I chose this blog because I enjoyed my wording and transitions in describing O'Brien's writing style.
One point that suggests that O’Brien’s book marks an original turn when it comes to war experience literature is his candid description
of his (or the character Tim’s) war experience. In other books and movies on war, we get a heroic, romantic image of war and the everyday life of a soldier. The pictures we looked at as part of this assignment also give off that impression; everyone is smiling and posing for the camera. The only thing that reminds you that they are in a war is their uniforms and an occasional, over-sized gun hanging from their necks.
However, O’Brien offers a totally different image to readers. For example, in the chapter, “The Things They Carried,” O’Brien gives a very detailed list of all the things the men carried and how much each thing weighs. They carry various weapons, lucky charms, comic books, intoxicating drugs, medical supplies, diseases, photographs, and possessions of their loved ones. He also says that they not only carry the physical weight of their supplies, but also their reputations, their fears, their memories of their lives before the war, and the reality that they could die at any given moment. This is a very, very heavy burden to bear. When Ted Lavender was shot, Kiowa says that he simply collapsed. It wasn’t like in the movies where they keep crawling or have last words before they are completely gone. “Boom-down, and you were dead, never partly dead” (page 23, last
paragraph).
Another point is that O’Brien gives very detailed descriptions
of not only the scenery, but also of what the men are thinking. In the chapter, “On the Rainy River,” it reads, “Even in my imagination, the shore just twenty yards away, I couldn’t make myself be brave. It had nothing to do with morality. Embarrassment, that’s all it was,” on page 57, paragraph 1. He is very honest, and doesn’t sugar-coat any of his thoughts or true feelings. O’Brien also mentions the weather, such as the scorching heat, bitter cold, rolling fog, and the never ending bites of ravenous mosquitoes. This makes readers feel like they are right there, seeing, and feeling the story unfold before their very eyes.
One interesting story-telling pattern O’Brien employs is that he rarely uses quotation marks around conversation. He just jumps from narrating and thoughts to conversation, and he doesn’t always explicitly mention who is talking, either. It makes it feel more vivid and real—it doesn’t feel like a script or a screenplay where the audience is disconnected from the action and only watching from afar. The audience is right
there—they are the soldiers. They are Tim O’Brien.
The thing that stood out to me the most was the feelings of outrage, sadness, indignation, confusion, and shame that Tim
feels when he receives his draft notice. I was very confused and frustrated during senior year. I was expected to know where I was going to go to college, know what I was going to major in, and know what I was going to do for the rest of my life. I had no idea. I can relate to Tim’s constant worrying and the feeling of being consumed by having to make a choice—however, my situation can’t hold a candle to his. War truly is such a horrible thing.
The shifting of gears used by O’Brien is truly unique. In the first chapter, he talks about the past, and he also talks in 3rd person. However, in the Chapter, “Spin,” he uses first person in the present tense, and he talks about his life as a writer rather than his story as a soldier, and how the two seem to blend into one another. “I feel guilty sometimes…I’m still writing war stories…it’s an obsession…I should forget it…As a writer, all you can do is pick a street and go for the ride, putting things down as they come at you. That’s the real obsession. All those stories” (page 33, paragraph 2). He so effortlessly switches between 3rd and 1st person; past and present; soldier and story teller; and sometimes, he mixes these elements in such a way that the chapters are linked like a chain of islands. Each is powerful enough to stand on its own, and yet, every island is connected to the other. It’s a truly fascinating style of writing, and I look forward to whatever else O’Brien has in store for readers in his award-winning novel, The Things They Carried.
One point that suggests that O’Brien’s book marks an original turn when it comes to war experience literature is his candid description
of his (or the character Tim’s) war experience. In other books and movies on war, we get a heroic, romantic image of war and the everyday life of a soldier. The pictures we looked at as part of this assignment also give off that impression; everyone is smiling and posing for the camera. The only thing that reminds you that they are in a war is their uniforms and an occasional, over-sized gun hanging from their necks.
However, O’Brien offers a totally different image to readers. For example, in the chapter, “The Things They Carried,” O’Brien gives a very detailed list of all the things the men carried and how much each thing weighs. They carry various weapons, lucky charms, comic books, intoxicating drugs, medical supplies, diseases, photographs, and possessions of their loved ones. He also says that they not only carry the physical weight of their supplies, but also their reputations, their fears, their memories of their lives before the war, and the reality that they could die at any given moment. This is a very, very heavy burden to bear. When Ted Lavender was shot, Kiowa says that he simply collapsed. It wasn’t like in the movies where they keep crawling or have last words before they are completely gone. “Boom-down, and you were dead, never partly dead” (page 23, last
paragraph).
Another point is that O’Brien gives very detailed descriptions
of not only the scenery, but also of what the men are thinking. In the chapter, “On the Rainy River,” it reads, “Even in my imagination, the shore just twenty yards away, I couldn’t make myself be brave. It had nothing to do with morality. Embarrassment, that’s all it was,” on page 57, paragraph 1. He is very honest, and doesn’t sugar-coat any of his thoughts or true feelings. O’Brien also mentions the weather, such as the scorching heat, bitter cold, rolling fog, and the never ending bites of ravenous mosquitoes. This makes readers feel like they are right there, seeing, and feeling the story unfold before their very eyes.
One interesting story-telling pattern O’Brien employs is that he rarely uses quotation marks around conversation. He just jumps from narrating and thoughts to conversation, and he doesn’t always explicitly mention who is talking, either. It makes it feel more vivid and real—it doesn’t feel like a script or a screenplay where the audience is disconnected from the action and only watching from afar. The audience is right
there—they are the soldiers. They are Tim O’Brien.
The thing that stood out to me the most was the feelings of outrage, sadness, indignation, confusion, and shame that Tim
feels when he receives his draft notice. I was very confused and frustrated during senior year. I was expected to know where I was going to go to college, know what I was going to major in, and know what I was going to do for the rest of my life. I had no idea. I can relate to Tim’s constant worrying and the feeling of being consumed by having to make a choice—however, my situation can’t hold a candle to his. War truly is such a horrible thing.
The shifting of gears used by O’Brien is truly unique. In the first chapter, he talks about the past, and he also talks in 3rd person. However, in the Chapter, “Spin,” he uses first person in the present tense, and he talks about his life as a writer rather than his story as a soldier, and how the two seem to blend into one another. “I feel guilty sometimes…I’m still writing war stories…it’s an obsession…I should forget it…As a writer, all you can do is pick a street and go for the ride, putting things down as they come at you. That’s the real obsession. All those stories” (page 33, paragraph 2). He so effortlessly switches between 3rd and 1st person; past and present; soldier and story teller; and sometimes, he mixes these elements in such a way that the chapters are linked like a chain of islands. Each is powerful enough to stand on its own, and yet, every island is connected to the other. It’s a truly fascinating style of writing, and I look forward to whatever else O’Brien has in store for readers in his award-winning novel, The Things They Carried.
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