross stated, “Well, I did--- I burned it. After Lavender died, I couldn’t.... This is a new one. Martha gave it to me herself” (Cross 28). Lavender had just died while in battle and most would consider it both

As Tim O’Brien states in his short story book, The Things They Carried, the only true thing about war is its allegiance to evil and obscenity. One example of this faithfulness war has to stick to its truth is the inevitable death of many soldiers. War consumes. It consumes a large amount of resources, money, energy, time, but most of all it consumes human lives. The ones who don’t pass must bear the witness of the death of the others. “In the Field”, one of the short stories in O’Brien’s book, explores the way death is handled by soldiers and the process by which absorb the emotions that come along with it.

In the book, The Things They Carried by Tim O’Brien, the first chapter is called, “The Things They Carried.” The book was based on the Vietnam War. The first chapter gave an overview of what each of Jimmy Cross’s friends and he carried with them during the war. Jimmy carried “love” letters from a girl named Martha. He loved Martha and she was all he thought about.