The things they carried blog response

I definitely preferred this story more than any we have read so far.  What I really liked about it was the authors use of repetition, how he used the same basic idea but in a different way each time so that the reader is able to learn more about the characters depicted in the story. This  use of carrying items as a metaphor is very effective, as it conveys a great deal in a relatively simple way. From the initial listing of physical, practical objects, which include several personal objects of each of the individually named soldiers, which illustrates a lot about the character of these me- the man who carried the bible, or the one who carried condom. The other uses of this metaphor include how they ‘carry themselves’ while in battle, and the memories the carry with them.

The other use of metaphor was the representation of civilian or ‘normal; life in the portrayal of the girl Martha. It is made clear that she is symbolic, when the central narrator decides it is because he was constantly thinking of her that caused his friend to die. The point in the story where he burns her letters- the ones that never mentioned the war- is a clear rejection of his former life.

The time jumps in this story are also an interesting feature. Events are not listed chronologically, but are only united in terms of the list of what the men are carrying.

Writing Techniques

I really enjoyed both Emergency and The Things They Carried, particularly because the writing styles used in each were so different. Emergency used a lot of dialogue which made it feel like you were present in the scene. The language used also gave you an idea of what the main character was like. Phrases like "bent over in the posture of a child soiling its diaper" (275) and its "tasted the way urine smelled" (277) are oddly descriptive sayings that a normal person would not think of. They are definitely the way a nurse thinks. It is clear that she is unphased by normal things, as she so calmly states that "around 3:30 AM a guy with a knife in his eye came in" (275). I have an aunt that is a nurse and this is exactly how she reacts to things - almost nothing can surprise her anymore.

In The Things They Carried, the language was extremely detailed. Sentences were long and descriptive, and there was almost no dialogue. At points it felt like I was reading someone's diary. I really liked how the word "carried" had so many different meanings. It could refer to emotions, drugs, a body, a "grandmother's distrust for the white man" (367), condoms, a diary, and rock, comic books, etc. The list goes on and on. The language was very dense and heavy, like how I imagine constantly being surrounded by death and violence would feel. One particular line that stuck out to me was "And they dreamed of freedom birds" (382). These men dream of being free, living life without the fear of dying, and being with those who they love. It was written in its own single line, which I believe added to its dramatic effect.

11/13/14 Writing Techniques

Emergency by Denis Johnson was filled with dialogue, imagery, and dark humor. Starting from the first page to the last, the story is mostly told through dialogue, it gives us a good feeling of the characters. Even the last sentence is dialogue. Georgie says "I save lives" when Hardee asks him what he does for a living. This was a really strong ending because it shows us how Georgie really feels about his career, and he is proud of what he does. The imagery is also a very important part of this short story. We can imagine the grotesque image of Terrence Weber having a knife in his eye that was placed there by his wife. The imagery really makes one feel like he or she is there with the characters, quietly experiencing everything they do. The dark humor is my favorite aspect of the story. Georgie's character really adds to the mass of it. He pulls out knives nonchalantly and doesn't remember the patient afterwards. He gives the author a nice dose of sass as well. The sarcasm, knives, and dead bunnies really add a nice humorous feel to the story. Although I feel like the story was a bit fast-paced and sort of all over the place, I still believe it is a great narrative.

Short Story Techniques

The short story, “Emergency” Denis Johnson uses two distinctive techniques to lay out the story for his readers. Johnson creates a narrator who is a drug user and works in a hospital, which makes him an attention grabbing character. The other character, Georgie, is just as interesting and also a pill-popping drug user. These characters are so random with what they see, say, and do, that it is baffling as a reader. Without diving deeper into the text, this story is just insane. Johnson uses what I would call abstract imagery, unknowing what’s real and what’s not. For example, the character Georgie is not hurt or disgusted by the terrible circumstances of the rabbit he accidentally ran over. Instead, he finds an enormous desire to care for the baby bunnies that the rabbit was impregnated with. Everything seems like a hallucination, but has an underlying truth of how life works.

