Tim O Brien s The Man I Killed - 897 Words

In the twenty years following the Vietnam War, Tim O’Brien failed to share any stories from his experiences in Vietnam. Finally he decided to write a book that he titled, The Things They Carried, in 1990 where he details all of the struggles he experienced after being drafted into the Vietnam War. In chapter twelve, â€Å"The Man I Killed,† O’Brien details Tim’s uncertainty after killing his first Viet Cong soldier. As the soldier lay on the ground physically destroyed by a grenade that once resided in Tim’s hand, Tim could not look away from him. He felt that this soldier could have been his friend if it was not for the war, for which the reasons were ambiguous. As he knelt beside the body, he mentally eulogized the man for his life accomplishments. Even though Tim had never met this man prior to that moment, he was able to take his own life experiences and project them into the life of the deceased. Tim says of the man, â€Å"He imagined covering his head and lying in a deep hole and closing his eyes and not moving until the war was over. He had no stomach for violence. He loved mathematics† (â€Å"Killed† 801) which paralleled Tim’s feelings after being drafted into the war. O’Brien did not understand the political reasons that the United States had entered the Vietnam War, and he did not want to come home in a body bag from a war that he did not believe in. In chapter four, â€Å"On the Rainy River,† of his novel he shares this ambiguity by writing, â€Å"certain blood was being shed forShow MoreRelatedThe Man I Killed By Tim O Brien992 Words   |  4 PagesThe Man I Killed taken from Tim O Brien s war novel The Things They Carried. Set during the Vietnam war, American Soldier Tim O Brien is strongly affected by an unpredictable event. In The Man I Killed we consider how O Brien was heavily affected and shocked after killing a young Vietnamese soldier and the randomness of killing in w ar. We also take a look at how the author plays with truth and non-fiction in his story telling. When passing on foot through the village of My Khe, soldier O BrienRead MoreThe War Is Wrong, By Tim O Brien1075 Words   |  5 Pagesâ€Å"If I truly believe the war is wrong, is it then also wrong to go off and kill people? If I do that, what will happen to my soul?† (pg 60). Tim O Brien is an American man who was drafted into the Vietnam War. O Brien is not a violent man and struggles because he believes that the war is wrong. He debates whether or not he should go to war or move to Canada to avoid the draft. Tim O Brien decides to join the army. O Brien uses his personal experiences as a foot soldier in the Vietnam War to conveyRead MoreAnalysis Of Tim O Brien s Love 768 Words   |  4 Pagesfor Tim O Brien, he had some very interesting things that happened to him. Tim O Brien gained many friendships serving in the Vietnam war. He first became good friends with Lieutenant Jimmy Cross. In Love Tim goes to met Jimmy at his home in Massachusetts. They had talked about the events that took place during the war, and Jimmy s guilt over Ted Lavender s death. Another friendship that is important to Tim was Kiowa, in The Man I Killed Kiowa is constantly trying to get Tim to talkRead MoreAnalysis Of Tim O Brien s Love 768 Words   |  4 Pagesfor Tim O Brien, he had some very interesting things that happened to him. Tim O Brien gained many friendships serving in the Vietnam war. He first became good friends with Lieutenant Jimmy Cross. In Love Tim goes to met Jimmy at his home in Massachusetts. They had talked about the events that took place during the war, and Jimmy s guilt over Ted Lavender s death. Another friendship that is important to Tim was Kiowa, in The Man I Killed Kiowa is constantly trying to get Tim to talkRead More OBrien and Fossie in The Things They Carried Essay862 Words   |  4 Pagesis an exemplary Bildungsroman as it carries the reader through the lives and problems of every soldier within its pages. Each man is witnessed as he goes through his own maturation and personal times of struggle and hardships. Some are focused on more than others, but each man has a story to tell, each a moral to teach. Throughout The Things They Carried, both Tim O?Brien and Mark Fossie experience a significant amount of personal maturation by gaining new knowledge about themselves, the VietnamRead MoreReaction to The Things They Carried by Tim OBrien1706 Words   |  7 PagesThe Things They Carried, Tim O Brien uses a variety of stories to explain the life experiences that he and many of his fellow soldiers endured during a single year in Vietnam. He tells these stories in a way that we can connect to these experiences. We never spent time in Vietnam, but O Brien wants us to feel like we were there. O Brien uses what he calls story-truth to write these stories. The outcome or the people may be different but the feeling is real; that s the truth in the story, theRead MoreAnalysis Of The Movie The Things They Carried 1734 Words   |  7 Pageswar stories.( New York Times, Book of the Century). Tim O Brien, the author of the book is both the narrator and the protagonist of the book. As, he himself is present in the war and also tells different stories told by the member of the alpha company. O Brien use of storytelling along with theme is the part of the book which makes it more realistic and effective, which is the ultimate point and purpose of the author. O Brien believes that stories have immense power, they gain theRead MoreThe Things They Carried : Writing Task1107 Words   |  5 PagesThe Things They Carried - Writing Task By Charlie Evans – Word Count: 1099 Storytelling is the interactive art of using words and actions to reveal the elements and images of a story while encouraging the reader’s imagination. Tim O’Brien the author of the novel The Things They Carried demonstrates storytelling to maximise the significance of story truth versus happening truth and the focus on emotion and feeling, not the events. These main ideas O’Brien displays is reinforced through the choicesRead MoreThe Things They Carried By Tim O Brien Essay832 Words   |  4 PagesSummary: â€Å"By and large they carried these things inside, maintaining the masks of composure† (21). In Tim O’brien’s The Things They Carried, the American soldiers of the Vietnam War carry much more than the weight of their equipment, much more than souvenirs or good-luck charms or letters from home. They carried within themselves the intransitive burdens—of fear, of cowardice, of love, of loneliness, of anger, of confusion. Most of all, they carry the truth of what happened to them in the war—aRead MoreThe Things They Carried By Tim O Brien1981 Words   |  8 PagesIn The Things They Carried by Tim O’Brien seems to be a simple story about the items a platoon of soldiers carried while they were in the Vietnam war. But the story actually centers around the conflict, guilt, escape, acceptance, and responsibility of all the platoon soldiers throughout their journey in the Vietnam war. After reading the first story the reader becomes aware of the si gnificance of the title of the book. O’Brien throughout the story uses symbolism by listing all the items that each