The Things They Carried

Quote 1: “Even now, when I think back on it, I can still see the glossy whiteness of her scalp. She wasn't bald. Not quite. Not completely. There were some tufts of hair, little patches of grayish brown fuzz.” (O’Brien 235) Imagery is represented here. This use of imagery helps me understand more about what Tim O’Brien is trying to portray about Linda. As for the whole story Tim O’Brien uses imagery to help reveal Linda’s sickness and eventually her death but also to just tie all the concepts of childhood love gone wrong and seeing death while at war. This helped me understand that Tim correlates death with Linda because she was such an important person to him that helped define him in a way. This literary term helped me understand that the author thinks that war is filled with undeserved death.

Quote 2: “And so a VC nurse, fried by napalm, was a crispy critter. A Vietnamese baby, which lay nearby, was a roasted peanut.”(Tim O’Brien 238,239) metaphors are shown here. The use of metaphorical language here helps me understand more about how they were trying to depersonalize the people that die while he is at war to make it easier to cope with. This helps me understand that he chooses to cope with death and helps give more meaning to Linda's death because she doesn’t try to forget her even though she died a long time ago. The use of this metaphorical language helps me understand how the author thinks that the war is not what it really is and expresses that by comparing humans to non-human things.

The author thinks that the war is filled with undeserved deaths just like his first love Linda's. I took away from this story that bad things can happen to good people and vice versa  and that's just how the world works.

“The upper lip and gum were gone. The man’s head was cocked at a wrong angle as if loose at the neck was wet with blood.”(Obrien 126) This is imagery that the author uses, by describing what the young man looked like, we get a better understanding of war.

“So yes, maybe a scholar.”(Obrien 128) The author is telling from his POV because he is describing through his words what he thinks the man’s life was.

It just shows how brutal war can be and that people might not even want to be fighting and that they could have had a better life back home before they got drafted or whatever it was.

“I would go to war – I would kill and maybe die– because I was embarrassed not to.”(O’Brien 59) This quote is an example of perspective. This helps me understand the story because it shows how Tim really is excepting that he is going to have to go to war. And how this is going to affect him in the future. “He didn’t speak. He was simply there, like the river and the late- summer sun… He was a witness, like God, or like the gods, who look on in absolute silence.”(O’Brien 60) This quote is an example of Simile. Comparing the old man to a river and a god really shows how Tim thinks about him as this tranquil person. These literary terms help me understand the author's perspective on war because he can show how quiet and how scary it is and I think that is how he feels about it. A message I took away from this story is you can choose how you see things.

"On the Rainy River"

"A million things all at once -- I was too good from the war. Too smart, too compassionate, to everything. It couldn’t happen. I was above it." (O'Brien 41) This quote is an example of perspective and it helps show the author's message about war. It also shows how the character feels towards war and how he feels about himself. 

"I survived, but it was not a happy ending. I was a coward. I went to the war"(O'Brien 61) This quote is showing Paradox, and it is showing me and confirms his beliefs and the regret of going to war. 

I think the main idea in this book is that people are too smart for war and he didn't want to go to war but then ended uo getting drafted. I think the main idea was also that war is not easy and it impacts you in so many different ways. And the quotes helped me especially because I got how he felt about war from the quotes and why he didn't want to go to war. 

The things they carried , The literary terms that were best shown to me were Metaphor, and character. ¨at night I would go home smelling of pig. It wouldn't go away. Even after a hot bath, scrubbing hard, the stink was always there¨ ( o´Brian 43) This quote is a good example of how Metaphor represents the story a lot because when using metaphors in the story it explains what the author is trying to explain to the reader so when he was talking about after war how he smelt like pig and it wouldn't go away was showing that he smelt really bad and he couldn't get the smell out. It helps the reader understand a lot more. The second literary term that helps represent the story is character, ¨I was riding on adrenaline. A giddy feeling, in a way except there was a dreamy edge of impossibility to it- like running a dead end maze.¨ (  O´Brian 47) this quote shows how character is a important part to have to give the reader a better understanding about all the characters by talking about them and how they are as people to better understand the story in general.  Those literary terms described the message about war because they both went deep into the topics to show the message and help explain to the reader more. I took away from the story that war is a hard choice and a hard thing to do and that it takes a strong person to be able to go into war. 

“His jaw was in his throat, his upper lip and teeth were gone, his one eye was shut, his other eye was a star-shaped hole, his eyebrows were thin…”(pg.124 O’Brien) Perspective, imagery.  The quote and terms help me better understand the story because right from the beginning I can already imagine what they are trying to describe so it’s gonna want to make me imagine what everything they say in the story is in a picture.

‘“I’ll tell you the straight truth,’ he said. ‘The guy was dead the second he stepped on the trail. Understand me?”’  (pg.129 O’Brien)  Perspective, metaphor.  This helps me better understand the story because it shows that yes it was wrong for the man to be on the trail but he wasn’t literally dead as long as he got off it before they saw him and had to kill him.

