Introduction to “The Things They Carried”
Tim O’Brien grew up in small-town Minnesota and describes himself as a
dreamer, not big enough to compete in sports, who made good grades and
loved magic tricks. In 1968, he was drafted into the Army’s 46th Infantry
and sent to Vietnam. Though politically he was against the war, O’Brien
served as a foot soldier in the Quang Ngai province from 1969 until 1970,
when he was hit by shrapnel from a hand grenade, earning the Purple
Heart and a ticket home.
Examining an author’s life can inform and expand the reader’s
understanding of a work of fiction. Biographical criticism is the practice of
analyzing a literary work through the lens of an author’s experience.
1. Read each of the following essays:
The Things They Carried Introduction
The Things They Carried About the Writer
2. Post a comment in which you identify the most important ideas a reader should be aware of while reading The Things They Carried, and explain which character you are most likely to follow closely as you read the entire novel.
3. Comments are due this Friday, November 15th
While reading Tim O’Brien’s novel, The Things They Carried. I personally believe the readers should focus on Tim O’Brien. Yes the novelist and the character because through them the topic of war is showcased to its full potential. The author Tim O’Brien’s uses the character, Tim O’Brien’s as a tool to explore and go into dept. about war. The readers should also take into consideration the explicit imagery the author uses and remember to keep in mind the things they carried.
While reading The Things They Carried, the reader should be aware that this novel is mostly all from the author’s imagination, which is fiction. The author Tim O’Brien created brutal a novel in which he has make believe characters going through the war with multiple stories from each other keeping them strong and somewhat like together. The character that caught my eye was First Lieutenant Jimmy Cross. First Lieutenant Jimmy Cross is the character I seem most interested in due to him being a leader and being able to accept responsibilities, even though he didn’t choose to be, and also being able to love someone who doesn’t love you back makes him brainsick which is interesting.
While reading “The Things They Carried”, readers should be aware that the novel is completely fiction, but relates to real life experiences. Tim O’ Brien first-hand experienced the war himself so of that, we, the readers, better yet experience the war as well from a personal eye-witness account. The things they carried explores the nature of war and personal items that soldiers carry along with them that has significant meaning towards their own personal life. The soldiers carry those items in order for them to create a barrier of a comfort zone and mindset while being away from home. The character I would like to be my main focus point would be Lt. Jimmy Cross. I choose Lt. Jimmy Cross due to the fact that he is the leader of the platoon making him more vulnerable because he is the one making life and death decisions not only to himself, but a group of soldiers. He obtains risky responsibilities and orders in order for the soldiers to complete missions in a safe precaution.
As a reader, it is most important to be aware of how Tim O’Brien structures and tells the novel. It is also significant in understanding the motive of this novel concerning the truth. The idea presents itself realistically, that the truth is not always what is best, and that what we believe to be the truth, is in fact a blend of fact and fiction. Readers should be aware and should realize the fact that this novel recreates the personal experiences and emotions of the author. O’Brien hopes to share his story, and the stories of comrades, in an attempt to perhaps restore his faith in life through empathizing readers and those that may understand their struggles. As I read the novel, I will look forward to the character development of Jimmy Cross. Cross emotionally detaches himself from his only comfort and resolves to focus on his duty. All characters are uniquely life-like and appealing though, as they struggle with self-improvement or self-destruction.
In my opinion, I believe that readers should pay attention to the events of the war and how the characters are affected by them, however they should also take to consideration the characters feelings and how every single thing they carry affect their experience as a soldier. The novel, The Things They Carried, is about unforgettable events that can create mental trauma to every single soldier that was a part of it. I also believe that the purpose of this novel is to show those who never experienced being in a war before to have a sense of what it was like to live like a soldier. In conclusion, as I continue reading this novel I would pay close attention to how often Tim O’Brien mentions Ted Lavender’s importance to the Vietnam War.
Tim O’Brien’s novel “The Things They Carried”, was written with the method of allowing the audience to experience the distinct, sincere emotions of war, through the soldiers’ views. During the time spent reading “The Things They Carried”, an important idea to concern one’s self with would be to keep an open mind throughout the novel. By keeping an open mind, readers would be able to empathize with the soldiers and experience the emotions, Tim O’Brien wished to conduct for us. Throughout the novel I’d likely pay full attention to Lieutenant Jimmy Cross. Tim O’Brien created him as a character who involves himself in extremely deep thinking. Cross has accepted full responsibility for his role as lieutenant, though he does not entirely wish to own the role. What brought this character to my attention is the sacrifice he makes for his role and the acceptance of his responsibilities. After the beginning of the novel, I’ve grown to respect Lieutenant Jimmy Cross and look forwards to the choices he makes next and why.
