The Things They Carried

In the chapter “The Man I Killed”, the writer goes over the trauma of the first time he killed a man. There is a repeating description of the body as he sits beside it that the writer states over and over, with slight variations. “The star-shaped hole was red and yellow. The yellow part seemed to be getting wider, spreading out at the center of the star. The upper lip and gum and teeth were gone. The man’s head was cocked at a wrong angle, as if loose at the neck and the neck was wet with blood.” (O’Brien 126) Although he wasn’t the one hurt, the writer was traumatized by what he did to the man, seeing what he could do with one simple action. This is repetition, which portrays how trauma can cause you to repeatedly think of things and not be able to forget them, to escape it even after it’s over.

There is also a quote from “On the Rainy River” that says “I would go to war -- I would kill and maybe die -- because I was embarrassed not to.” (O’Brien 59)  The most important is the understatement in “... I would kill and maybe die …” He states the possibility of his death so simply; as if he was talking about what he might make for dinner.

“To remove the stuff, I used a kind of water gun. The machine was heavy, maybe eighty pounds, and was suspended from the ceiling by a thick rubber cord. There was some bounce to it, an elastic up-and-down give, and the trick was to maneuver the gun with your whole body, not lifting with the arms, just letting the rubber cord do the work for you. At one end was a trigger; at the muzzle end was a small nozzle and a steel roller brush.” (O’Brien, 40) Imagery. The machine's description made it very easy for me to visualize in my head.

“I gripped the edge of the boat and leaned forward and thought, Now. I did try. It just wasn’t possible.” (O’Brien, 54) Character. He was so eager to cross the border into Canada at first. He was willing to give up everything to avoid having to go to war and avoid the draft. Tim wasn't so sure about his decision now that Elroy had the boat close to the border.

What I learned from these quotes is that not everyone that goes to war likes it. Not everyone took that chance to flee to Canada when they had it. A lot of people who got drafted had morals war went against but felt they had to do it because of the shame they might receive from their families.

"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 saw during the war.

“Even now I haven't finished sorting it out. Sometimes I forgive myself, other times I don't.” (O’Brian 134) This quote is an example of juxtaposition because it shows how sometimes he feels like he did nothing wrong and other times he doesn't. 

I think the message about war that the author was trying to tell/show us was that war changes the way you think and react to things. It may make you do things you normally wouldn't have before war. 

 “... I was too good for this war.” The literary term for this quote is hyperbole. He thought that he was better than everyone else and that he was too good to fight for the war. (On The Rainy River)( O’Brien 41)

“ I remember the smell of burnt straw; I remember broken fences and torn up trees and heaps of stone and brick and pottery.” This quote is flashbacks. He is remembering what he smelt and what he saw around him.  (The lives of the dead) (O’brien 225-226)

The Authors perspective on war seems to be that it's a very remember able thing. The message that I took away from this story that no matter what people thing the war will always be here and it affects a lot more people then anyone really notices.

"He wore a gold ring on the third finger of his right hand.  His chest was sunken - poorly muscled, a scholar maybe" (O'Brien 124, 128).  This quote is an example of Repetition because he keeps repeating himself using the same description.  This leads me to believe he can't get the death around him out of his mind completely.  

"Just go wherever the spirit takes you.  The butterfly was making its way along the young man's forehead, which was spotted with small dark freckles" (O'Brien 126, 127).  This quote shows Juxtaposition because he is relating the following a spirit and the spirit happens to take the form of the butterfly.  This leads me to believe that he sees the butterfly as a symbol of opportunity to not give up even under desperate situations.  

Both literary terms give me an idea that the author disliked the idea of war and he saw or heard about the certain gruesome deaths it sickened him.  The message is that once something out of your control happens try not to let it phase you much as to keep your life stable.

Ambush

“The grenade was to make him go away--just evaporate--” (O’Brian 133) - Understatement- This is an understatement because nobody just evaporates and disappears like that, you have to deal with the consequences of the mess.

“He lay at the center of the trail, his right leg beneath him, his one eye shut, his other eye a huge star-shaped hole.” (O’Brian 133) - Imagery - This better helps me understand the gravity of war and how dangerous it can be.

I think the message that the author is sending is; war happens fast and you have to deal with the consequences.

“The Man I Killed” By Tim O’Brien

“He was not a Communist. He was a citizen and a soldier.” (O’Brien 125) Character. This quote is an example of character because it’s describing who the soldier is. This quote helps me understand the story more because it describes who the soldier is in the story. 

