MY LAST SUMMER BLOG:)

For the last blog, I want to talk about the ending. I mean how can you blog about a book and not talk about that? You can't! So this book ends with O'Brien saying "I realize it as Tim trying to save Timmy's life with a story" (page 233). After reading this line, I was really confused. I was not sure what he wanted us to take from this at first, but after thinking I somewhat understand it. Linda's death was hard for Tim at a fairly young age. He had to deal with it, and I think he dealed with it by telling stories. In his dream, Linda compares herself to a book and says she "jsut hope[s] somebody'll pick it up and start reading" (page 232). When she says this, I think it compells Tim to start writing and telling stories. By telling stories, you do not forget. Since the dead cannot come back and tell people about themselves, Tim feels like he should tell their story for them. He starts to tell stories as a way to coop with his greif. By telling stories, Tim remembers the people not as just dead people, but as the people he knew and loved. His stories bring them to life.
Overall, I really did enjoy this book. It had some good and interesting stories. I did like it better than the other book, so I am glad I saved it for last!

Euphemism!!!!

When I was reading, I found two instances where euphemisms were used. On page 209, it says "Too many body bags." On page 224, it says "she kicked the bucket". Both of these mean that people died. I found it weird how O'Brien could explain to the finest detail about a dead person, but at page 209 could not say a lot of people died. I think that death is such a touchy subject, and honestly, I think it should. Death is not an easy thing to deal with. When I saw euphemisms in a book about war and death, I thought about how much we hate to talk about it. I am not sure I just found these euphemisms somewhat ironic in the story since we heard all about Kiowa, Lavendar, and the young soldier's death. Euphemisms are used so much and sometimes they can be funny, but they really do lighten the situation or make it not so hard to say what happened. This is just something I thought of when I cam across these.

SAD:(

page 188:
"Sanders shrugged. 'People change. Situations change. I hate to say this, man, but you're out of touch. Jorgenson- he's with us now.'
' And I'm not?'
Sanders looked at me for a moment.
'No,' he said. ' I guess you're not.' "
After reading this, I felt sorry for Tim. He left because he was hurt. He didn't choose to leave, and when he talks to Sanders he finds out he isn't one of them anymore. Its like he was divorced from the group. Before they were his family, and now he is almost like an outcast since he was gone for so long. Also, I know that before they must have held it against Jorgenson, but now Tim is gone, so they side with Jorgenson. It really is sad because I know how it feels to lose friends. Even though Tim hasn't completely lost them as friends, he must feel some sort of betrayl because they are acting like they like the person who hurt him more than him. I think this is harsh of Sanders to say especially since Tim did not want to be relieved from duty. This part stuck out to me because I feel sorry easily.

Why We NEED these Stories

There are so many different stories in this book that O'Brien shares with us. He tells these stories so that people never forget. He wants people to understand the war and the things that the soldiers went through. On page 175, his daughter Kathleen says "Some dumb thing happens a long time ago and you can't even forget it". This supports every reason of why O'Brien should and does tell these stories. People die off and forget what happens, but those people who were there and witnessed firsthand what happened must tell the stories. If people forget or say that what happened was stupid, then I think there is more of a chance of it happening again. You know what they say, "History repeats itself". By telling the stories, O'Brien makes sure that we know of the terrible things that happened and how hard it was on him. We can better understand history by these stories. Also, this reminds me of the survivors of the Holocaust telling their stories because already people are saying it never happened. Through their stories, the survivors make sure everyone knows it happened and are making sure history does not repeat itself.

Twins! (not really but kind of)

Page 165: "She won't send another one. She's not even my girl anymore, she won't... Man I got to find it."
When I read page 165, I was instantly reminded of Cross at the very beginning of the story. The young soldier had lost this picture of the girl he was most likely still in love with. He was caring more about losing this picture than Kiowa, who had been killed. Cross was the same to me. In the beginning, he carried around letters, pictures, and gifts from Martha. She did not love him, but he loved her, just like the young soldier and his once girl. When Lavendar died, he had been thinking of Martha, just like the soldier had been thinking of the girl in his picture. Either way, the two of them were focusing on something that should have been in the back of their minds. When they were at war, I think they needed to think of their fellow men because they were the ones who had each others back.

Why Is It Important??