While reading the novel, “The Things They Carried,” readers should be aware of each of the tiny bits of details Tim O’Brien want us to see and feel. He was in the war, so of course he knows how it feels. He experienced it. And he for sure do want us to feel it too. “As a fiction writer, I do not write just about the world we live in, but I also write about the world we ought to live in, and could, which is a world of imagination.” Although this novel is a fiction, he make us readers feel like it’s a nonfiction. One major character I’d want to focus on is Jimmy Cross. I find him interesting because he’s a leader of his men, yet he’s crazily in love with someone who does not notice him, Martha. It must be pretty tough for him to stay in the war. I’m interested in finding out more about Jimmy Cross and Martha as we read on.
As I read the short essays, I noticed that the author Tim O’Brien was also a man who was drafted into the military. So maybe as the reader or if you’re doing an IOP you can see if the accounts in the book are similiar to O’Brien’s experiences a war veteran. I think the character I am most likely to follow up on is Kiley; because he is ready to go with medical help whenever his comrades are injured and that is how I am, I jump into action if anything is wrong with my friends.
While reading the, The things that carried, i identify that we should pay close attention to what the soldiers have with them while walking in the battlefield. In the main character essay, i will like to mostly follow Jimmy because of his love towrds Martha, even though Martha doesn’t love him back.
What the reader should look for while reading the novel is the way to notice when there is a fact vs. fiction. We should really follow the idea of how the actual events are put into a different story that would make us feel what the author is feeling. The character we should follow would most likely be First Lietenant Jimmy Cross because he is mostly the character that is focused on the most even though Tim O’ Brien is narrating the story.
As I was reading these 3 essays, I realized that the most important ideas a reader should be aware of while reading “the things they carried,” would be that the soldiers not only carry their equipment but they also carry things that are precise and valuable to them ones that allows them to stay strong and hopeful. One of the characters I think that I’ll most likely follow closely as i read the novel is Tim O’Brien because he is one of the characters who carries memories that happened a long time and I find it interesting that these memories allow him to escape the fear and sorrow of the war.
So the character I decided to follow is Tim. I have chosen Tim because he sense like the most relatable to me mostly because he’s the character that I want to over come all obstacles that are put ahead of him. I want Tim to triumph and go back home to see his family.
One idea that had stood out to me and had resenated was the idea of a real war story and how a good real war story doesn’t end. This idea seems very interesting to me because it makes me wonder what about a real war story keeps the story from ending.
Readers, while reading “The Things They Carried”, should keep in mind one of the quote Tim O’Brien said in his book. “War has the feel—the spiritual texture—of a great ghostly fog, thick and permanent. There is no clarity. Everything swirls. The old rules are no longer binding, the old truths no longer true.” Throughout the book, readers should be aware of the message O’Brien is trying to relay to us and what, how, or why is this message/idea special? How great of a difference would it be if the story was told accurately and not truthfully?
In his novel, I find O’Brien’s character, Lieutenant Jimmy Cross to be very interesting. Like the others, his character is very realistic. However, the way how, unlike the other characters who carry memories for hope, he creates the memories for hope (Letters).
While reading The Things They Carried, we should be aware of how the author, Tim O’Brien, phases his sentences, his word choices, and his description of events, feelings, emotions express throughout the novel. As I will continue to read throughout this novel, I will most likely flollow closely to First Lietenant Jimmy Cross.
While reading The Things They Carried, the reader should be aware that this novel is considered fiction. Tim O’Brien is able to make us think that this story and the characters are real through his writing, and should remember that the events he tells aren’t accurate. The character that I am most likely to follow closely is First Lieutenant Jimmy Cross because I would like to see if his struggle of loving someone who doesn’t love him back will affect him in any way while he is fighting in the war.
I think the most important thing the readers must be aware, are that this story had some truth and false to it. Tim O’ Brien wanted to show his emotions through this story, in which we feel to be nonfiction about it. Even though the story is fiction, he wanted the readers to identify the “feeling” of being in the war. Finally, the character I most likely am looking forward to is Jimmy Cross, because i have a feeling he might have some similarities of feelings and emotion to O’Brien.