I think the author's message on war is that war is a very confusing and tough decision making place to be in because as we can see even though they deep down didn’t want to kill the man it had to be done because he was in their way and on the trail they were patrolling.   I took out of this that taking the wrong step or doing something just barely wrong whether you know it or not could cost you your life in war or other things.

"Ambush"

"She knew about the war; she knew I'd been a soldier. "You keep writing these war stories," she said, "so I guess you must've killed someone."... He was short, slender young man of about twenty. I was afraid of him-"(O'Brian, 131) This is an example of Plot because he is looking back on his past experience with war and looking back at how he killed someone in the war. He does not want to tell his daughter that he killed someone in the war because she is too young to understand. He is having flashbacks on the war. 

"The grenade made a popping noise-not soft but not loud either-not what i expected-and there was a puff of dust and smoke- a small white puff-and the young man seemed to jerk upward as if pulled by invisible wires. He fell on his back. His rubber sandals had been blown off. There was no wind."(O'Brian, 133) This is an example of imagery because he is talking about what he had saw during the war making it clearer for the reader to understand what is going on. 

I believe that the main idea of war is that war plays a huge roll on mental health. I believe this statement because he is still thinking about the war and what had happened in the war that made him have the flashbacks and think about it. 

Understatement: “I would go to war-i would kill and maybe die-because i was embarrassed not         to”

Character: “ I survived, but it’s not a happy ending. I was a coward. I went to the war”  

Understatement: helped me to understand how he felt.

Character: this helped me to understand how he had no chance to decide what he really wanted.

Participation in war can be meaningless for some soldiers.

Also in war people are afraid to die,for some people the most scary thing in war is not to be killed but to kill someone.

“I had already thrown the grenade before telling myself to throw it” (O’Brien 133). 

“It was automatic. I did not hate the young man; I did not see him as the enemy” (O’Brien 132).

The literary terms are juxtaposition and perspective. These terms helped me understand that the author feels war is automatic. The message I got was that war is automatic

“I would go to the war - I would kill and maybe die - because I was embarrassed not to.” (O'Brian 59) This quote shows plot because the main character has made a life altering decision knowing what the consequences could be. 

“I survived, but it's not a happy ending. I was a coward. I went to the war.” (O’Brian 61) This is a paradoxical quote because the character was saying how he had to go to war to not embarrass himself, and now hes calling himself a coward for going to the war. 

The authors perspective on war is that going to war is for cowards,avoiding war is for cowards, war is death, people can be killers if they go to war, and people are too smart for war.

"The Man I Killed" By Tim O'Brian 

"His jaw was in his throat, his upper lip ans teeth were gone, his one eye was shut,his other eye was a start-shaped hole." This quote is an example of Imagery. This quote helps me understand what the soldiers seeing and describing after he throw a grande. 

"The man that I killed... it was this wound that killed him." This quote shows the lit term Perspective. This quote helps me understand how he feel and how guilty he feels after kill a man.¨

This lit term is imagery because the author gives a lot of details about the guy with his jaw in his throat and there is also a lot of repetition in the short story. I think that the message of the story is that ¨Even though war is over it isnt over for the soldires that were effected by war. 

“The butterfly was making its way along the young man’s forehead, which was spotted with small dark freckles. The nose was undamaged. The skin on the right cheek was smooth and fine-grained with freckles” (O’Brien 127) This quote best showcases imagery because it explains in detail what the dead man looks like. 

“He hoped the Americans would go away. Soon, he hoped. He kept hoping and hoping, always, even when he was asleep. ‘Oh, man, you fuckin’ trashed the fucker,’ Azar said” (O’Brien 125) This quote showcases juxtaposition because it explains how the dead man doesn’t want war and then cuts to him being called out by an American after he is dead.

The author’s perspective on war is that not everybody deserves to go to war, which was also the message that I was getting from the story.

“A million things all at once-- I was too good for this war. Too smart, too compassionate, too everything. It couldn’t happen. I was above it.” (O’Brien 41) Character, this quote shows us character because we're learning about Tim and how he feels about himself. He believes he’s too good, too smart to go fight in this war.  “I survived, but it’s not a happy ending. I was a coward. I went to the war.” (O’Brien 61) Paradox, because surviving should be a happy ending but he doesn’t see it that way, same with his statement, “I was a coward. I went to the war” in most cases going to war makes you a hero so it's an untrue statement, yet true at the same time because he did survive he did go to war.

“Daddy tell the truth,” Kathleen can say, “did you ever kill anybody?” And I can say, honestly, “Of course not.” Or I can say, honestly, “Yes.” is an example of paradox, although he didn’t kill the man he feels although since he was there a part of the blame falls on him. 

“ I want you to feel what I felt. I want you to know why story truth is sometimes truer than happening-truth.” is an example of perspective. Although he didn’t kill that man, being there made him feel like it was his fault. He is saying that sometimes it's more about the feelings you get from the story than the story itself. 

I think the author's message on war is “War gives soldiers a weight that can never be lifted”.  War leaves lifetime effects on the people involved-it never actually leaves them. Even witnessing events can change someone's life forever.