When reading this book, I was wondering why what the soldiers carried was so important. It is interesting and all but I wasn't sure why it was such a focus of this book. I figured it out when I read about the young man that Tim killed. When I read about how they found "a pouch of rice, a comb, fingernail clipper, a few soiled piasters, a snapshot of a young woman standing in front of a parked motorcycle" (page 123), I felt almost sad. When you see what they carried, you learn about who that person was and a little about their life. If a soldier died, what they carried could identify them and make them human, not just a soldier or the enemy. I think that Tim feels worse when he begins to learn about the man because he realizes that this guy is in the same boat as him. I think that by reading this part I see why what they carried was so important to them. Also, I think what they carried for personal reasons would take their mind off the war. I know if I was in war I would want to escape even just a few minutes from it and put myself in a different place, like a picture of my friends or family.

Details, Details, Details

On page 118, there are so many great details. A few examples are: "his eyebrows were thin and arched like a woman's eyebrow" , "clean black hair was swept upward into the cowlick at the rear of the skull, his forehead was lightly freckled", and "the blood there was think and shiny".
All of these phrases I find as perfect examples of how detailed this story was. O'Brien did not leave much to the imagination. He pretty much wrote out every detail of the situation. The reader did not have to wonder what was going on or what they saw or smelt because he wrote everything that a reader would ever want to know. Sometimes this meant even some gruesome or graphic images, such as the ones above that deal with the man Tim shot. I really liked this about the book because details always make me feel like I am there in the story. Also, most people never have experienced the things that take place in the book, but O'Brien makes us feel like we have after reading his intricate writing. I think this mad the book very good. Details make the reader feel one with the characters.

Superstitions

A lot of the things the soldiers carried had a special purpose for certain situations they may face. While this is true, some of the things they carried were merely for moral support, luck, or superstitions. They felt like having a good luck charm they would be safe from danger. When Dobbins' girlfriend broke up with him, you would expect him to get rid of the stockings he used almost as a scarf. Wrong. He kept them and continued to use them even after they ended. He said "The magic doesn't go away"(page 112). He believed that the stockings are what kept him safe in dangerous situations. This is purely superstition because I doubt it was due to wearing some stockings around his neck that he was kept alive. This part really reminded me of my dad. He is very superstitious about things like Dobbins. He wore the same shirt for every Colts football game until they won the Superbowl. He thought that if he didn't wear it then it would affect how they played. I just found it funny how Dobbins did kind of the same thing.

Dead and Alive

This book has a lot of stories pertaining to death. One phrase that caught my atttention was on page 78 when O'Brien says "you're never more alive than when you're almost dead. You recognize what's valuable". This really was interesting to me because we always hear about how people see things in a life/death situation. In Dear John, John has a near death experience when he is shot. He tells his father that right before he blacked out, he saw coins and his dad. Coins was a memory he had with his father, so pretty much he just thought of his dad. He sees what was truly important to him throughout his entire life. The person that had been there for him no matter what. In addition, I read a book this summer called Secrets of a Shoe Addict. I honestly didn't like this book at all, but when reading The Things They Carried I was reminded of a scene in this book. One of the women in the book reveals that when she had a near death experience she did not see anything. She said it was then she realized she had nothing important or worth living for in her current life so she changed the way she lived. She became more holy and pretty much forgot her life before. I hope to never have this sort of experience, but if I did I hope that I see what I find most important to me.

BIG decision

On page 53, Tim must make a life changing decsion of whether to go to Canada and avoid the war, or leave home for the war. He must choose what he wants to do on his own. This decision reminds me of Julius Caesar and the Rubican River. He had to make a decsion where either outcome would change his life and cause a problem either way. Similarly, Tim is making a decision where he is about to change his life forever. Whatever he decides to do, he will not be the same person he once was. The reason I was reminded of Julius Caesar is when he says he crossed " that dotted line between two different worlds"(page 53). Caesar is the same way when he has to decide whether to cross the River or not. Both of these decisions are hugely important to the story. If Caesar hadn't crossed the river, the story would have been completely different. If Tim hadn't gone to war, there would be no stories about war, which means there would be not book called "The Things They Carried".

Literary Term #10

Hyperbole

• page 198: "I weighed less than nothing."