Important ideas which a reader should keep in mind when reading the The Things They Carried, is pondering the ideas and philosophical questions of memories, the value of storytelling and also that every chapter is able to stand on its own, yet they all seem to complement each other so they may reflect upon each other too. With keeping these ideas in mind, we will be better able to capture and understand O’ Brien’s beliefs he’s trying to convey and emotions he wants us to feel.
I will be following and looking more closely at the character of Kiowa.
The most important idea a reader should be aware of while reading “The Things They Carried” is that even though the book is fictional, some of the details in the novel are based upon the real life experience of Tim O’Brien when he was a soldier in the Vietnam War. The character that I would mostly follow closely as I read the novel would be First Lieutenant Jimmy Cross. The reason why I chose First Lieutenant Jimmy Cross is because of his love for Martha, a women who doesn’t even love him. I just think that that’s really interesting and I hope while reading the novel I discover/ O’Brien reveals why First Lieutenant Jimmy Cross is so in-love with Martha.
I believe that the most important ideas readers should be aware of reading are the things the soldier’s carried because those objects or emotional baggage may symbolize deeper meanings than they actually seem. I think I would most likely want to follow Norman Bowker because I like to unravel the mystery of a character and Norman is a mysterious character because of his quiet personality and object he carries which is a diary.
The most important ideas a reader should be aware of while reading The Things They Carried is notice the types of things each character carries with them, physically and mentally. The character I am most likely to follow closely is Lieutenant Jimmy Cross because he has many things on his mind that I can understand and I can understand his character and struggles.
When an individual reads the book The Things They Carried, they should closely follow the transformation of each character as their time in the war increases. Each character has mentally changed because of the burdens that they carry. Readers should also follow the affect on the characters from the physical and physiological things they carried along with them from the beginning of the war, during the war, and after the war. I am most likely to follow the character of Lieutenant Jimmy Cross, because he is a character that shows guilt and love. Despite being a leader, he fails to lead because he is absorbed in his love for Martha. After the character Ted Lavender dies, he feels guilt showing that he cares and is concerned for his companions. Although being surrounded by darkness and death, he maintains a soft and fragile heart.
As a reader, I identified in The Things They Carried, that war is an unforgettable experience that describes a true war story. Which, shares the weight of memory of each soldier that has gone through hell. Therfore, this informs the idea that, Tim O’Brien wants us to know how he felt and what he gone through, and the burdens, love, death, courage, mystery, and fun that the soldiers carried with them, to the Vietnam war. Moreover, I would choose Lietenant Jimmy Cross to follow closely because he is the leader of his men and he takes action in the battlefield, but also because he loves this girl, Martha, and he also carries a photo of her. This shows that he feels happy whenever he thinks about her, and that makes him lose one of his men’s life because of his love for her, is too strong to comprend that it turns into hatred later. To sum it up, that is one of the reason why I chose Lietenant Cross, because he is an interesting character to look into, and the moods that he convey in the novel are all about Martha, his use to be lover.
Whiling reading The Things They Carried an important idea that should be kept in mind would be focusing on one character and seeing what they face and experience. Also it would important to connect the novel with one of the critical lens.
Which critical lens do you think would be most beneficial with this novel?
Which character do you think you will follow closely?
Coey
My personal opinion for literary lenses that seem applicable to this book are Psychoanalytic criticism since this is war and war has caused many soldiers to have mental issues such as PTSD. Historical criticism lens, to compare the book to the time it was written which can also tie into the Biographical criticism by using O’Brien’s experience as a war veteran. The last critical lens that I think would be of use is the Structuralistic criticism, you can use this lens to analyze the things they actually carried and go into detail about it’s symbolism. Or you can go into detail with pretty much anything with the Structuralistic criticism lens and try to connect pieces of things in the book together.
Most important idea reader should pay attention to the emotions that Tim O’Brien creates through out the novel. This novel provides an honesty and thoughtful refection of American Soldiers. To which the reader should pay attention to not only the big ideas that’s visible, but the small details added between them.
First Lieutenant Jimmy Cross is an character that I would most likely follow closely as I read the entire novel. He “is a solitary, pensive platoon leader who cares about his men. He carries photos and letters from the girl he loves back home in New Jersey, who doesn’t love him back.” (Major Characters) To which I am interested in his character to follow about how he saves the girls picture as she doesn’t loves him back. How he lives or dies thinking of his future, if he wasn’t in the war?