Tim O'Brien's "The Things They Carried"

Paper Summary:

This paper explains that, in his National Book Award winning novel "The Things They Carried", Vietnam veteran Tim O'Brien conveyed the reality of the war by telling his readers in plainspoken language what it feels like to be afraid, to kill and to see friends die in a useless war ten-thousand miles away from home. The author points outs that O'Brien's literary approach of conveying the realism of violent death in combat through emotion is very effective. The paper relates that this style has far more power and meaning than simply describing battles. The author underscores that O'Brien's use of fear, the trauma killing inflicts and the grief soldiers feel for lost comrades are the three primary reasons why this book has been acclaimed as one of the most realistic novels about the Vietnam War ever written.

From the Paper:

"This passage conveys much more about the pervasive weight of fear and the awful finality of death than many war novelists have communicated in entire chapters, or even in entire novels. O'Brien (1999) describes his friend's sudden death on a warm, sunny April morning with compassionate finality and an authoritative essence that is eloquent in its very simplicity. "He was dead weight," O'Brien writes of Ted Lavender, a scared young soldier gone from this world in the twinkling of an eye."

Sample of Sources Used:

• O'Brien, Tim. (1999). The Things They Carried. New York: Broadway Books.

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