Tim O`Brien`s “The Things They Carried” Summary of Paper
TimO’Brien’s “The Things They Carried" Summary of Paper
O’Brien’sbook, “The Things They Carried," tries to speak about theordeals that the soldiers normally go through when in thebattlefield. In this work, the writer attempts to show that theimpacts of battleground last for long, and that the soldiers, moreoften than not, go through trauma even after the end of war. Thecurrent paper seeks to illustrate some of the ideas that I learnedwhen doing the research paper, the approach that I used, and someinteresting facts when conducting the study.
Firstof all, there are many lessons from the book concerning soldiersafter the wars. They usually develop feelings of the effects of thebattle, such as emotional and psychological disorders. The writeralso tries to give his personal experiences as a soldier. In someinstances, some of them tend to take photographs of their fellowcolleagues while in the battlefield due to the strong bond theyshare, and just in case they tend to part ways, they remember themthrough the pictures (O’Brien 46). That being said, memories of asoldier losing a colleague in the battlefield always have strongeffects on them, and to some extent it might lead to mental illness.Similarly, the writer also explains the ordeals that combatants whoare in the relationships usually go through. Indeed, they cannot meettheir lovers and spend some quality time together as they are engagedin their army duties. Thus, these soldiers, in most cases, sufferfrom emotional disorders.
Aboveall, I constructed the paper in such a way that any reader can relateit with the coherent ideas of O’Brien’s book. The research triesto explain some of the impacts of the tools that soldiers handlewhile in the battlefield. The paper is well organized to show thatthe tools normally offer a crucial perception of the emotional andthe psychological costs of the war. It is so due to the negativeimpacts on the combats that improve the chances of soldier completingthe battle with Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD) (O’Brien 76).In addition, the research attempts to explain how the young men thinkof being an army is of great importance. However, I added from thebook that mental setting of an individual normally takes a new twistwhen they become real soldiers. I also seem to bring out the ideathat the life of being a combatant is never fulfilling as many wouldthink as it is full of heart devastating effects as one tries tofight for their lives in the name of protecting their country.Moreover, soldiers have to witness as their colleagues get killed bytheir enemies, take part in the assassinations, and live with thosedisgusting feelings throughout their lives.
Furthermore,there are some interesting ideas and evidence that emerged when doingthe research paper. One of them is that the writer also tries to givean analogy from the movie referred to as “Hacksaw Ridge,” wherebymany people, especially the youth, always have diverse reasons forjoining the military. In this film, there is a character known asDoss who was forced to tussle a gun from his father`s hand as theywere having a scuffle with his mother. Therefore, due to thisexperience, he developed an interest in joining the army but vowednever to use or carry a gun due to the past memories. However, hedecided to use his Bible as a weapon in the battle. Consequently, hewas able to rescue about seventy-five people in the war that tookplace in hellish Maeda Escarpment in the year 1975 (O’Brien 81).
Inconclusion, by reading O`Brien’s book, one is exposed to manydifficulties that our soldiers go through in the battlefields. Thebook and the “Hacksaw Ridge” movie highlight some of theheartfelt effects that the soldiers go through while in thebattlefield. The impacts are, therefore, used to proof wrong thosewho want to join the military that being a combatant is fun andheroic. However, it only shows some of the losses that the soldiersincur as they try to defend their people and country.
WorksCited
O’Brien,Tim. TheThings They Carried.Houghton Mifflin Harcourt, 2009. Retrieved fromhttps://books.google.com/books?hl=en&lr=&id=Op6eKrkxPq4C&oi=fnd&pg=PP1&dq=The+Things+they+Carried&ots=8d3EGhyzf4&sig=4AozMU0b6D380uATfUkBOrFT9K8.Accessed 6 April 2017.
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