Quote 1: “I would go to war--I would kill and maybe die--because I was embarrassed not to.” (O’Brien 59) [Understatement]

I think understatement well represents the way the people made Tim feel in this work. All the things they have said about war and soldiers makes Tim feel a need to go to war, just because of what they say. It’s well represented because just because of what a couple people say, Tim decides he’d be too embarrassed not to kill people. 

Quote 2: “I survived, but it’s not a happy ending. I was a coward. I went to the war.” (O’Brien 61)

These two quotes go really well together. Before and after the war is a paradox. To him, he was above the war. He should not have been picked, it wasn’t made for him, he should not have gone. It was cowardly to go. Even if he’d be a coward to the people of the town. He lived, which is a miracle in itself, but that doesn’t make up for him giving in. 

Perspective on war: I think the point the author is trying to make is that war can label people. It doesn’t matter which side you choose, attempting escape, or accepting your fate. Either way, someone will have a problem. The negativity from war is unavoidable.

On the Rainy River shows juxtaposition and character. “I would go to war, I would kill and maybe die because I was embarrassed not to”(O’brien 59). This shows juxtaposition because you would assume most people who went to the war would need to be brave, but the author sees this as being a  coward. It shows how different people view the war.
“I was too good for this war. Too smart. It couldn't happen, I was above it.” (O’brien 41) This shows character because he was going to college at the top of his class, but instead he had to go to war, but he feels like he is too good to go. But he ended up going because he was too scared to run away. These two quotes are necessary to understand the story, because it shows an example of a good opportunity, like going to college, and having a happy life, was taken away because of the war. That is why he felt like he was above it all. 

When he tried to run to Canada to avoid going to war, he had a whole plan to make it out of the country. “ I gripped the edge of the boat and leaned forward and thought, now. I did try, it just wasn’t possible.” ( O’brian 59) The whole story line was based off him trying out get away from the war and avoid going, this is a great example of plot. The plot of the story changed in this moment. He realized he couldn't run away and he had to fight in the war like everyone else. 

At the end of the novel he decides to do the right thing. “ I survived, but it’s not a happy ending. I was a coward. I went to the war. ( O’brian 61.) This is an example of juxtaposition.  He was faced with two choices, run away or fight. In the end he did the right thing and stayed to fight. 

These two terms helped me understand the authors position because it put me into his shoes a bit. He was about to go to Canada and then last second decides he has to stay and do the right thing. He goes to war and he makes it out alive to tell the stories. The authors view on war is that even though you don’t want it doesn’t mean you don’t take part. You do what is needed to help your country. The message I gt from this is that no matter how hard you may want to do one thing, the right choice will always weigh heavy on you, if you choose not to do it then you feel like a coward, if you do choose to do it then you know you did the right thing. 

“My daughter Kathleen asked if I had ever killed anyone…of course not…  I hope, shell ask again. But here I want to pretend she's all grown up.” (o’brian 131) This quote is helpful to “pov” it’s showing his thought process through his interactions and what he has experienced. It's also showing the story at a higher quality by exemplifying his feelings and character.

“The grenade made a popping noise-not soft but not loud either-not what I expected... The young man seems to jerk upward as if pulled by invisible wires. He fell on his back. His rubber sandals had been blown off” (o’brian 133) This quote strongly illustrates “imagery”, by explaining the situation, the noises, and visuals we get almost a completely clear image of what's happening. Especially when the author uses similes and metaphors like “invisible wires”.

These lit terms help us understand the author's perspective on war. “POV” is kind of vague in a way that means only the person experiencing battle can truly understand it. And imagery gives us gruesome details about war that can only truly be scaring in real life.

For my story I chose Tim O’ Brien’s When Engaging Targets, Remember.

“You watch gratefully as another gunner a few trucks down opens up as well.” (Brien 168) This quote showcases character and specifically the idea that war and the military changes one's character significantly by changing someone's priorities. Guilt is not avoided, it is averted, the idea that the outcome will remain the same ([civilian] death and destruction) then it’s better to push guilt and responsibility onto one's teammates. This quote and story overall suggests that war is a linear move of violence, the ideas behind war remain versatile but the death and chaos of war shows us how war is a primitive solution to deep questions and problems. The use of character emphasizes some of the linear effects of war and the harmful ways it affects the understanding of death and guilt for those involved. 

“Which is either a smart reminder of priorities or an end-run around the rules themselves.” (Brien 166) This quote directly relates to juxtaposition because it shows us the technicality of war vs the mindsets it creates. Violent actions are justified by freedom and rules and understood through the mindsets they create. The desensitization of soldiers and civilians in war is perfectly highlighted in this quote. 

1. ¨There were gnats at the mouth, little flecks of pollen drifting above the nose.¨(p129) O´Brien. I choose Imagery because the way he talks, makes you visualize the face that's all beat up. The imagery words that were used are gnats and little flecks.\
2. ¨I´m just saying the truth, like oatmeal.¨(p125) O´Brien. I choose metaphor because it's comparing two things that aren't alike, like how he says the truth is like oatmeal.