Conversation In Tim O Brien's The Things They Carried
895 Words4 Pages
In novels the words on the paper have a deeper meaning than the literal translation. Symbols, allusions, and allegories are examples of figurative devices. However, deeper meanings can be achieved through other ways than the aforementioned examples. The author’s life experiences and the date of publication influence the piece tremendously. In The Things They Carried, the time of publication influences the novel by abating the emotion, and the reflections of events in the late 1980’s. War has immediate and lasting effects on all sides of the conflict. Time may be the best remedy to decrease the feelings felt, but the emotions will not subside completely. This is one way the date of publication influences The Things They Carried. One…show more content… In the novel, he said how it would be the first time ever telling this story. By being the first time telling the story it must have scarred him emotionally that he wasn’t ready to tell the story before 1990. Due to the publication taking twenty years after the actual events O’Brien does not have the same feelings toward the Viet Cong. If the novel was composed of daily diary entries of the same events O’Brien would have an extremely hostile attitude toward the enemy. O’Brien would have this attitude because the threat of dying to the Viet Cong is prominent every second of every day. Time helps subdue this emotion in the book. Even with the time passed The Things They Carried effectively displays fear of each character. Most characters use objects to help deal with the fear such as drugs and their girlfriend’s pantyhose. Despite being published after the actual events sorrow is still prominent. The deaths of Kiowa, Ted Lavender, and Curt Lemon all evoke sorrow in the men in Alpha Company. It would be difficult to write and properly explain the deaths right after they occurred. Two events that would have differed if written right after would be the death of the puppy and the baby water buffalo. A puppy dying due to being strapped to a claymore