The Things They Carried
The book is filled with stories about the men of Alpha Company and their lives in Vietnam and afterwards back in the United States. O'Brien captures the reader with graphic descriptions of the war that make one feel as if they were in Vietnam. The characters are unique and the reader feels sadness and compassion for them by the end of the novel. One of the significant concepts in The Things They Carried is that of the importance of certain objects or feelings used by the soldiers of Alpha Company to survive the war. Some examples of these items are the picture of the girl carried by Jimmy Cross, the Bible carried by Kiowa, and the stockings carried by Henry Dobbins. All the items helped the respective soldier to survive from day to day and to continue fighting the war. One of the most important things that helped the soldiers is their friendship with each other. The bond that men form with each other in the heat of battle is incomprehensible to those who have not experienced warfare for themselves. It's a hard thing to explain to som
ebody who hasn't felt it, but the resence of death and danger has a way of bringing you fully awake. It makes things vivid. When you're afraid, really afraid, you see things you never saw before, you pay attention to the world. O'Brien, 220) This bond of friendship helps the men of Alpha Company survive on a day to day basis. O'Brien, 39). These men looked to each other for emotional support and reassurance since none was coming from the homefront. The men of Alpha Company trusted each other with their lives.The men trusted each other to make no mistakes because one mistake could cause someone to lose their life.At one point, the boy remembered, he'd been showing Kiowa a picture of his girlfriend. He remembered switching on his flashlight. A stupid thing to do, but he did it anyway, and he remembered Kiowa leaning in for a look at the picture - "Hey, she's cute," he'd said - and then the field exploded all around them. Like murder, the boy thought. The flashlight made it happen. Dumb and dangerous. And as a result his friend Kiowa was
Some common words found in the essay are:
Alpha Company, Henry Dobbins, Camp Narrator, Vietnam War, United O'Brien, alpha company, Cross Bible, , survive day, survive day day, friendship bond, day day, alpha company survive, talk war, narrator feels, bond soldiers, company survive, vietnam war, day day basis, day basis,
Approximate Word count = 700
Approximate Pages = 3 (250 words per page double spaced)
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