This hyperbole is obvious in this phrase. The reason I wanted to blog about this is the context it was in. It was used to show how Tim changed. He changed from hating Jorgenson and wanting revenge, to putting himself in his position. He begins to relate to the person he once hated with a passion. This hyperbole is effective because it provides a clear transition of Tim changing his feelings of the past to his newfound feelings and thoughts. He puts himself into a different point of view. In addition, this hyperbole reminds me of a Christmas Carol when Scrooge is like a ghost and goes to the past, present, and future seeing everything going on. I think of this part as the spirit, which is like a ghost, of Tim going and watching Jorgenson while his physical body is sitting there getting revenge. It is providing the reader with an understanding of why he changes his mind of the revenge.

Literary Term #9

Assonance

• page 151: " A guy who can't get his act together and just drives around town all day and can't think of any damn place to go and doesn't know how to get there anyway."

Assonance allows for description. Details is an important part of this book because it is what draws the reader in. It yet again engages them in the story because they feel as if they are a part of the story. Instead of reading, they are taking part with the chracters. Experiencing what they experience. This example of assonance shows how O'Brien used different ways to make his work flow smoothly and catch the reader's attention. I noticed this because I am used to seeing alliteration all over, but assonance is not usually there. This is just a different way for him to write, which is good because it keeps us reading. Also, it makes the book not mundane. Rather, I found it interesting because I like to see how the author uses different techniques for description, characterization, and sentence flow.

Literary Term #8

Anecdote

• page 82: "I want to tell you a quick Curt Lemon story." Page 84:"The dentist couldn't find any problem, but Lemon kept insisting, sot he man finally shrugged and shot in the Novocain and yanked out a perfectly good tooth."

This is an anecdote that comes about because Lemon is killed. The anecdote is a way to show the kind of person Lemon was since we did not hear much about him before. Also, this anecdote is used to show the effect of embarassment on a soldier. Earlier in the story we heard about how a "soldier's greatest fear..was the fear of blushing"(page 20). This emphasizes this point made. The only reason that Lemon had his tooth removed was because he needed to undo the embarassment he had from fainting in the dentist office. He could not live with such an unimportant occurance. Yeah it is embarassisng, but things can be forgotten or just not mentioned. Instead of this, he tried to get rid of the embarassment, not caring the pain it could cause. He had his tooth pulled merely to serve as an excuse for his fainting spell. This provides support for the theme of the story concerning fear, embarassment, and a soldier. A soldier could not deal with any sort of embarssment. They were to be seen as tough and having no faults, or so they thought this. This anecdote provides the reader with how strong of an impact embarassment had on them.

Literary Term #7

Flashback

• page 55: "Chunks of my own history flashed by. I saw a seven-year-old boy in a white cowboy hat and a Lone Ranger mask and a pair of bolstered six-shooters;I saw a twelve-year-old Little League shortstop pivoting t o turn a double play.....My whole life seemed to spill out into the river.."

This is a great example of flashbacks. During an important life changing decision, Tim's life flashes before him because he is about to completely change. No longer will he be the person he once was. After his choice, he will alter himself and become a new person. Either way he will not be who he was in his youth. Flashbacks allow for the reader to become a part of the character. They start to feel their feelings and become engaged by wanting the character to pick a certain way. This is also important to the story becasue it reveals Tim's past in a clever way. I think this flashback allows for the reader to understand where Tim is coming from. Lastly, the flashbacks are an effective way of showing that change is about to occur.

Literary Term #6

Motif

• page 19: "There's a moral here, said Mitchell Sanders."

This is a common phrase made when finishing a war story. This is an important motif since storytelling is one of the major themes of the book. The moral of the stories is either ridiculous or funny, or it is really a life lesson or new thing they have learned as a result of a certain situation. i think that it may also be a way to make a sad story humerous. An example would be on page 20 when the moral of the story of Lavendar's death is "Stay away from drugs..they'll ruin your day every time."(page 20). Yes, this is a true statement, but it is funny because really this is not a good moral to the story. We just heard a really depressing death story and the moral deals with drugs? I didn't think his death really had much to do with his use of drugs. (In addition, this phares presents irony because to Lavendar the drugs made his day better. Just wanted to point that out!)

Okay, so the motif really supports the theme of storytelling. On page 74, it says "In a true war story, if there's a moral at all, it's like the thread that makes the cloth". This shows that the motif of a moral is important because it makes the story. It makes the story worthwhile and able to be told over and over. This is just my thoughts on why the motif is important to this book.

Literary Term #5

Rhetorical Questions

• page 38: "Was it a civil war? A war of national liberation or simple aggression? Who started it and why? What really happened to the USS Maddox on that dark night in the Gulf of Tonkin? Was Ho Chi Minh a communist stooge, or a nationalist savior, or both, or neither? What about the Geneva Accords? What about SEATO and the Cold War? What about dominoes?"

