Literature Analysis #2

1. The Things They Carried is a collection of different stories told about Tim O'Brien, the author, and his experiences in the Vietnam War. O'Brien was drafted in 1968, and he fled to Canada, in an attempt to escape going to the war. But he soon realized that he needed to serve his country, and he felt guilt, and shame on his family if he didn't leave. He decided to return to Minnesota and head off to Vietnam. Because the story is told in many different sub-stories, there aren't as many literature elements. There is an inciting incident, and that happens with the death of Kiowa, who happens to be one of O'Brien's best friends. O'Brien is affected by that for the rest of the book. The narrative fulfills the authors purpose, because he is able to write about his experiences in the war, and relieve them off his chest.

2. There are a few different themes to the novel. A big one is guilt. O'Brien feels guilt when he tries to avoid going to the war and going to Canada. His guilt is what brings him back to the United States, and causes him to go to the war. In the beginning of the book, when a man named Ted Lavender was shot and killed, another man named Jimmy Cross felt guilty because he was thinking about his college crush. Another theme is fear and it applies to everyone such as the fear of not going home, or the fear of death, or not being able to see the ones they love. 

3. The authors tone in the story was mainly a melancholy one. One example is "The road curved west, where the sun had now dipped low. He figured it was close to five o'clock-twenty after he guessed. The war had taught him to tell time without clocks, and even at night, waking from sleep, he would he usually place it within ten minutes either way." Another example is "He would've explained how during the dry season it was exactly like any other river, nothing special, but how in October the monsoons began and the whole situation changed. For a solid week the rains never stopped, not once, and so after a few days the Song Tra Bong overflowed its banks and the land turned into a deep, thick muck for half a mile on either side." The last example is "How the rain never stopped. How the cold worked into your bones. Sometimes the bravest thing on earth was to sit through the night and feel the cold in your bones. Corichan was not always a matter of yes or no. Sometimes it came in degrees, like the cold; sometimes you were very brave up to a point and then beyond that point you were not so brave. In certain situations you could do incredible things, you could advance toward enemy fire, but in other situations, which were not nearly so bad, you had trouble keeping your eyes open."

4. An example is on page 21 where O'Brien says "They carried all of their the emotional baggage of men who might die. Grief, terror, love, longing-these were intangibles, but the intangibles had their own mass and specific gravity, they had tangible weight." This is personification because O'Brien says that were carrying emotions. An example of simile is also on page 21 and goes "They died so as not to die of embarrassment." An example of imagery is on page 43 and goes "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. As a carcass passed by, you'd lean forward and swing the gun up against the clots and squeeze the trigger, all in one motion." An example of irony is on page 137 "The war was over and there was no place to go." This is ironic because you'd expect them to go home. An example of a metaphor is on page 124 and it says "His other eye was a star-shaped hole" comparing eye with a star shaped hole.

Characterization 

1. The author uses both direct and indirect characterization in this novel. An example of direct characterization is on the first page and it talks about Martha, Jimmy Cross's girlfriend, where it gives a great description of her. It says "she was a virgin, he was almost sure, and that she was an english major at Mount Sebastian." Another example is on page 2 where it talks about Henry Dobbins, Dave Jensen, and Ted Lavender, and what they carried. By knowing what they carried it gave some insight on to what the characters were like.

2. The author's syntax and diction change when he's describing Jimmy Cross's feelings for Martha. He is a lot more sincere and loving tone. It is also a lot more lengthy descriptions about her. However the rest of the book has a similar syntax with a blend of short and long sentences. 

3. The protagonist is a static and flat character. He remains mainly negative towards war, and his perspective never really changes. I talked about him having a melancholy tone, and that's how he feels about his current situation. Any man who's in the war that they don't want to be in, is going to feel that way, and O'Brien's opinion never really changes. 

4. After reading the book I feel like I met Lieutenant Cross. He was constantly thinking about his girlfriend and how much he loved her and missed her, and couldn't seem to get her out of his head. If I was in the same situation, I would be thinking about my girlfriend every day. Being away from her and knowing that I could die at any instant would be hard for me to cope with. I emphasize for Jimmy Cross and would never want to be in his position.