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Essay / Research Paper Abstract
This 5 page paper discusses the main themes of Tim O’Brien’s story about Vietnam, “The Things They Carried.” Bibliography lists 1 source.
Page Count:
5 pages (~225 words per page)
File: KV32_HVtngcry.rtf
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Unformatted sample text from the term paper:
paper analyzes the themes that OBrien addresses in the story. Discussion The word "carried" in the title is appropriate, because OBrien describes in detail all the things the men took
with them and how much these items weighed. With each addition, the load gets just a bit heavier: "...it was SOP for each man to carry a steel-centered, nylon-covered flak
jacket, which weighed 6.7 pounds ... a .45-caliber pistol that weighed 2.9 pounds fully loaded ... the PRC-25 radio, a killer, twenty-six pounds with its battery ... the M-60, which
weighed twenty-three pounds unloaded, but which was almost always loaded" (OBrien). This is the main theme of the story, that these youngsters, who are perhaps 19 or 20 (Lt.
Cross is 22) are carrying the weight of the world. They come from a culture that expects them to act heroically and which believes utterly that it is always right,
and has some sort of mission to save the rest of the planet. Being Americans, they find themselves forced to act like John Wayne in a war film: fearless, noble,
courageous and unstoppable. But they are not film stars and the war isnt being fought on a set. Theyre stuck in a country with a wretched climate where theyre always
hot and miserable, where they cant tell friend from foe, and where half their battles are against disease (OBrien). Theyre young, and theyre terrified because death is always there,
often much closer than they think: "But Ted Lavender, who was scared, carried thirty-four rounds when he was shot and killed outside Than Khe, and he went down under an
exceptional burden ... [of all his gear], plus the unweighed fear" (OBrien). Ted didnt die like an actor in a film, rolling around, clasping his gut, making a final speech;
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