"The Things They Carried"

Paper Summary:

This paper discusses the concept of finding morality in war, a favorite of writers for centuries. The paper then reviews the book 'The Things They Carried' by Tim O'Brien.

From the Paper:

"Finding morality in war can be a difficult thing. The topic of morality, as it relates to war, has been a favorite of writers for centuries. Tim O'Brien is no different, in this regard. However, the war he writes in the context of is like no other. The Viet Nam War is even more ambiguous, in terms of morality, than those wars that have come before it. As O'Brien states in his observation on telling a true war story, "a true war story is never moral. It does not instruct, nor encourage virtue, nor suggest models of proper human behavior [. . .]" (68). Despite this assertion, O'Brien, through his characters and through his setting, makes a powerful statement on the morality of war."

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