In “The Things They Carried,” the story seems to be more genuine because of the dialogue. Grammar is not taken into consideration with casual cursing and broken English. Tim O’ Brien breaks into his characters minds with what they desire and fantasizes about, like how Jimmy Cross feels for Martha. As a reader I was able to easily tap into how the soldiers felt, like the guilt and pain they had after the death of Kiowa. Tim O’Brien writes with a descriptive flow. His written language is a strong technique. He also keeps a repetitive theme. He brings up the "things carried" (which some could be forms of symbolism) and then listing the weight of those things more then once. 

The Things They Carried

My favorite thing about “The Things they Carried” is the extreme use of details. I love how in the description of the items that the soldiers carried, the items revealed character details and different personalities. As the author lists different items, he goes into stories. I also like the constant contrast between strong and weak. Lieutenant Cross, as a soldier, is supposed to be weak; yet, when he is weak, he and his team suffer- same for Ted Lavender. I loved how the soldiers didn’t just carry things, but also carried each other, as well as infections, lice, and ringworms. The author mentions how the soldiers carried the “burden of being alive,” which encompasses things- not just their items, but the difficulties and complexities of life. So in a sense, the items symbolize the obstacles human encounter. Yet at the end, when Cross burns the letters from Martha, we realize that the things don’t matter. 

The Things They Carried

Though it wasn't my favorite short story we've read so far (that would probably be "Emergency" just because it was a interesting read and because Georgie is such a fun, unique character), "The Things They Carried" definitely left an imprint on my mind - nothing really mind-blowing per se, but something you just can't stop thinking about. All the rich, gritty detail with which Tim O'brien describes Vietnam  and the pounds of weight that the men carry make the pages physically seem heavier. The way O'brien presents the story reminded me of Kurt Vonnnegut's repeated phrase "So it goes." from Slaughter-house Five. The mentality that that was just the way it was and there's no way to change it. "Over and over - there it is, my friend, there it is - as if the repetition itself were an act poise, a balance between  crazy and almost crazy...because Oh yeah, man, you can't change what can't be changed, there it is, there it absolutely and positively and fucking well is" (380-381). The enormous weight the men carry is also outweighed by the emotional baggage they have to lug throughout the war. Lieutenant Jimmy Cross's unrequited love for Martha is painfully doubled by the guilt he bears for putting that hopeless love before the men he has to care for. All the random things the men carry, like Rat Kiley's comic books or Henry Dobbins's pantyhose, serve as ways for the men to continue having an idea of the civilian world with which they have lost touch. I think my favorite line in the entire story is the short sentence on page 372: "They all carried ghosts." The men carry vestiges of what they once were, and, if they ever go back to their old lives, it will never be as they once were.

Emergency

For this, my final blog post, I will be talking about Emergency. I'll go over the writing techniques that I liked, and why I loved the story. Enjoy.

One of my favorite parts of Emergency was the creative use of flashbacks. In a cliche story, a flashback might come during a time of the main character's realization that something from his past is triggering something in his future. A martial arts master might remember some particular thing about his training while in the final moment of his greatest battle. Bullshit like that. But in Emergency, the flashbacks were scattered all over the story in strange places that didn't really have much to do with the story until the final flashback (which still didn't really have that much to do with the story). It's difficult, sometimes, to even tell where the story is heading, and whether it's in a flashback or in the present. I like that a lot.

I also liked the character development a lot, because it threw me off guard. When we're first introduced to Georgie as the orderly who is scatterbrained and always stealing pills, we get the sense (because of the way the main character talks about him) that the main character is NOT like Georgie. But later in the story, we find out that the main character is pretty much exactly like Georgie. And throughout the story, we find out that Georgie might not be as incompetent as he seems, and may have a gift for surgery/"saving peoples' lives."

In conclusion, this is the worst, most poorly thought-out ending to a blog post that I could've ever thought of. But maybe it's kind of clever. I don't know.