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.
Thursday, November 13, 2014
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.
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.
Wednesday, November 12, 2014
Emergency and The things we carried
"Emergency" succeeded in developing character through the use of dialogue. This story created its characters with snippets of dialogue, followed by quick descriptions that put such a clear image in my head of that portrayed character, especially Georgie. From the line, "there's so much goop inside of us, man", to when he pulls the knife out of the Terrence Weber's eye without even noticing, the reader gets a good depiction of who Georgie is. By the end of the book, the reader understands that Georgie is not a try-hard, but a very caring, brave, and all around good person.
"The things we carried" was very clever in the way it was written, but also very depressing. I am currently reading "Blood Meridian" by Cormac McCarthy, so i'm about to overload on depressing war literature, but I saw many similarities between these writers. They both use lots of descriptive run on sentences, although O'Brien's were much easier to read, given that I was not reaching for the thesaurus at least three times a page. I perceived "the things we carried" like a stream of consciousness, and besides Jimmy Cross, the characters were not exactly described individually in great detail, but more so as one pack of people. Unlike "Emergency", where there were less characters, but more focus on development.
"The things we carried" was very clever in the way it was written, but also very depressing. I am currently reading "Blood Meridian" by Cormac McCarthy, so i'm about to overload on depressing war literature, but I saw many similarities between these writers. They both use lots of descriptive run on sentences, although O'Brien's were much easier to read, given that I was not reaching for the thesaurus at least three times a page. I perceived "the things we carried" like a stream of consciousness, and besides Jimmy Cross, the characters were not exactly described individually in great detail, but more so as one pack of people. Unlike "Emergency", where there were less characters, but more focus on development.
The Things They Carried
Tim Obrien's "The Things They Carried" is written in the direction of a collection of short stories or a stream of consciousness both representing the horrors of the Vietnam War, as well as the identity and life experiences of each soldier. The setting of course takes place in a war zone however Obrien is careful to dive into the lives of several solider characters. The details go from distant memories, to wishful thinking (Jimmy Cross' infatuation with a college girl named Martha), as well as tiny details of what each soldier brings with them on their dangerous journey. Most of the time Obrien describes these items in simply a bland, materialistic way; however there is also an underlying meaning behind them which may make an allusion to the title "Things They Carried." The things they carry can represent both fragments of their former selves before being conformed to warfare, and stripped down to a uniform and a gun, as well as burdens they may carry with them. These burdens may be a result of what happened in their pasts or past regrets, or they could be burdens of warfare, and traumatizing events that most likely took place within the jungles of Vietmam during such a bloody war. Overall Obrien's writing techniques revolve mostly around a sort of stream of consciousness narrative while revolving around the lives, emotions, and pasts of several soldiers, that are most likely designed to become relatable to the reader.
Denis Johnson's Emergency
Denis Johnson's "Emergency" is primarily dialogue-driven which complements the fast-paced nature of the story. Since it is situated in an emergency room, it makes sense that the plot progresses quickly, and allowing conversation to carry the story is the most effective way to do so. This device also lends a face-paced sense of immediacy to the storyline, and therefore allows the reader to become convinced and engrossed in the story more easily. Whenever Johnson does interject, he writes in first person and adapts a casual dialect that allows the piece to be conversational and again complements the immediacy of the story. He also emphasizes the episodic nature of the environment he is writing about by jumping from scene to scene, again, adding to the immediacy.
Emergency
One technique evident within the story "Emergency" is the use of dialogue. The dialogue within the text is very prevalent and functions in multiple ways including creating a scene and revealing character. For example when Georgie and the narrator are talking following Georgie's removal of the knife from the man's eye, Georgie's responses are very cool and relaxed, "'How's the guy doing?' I asked 'Who?' Georgie said". Georgie's indicated to the reader that Georgie was unfazed by the action of removing a knife from someone's eye, this spoke loudly about his character revealing things such as; he's not squeamish, he's brave, he's one to act then analyze. All of these things are revealed through the short phrase "Who".
The author also uses dialogue to create a scene which adds momentum to the story. This is best exemplified when examining the scene where Georgie and the narrator run over the rabbit and then discover its babies. This scene is almost completely dialogue but by inserting phrases "It's getting late, let's get back to town." and "We can't go on I don't have any headlights." Both of these phrases exemplify how the author uses dialogue to describe an issue which in turn creates the next scene for the story. This makes the story flow together very nicely and allows it to move in a way which does not feel forced.
A final technique used within the story is summary. The author uses summary to describe the scenes, but keeps said summaries relatively short. This works effectively because the readers are then offered some contextual description without getting lost in long, irrelevant descriptions. One place where I think the author achieves this seamlessly is the summary preceding the rabbit scene, "After awhile you forget its summer. You don't remember what morning is". While concise, these two sentences describe both the season, and also enlighten the reader to the feelings of the narrator.
The author also uses dialogue to create a scene which adds momentum to the story. This is best exemplified when examining the scene where Georgie and the narrator run over the rabbit and then discover its babies. This scene is almost completely dialogue but by inserting phrases "It's getting late, let's get back to town." and "We can't go on I don't have any headlights." Both of these phrases exemplify how the author uses dialogue to describe an issue which in turn creates the next scene for the story. This makes the story flow together very nicely and allows it to move in a way which does not feel forced.
A final technique used within the story is summary. The author uses summary to describe the scenes, but keeps said summaries relatively short. This works effectively because the readers are then offered some contextual description without getting lost in long, irrelevant descriptions. One place where I think the author achieves this seamlessly is the summary preceding the rabbit scene, "After awhile you forget its summer. You don't remember what morning is". While concise, these two sentences describe both the season, and also enlighten the reader to the feelings of the narrator.
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