These are a list of rhetorical questions going through O'Brien's mind when thinking about the war. It is obvious they are rhetorical because he is not looking for someone else to answer them. The purpose of these in the story is to show how every character must have had these type of questions running through their mind. Also, it may be used to show how everyone during this time did not truly understand the war. Even after the war, I am not sure if the soldiers do. So if soldiers there still have questions, think about the public who is pretty much out of the loop. This could also be an example of STREAM OF CONSCIOUSNESS. We are seeing what is going on in the mind of O'Brien. This allows for the reader to become a lot more connected to the story and the main character. This engages a reader by making them feel like they are a part of the story.

Literary Term #4

Epithet

• page 37: "Tim O'Brien: a secret hero. The Lone Ranger."

This epithet is used to describe the connection of O'Brien and his experience with courage. When he describes his perception about how courage works, he uses these phrases to describe himself before going into his story to support his theory and adjectives concerning his character. I think that these epithets gives us the readers a better understanding about O'Brien. We see how he percieves himself, and what he thinks about courage. Courage is a huge part about being a soldier. By using his courage at certain spurts or situations, O'Brien really is a "secret hero" because he doesn't use his courage all of the time, just in times he finds necessary or appropriate. He is the "Lone Ranger" in his story about how he used his courage. The epithets strengthen our view of O'Brien. It is a way to describe his character in a different, yet effective way.

Literary Term #3

Dialect

• Page 19: "They used a hard vocabulary to contain the terrible softness, Greased they'd say. Offed, lit up, zapped while zipping."
• Page 119: " 'You fuckin' trashed the fucker,' Azar said. 'You scrambled his sorry self, look at that, you did, you laid him out like Shredded fuckin' Wheat.' "

The dialect of the soldiers is a major part of the story. I think that the dialect throughout the story makes the reader feel like they are more connected to the soldiers since they are hearing the true way they speak. Also, I think the dialect is a way of how the soldiers deal with the terrible things occuring around them, such as death. They use harsh language as a way to coop with the sad and distressing situations they face. On page 19, they use these types of phrases to make the death of Lavendar not so tough on them. By making some humor, they are trying to keep their minds off how terrible it is that one of their men died. On page 119, Tim killed a man and Azar is trying to lighten the mood by making a somewhat humorous comment. He knows that Tim must be in shock and saddness of what he did, but Azar wants to make him treat this as just any other situation they've come across.

Literary Term #2

Dramatic Irony
In Chapter 1, there is an instance of dramatic irony. I do not want to summarize but after Ted Lavender died Kiowa said that "the man does care" (page 17) when talking about Jimmy Cross. This is irony because we the reader knows that the page before we find out that Cross thinks to himself that "he loved Martha more than his own men" (page 16). This shows that Cross did not fully have his mind or thoughts on his men. Rather, he was directing all of his care and affection towards Martha, a woman who did not even love him! This irony shows us how well Cross has hid from his men how he really is. They think he just is all for them, when in reality he does not want to lead them. He would rather have Martha loving him. The purpose of this irony for the story is to give the reader a better understanding of Cross and the perception of him to his soldiers. It also gives us knowledge of why Cross feels guilt for Lavender's death.

The Start of Second Book Blogs

I finished reading "The Things They Carried" recently, and this is what my next twenty blogs will cover! I am going to again start with literary terms and then discuss certain scenes or phrases that caught my attention while reading. Sooo let's get started!
Literary Term #1
Paradox

• page 7: "Where things came together but also separated."

This is clearly a paradox. In a letter to Jimmy Cross, Martha brings up this contradictory statement. An ocean's shoreline brings things together from the ocean to the land. It also takes things away, making them separate. In addition, it brings two very different things together that might usually not. I think that this is somewhat mean of Martha to say to Jimmy because this is just adding to his false thinking of her loving him. He might take this as that the two of them are together but separated by the ocean or war. He may also think that the pebble is a way of keeping them together since it was at the shoreline. This is just how I took this paradox. Lastly, this paradox may serve as a way to tell the situation that the soldiers are in. They are in an unknown place. They are together as one, but the war has separated them from family and loved ones. The ocean is the new unknown area they have been taken to. The land was what they knew. I am not sure if this is true, but it was another way I interpreted this.