"butterfly on his chin, his neck was open to the spinal cord and the blood there was thick and shiny and it was this wound that had killed him."(Obrien1)

This is juxtaposition. It contrasts the beauty of a butterfly with the singe of death. It helps understand seeing the other things in war that seem cliche but they really can happen.The message I took away from each story is that war causes guilt and creates questions that you make not want or even know the answer to. To me, the author seem to mention death, confusion, and guilt. We took the perspective of the man that killed someone else in the war. 

"The man I killed" By Tim O'Brien

"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." This shows imagery and shows how horrible it was when soldiers had to see the people they were killing and how badly it can affect you. 

"He was not a communist. He was a citizen and a solider." (O'Brien 125) This helps show character about this person in  the story. It tells you that he clearly didn't want to be known as someone who was communist, and he would rather be known as a citizen and also more importantly a soldier.

These literary terms help me to understand that the author clearly understands how war is and it gives the story more of an image to picture for ourselves. The message I got was that war can cause major regret and guilt but also shows what type of person you really want to be.

1)In the story, I killed a man the two most significant lit terms are imagery. A good example is ”the  upper lip and gum and teeth were gone, the man's head cocked at the wrong angle as if loose at the neck and the neck was wet with blood.”  and pov a good example is “ the skin on the right cheek was smooth and fine-grained and hairless  frail-looking delicately boned the young man would not have wanted to be a soldier in his heart would've feared performing badly.'' This gives so much detail if it were another narrator you wouldn't be able to look at the sense and picture every thought it just gives you a way better description of how men look at war this helps you picture the trauma and cruel things soldiers have to witness on the daily.  

2)In the story ambush the two most significant lit terms are perspective a good example of this is   “…and stop staring and ask me what the dead man would've done if things were reversed” this helps the story by showing she's trying to get perspective on someone else's perspective which is confusing but also explains how she's feeling in a way, and imagery a good example of this is  “ and I remember it was still dark when Kiowa shook me awake for the final watch the night was foggy and hot. for the first few moments, I felt lost, not sure about directions groping for my helmet and weapon” it helps the reader understand what the weather was like and the feeling of your body in confusion.  

“The guy was dead when he stepped on the trail…. We all had him zeroed. A good kill- weapon, ammunition, everything. (pg 129 “Ambush”) Perspective

This quote resembles the perspective of a soldier very well. It shows what they see in the line of action. They can see a person and already know they have to kill them or can anticipate what is going to happen based on their setting and what they are prepared for. 

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

This quote helped me understand that some can get so sucked into war and their instinct that has been drilled into them that they can make choices that they wouldn't normally think to do but they have been trained to make decisions like that. I believe this quote is such an understatement because the soldier says this line so calmly for the severity of the decision he had made. The person he threw the grenade at might not have been of harm at all but because of what he has been taught he instinctively threw the grenade. 

I think the author's perspective may be that those involved with war can get so sucked into what they have been trained and they are taken over by their duty. 

The message I took from this story is that war can impact shoulders more than they realize. Before they come home they may not even realize how messed up they are after what they have gone through, they may never be the same again.

The things they carried 

“The Man I Killed” By Tim O’Brien

“It was not a matter of live or die. There was no real peril. Almost certainly the young man would have passed by. And it will always be that way.” (O'Brien 133) this shows Perspective, showing how he killing a person he had no hate for. The guilt left him emotionally harmed and unforgiving of himself.

“He lay at the center of the trail, his right leg bent beneath him, his one eye shut, his other eye a huge star-shaped hole.” (O'Brien 133) This quote represents imagery and character. It shows the character's guilt and how he feels about killing someone. This quote shows the theme in detail because the person seemed harmless. 

The author's perspective in the book is innocent people are fighting each other for government problems and it is a bad thing.

In The Man  The message is. You still feel guilt whether you killed them or not.  I believe that the author’s perspective on war is that it is an awful and gruesome thing.

“His jaw was in his throat, his upper lip and teeth were gone”(Tim O’Brien 124) this is imagery because he describes something we can not see.

“His other eye was a star-shaped hole”(Tim O’Brien 124) this is imagery because he describes a wound that we can not see.  Thes two quotes help me understand that war is a gruesome thing and some people feel remorse for those they did not kill.

The man I killed 

In this story, I saw multiple literary terms but the 2 I fit best are imagery and simile. In this story just like the last one, the author is trying to express war as hell. A man killed a man but didn't just kill him he shot him in the face and it was very messy and he wasn't very proud of it like his comrades, “I'm just saying the truth, Like oatmeal” this is the simile his comrade is describing the man he just killed and what that looks like and at this point they are kinda getting he doesn't like what he just did. The other quote is similar and where they describe his body.” you scrambled his sorry self” in this his comrade is also saying how he “scrambled” this man and I think the author is reaching and saying how war is hell because, in my opinion, I wouldn't want to hear how I made a man look like oatmeal or “scrambled” someone after doing something I am not proud of.