Conflict In The Things They Carried
The Vietnam war was a war that was fought without a reason. With 58,200 Americans killed in the war and 300,000 wounded, many people were affected and changed after seeing their friends die right before their eyes. The Things They Carried by Tim O’Brien is a narrative about the Vietnam war and the people who fought for their lives. The main character, being the author, is Tim O’Brien and the short stories in the novel are from before, during, and after the war. These first hand accounts describe what many characters introduced into war experience as they are forced to fight and watch the people around them die.In the novel, The Things They Carried, imagery clearly displays the effects of conflict in both individuals and communities and the
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She had come for Mark, however she seemed more interested in Vietnam itself. When she first arrived, she was innocent and in love, “A tall big-boned blonde. At best, Rat said, she was seventeen years old, fresh out of Cleveland Heights Senior High. She had long white legs and blue eyes and a complexion like strawberry ice cream. Very friendly, too” (O’Brien, 89). You can see her arriving very friendly and innocent, like sweet ice cream with no imperfections. Rat later talking about how they had been sweethearts since the sixth grade and how they planned to have a beautiful family together. She seems like something out of a movie unknowing of what the war will do to her. She then gets a peek at what Vietnam is really like and starts to change into something unrecognizable, “A watched feeling- and a couple of times they almost saw her sliding through the shadows. Not quite, but almost. She had crossed to the other side. She was part of the land. She was wearing her culottes, her pink sweater, and a necklace of human tongues. She was dangerous. She was ready for the kill.” (O’Brien, 110). Although she looks very similar on the outside from the day she arrived, with her innocent outfit of culottes and a sweater, she has now become something of fear and a part of the shadows, the reader can almost feel her watching from behind. Nobody had known where she had gone, but her innocence was lost after seeing what happened in Vietnam with all of the fighting. Not only did Mary Anne change, but her boyfriend, Mark, was lost without her and she had an impact on the platoon after disappearing into the forest. After being brought into the conflict a sweet, innocent, girl has been changed into a hunter of the
She had come for Mark, however she seemed more interested in Vietnam itself. When she first arrived, she was innocent and in love, “A tall big-boned blonde. At best, Rat said, she was seventeen years old, fresh out of Cleveland Heights Senior High. She had long white legs and blue eyes and a complexion like strawberry ice cream. Very friendly, too” (O’Brien, 89). You can see her arriving very friendly and innocent, like sweet ice cream with no imperfections. Rat later talking about how they had been sweethearts since the sixth grade and how they planned to have a beautiful family together. She seems like something out of a movie unknowing of what the war will do to her. She then gets a peek at what Vietnam is really like and starts to change into something unrecognizable, “A watched feeling- and a couple of times they almost saw her sliding through the shadows. Not quite, but almost. She had crossed to the other side. She was part of the land. She was wearing her culottes, her pink sweater, and a necklace of human tongues. She was dangerous. She was ready for the kill.” (O’Brien, 110). Although she looks very similar on the outside from the day she arrived, with her innocent outfit of culottes and a sweater, she has now become something of fear and a part of the shadows, the reader can almost feel her watching from behind. Nobody had known where she had gone, but her innocence was lost after seeing what happened in Vietnam with all of the fighting. Not only did Mary Anne change, but her boyfriend, Mark, was lost without her and she had an impact on the platoon after disappearing into the forest. After being brought into the conflict a sweet, innocent, girl has been changed into a hunter of the