The Things They Carried Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words - 2

The Things They Carried - Essay Example The Vietnam War sparked off or gave birth to a burst of literary talent that ranged from fiction to non- fiction and which was mostly written by the very people who had served the country with their lives on the wars frontline. The stories that were written were cathartic in nature as it was more personal and contained pain and emotional outrage. One such touching story was penned by Tim O’Brien and was titled – â€Å"The Things They carried. The book mirrors a series of short stories gleaned from the lives of the soldiers, who were at the epicenter of this whirlpool of pain, disillusionment and war. O’Brien deftly moves in and out from the past to the present giving a vivid description of the misery of the people and the destruction that this war had caused. â€Å"The Things They carried† is a graphic representation of an emotionally charged scenario of the senseless and heartless war that took place in Vietnam of O’Brien was a part of and hence had first hand knowledge of the painful happenings. In the author’s own words - â€Å"I want you to feel what I felt. I want you to know why the story truth is truer sometimes than happening truth† (203). The main idea differently presented throughout the book, is that the real truth is sometimes vague to be represented literary. As an author the events are sometimes recreated, but that does not make them less true. In that matter, the truth of war is especially applied in this context. Though various excerpts from the text can be interpreted in a way that can contribute to that truth, a specific event repeatedly mentioned through the book is taken into consideration, which is the death of Kiowa whose story is related many times to emphasize the fact of truth.