themes in the things they carried
well, i think that this book is very interesting and similar to cat's cradle. The way it is narrated and deals with the war reminds me a lot of cart's cradle. it is told from one person's perspective and how the narr1tor survived the war and the struggles that came with it.
Anyways, one theme that stood out to me so far is the burden to please everyone but oneself. I think that the narrator dealt with a lot of emotional burden. the last thing he wants to do is go to war but knows that he has to. he feels the pressure from everyone around him and knows there is no way of avoiding this. he mentions how he "feared losing the respect of [his] parents, feared the law, feared the ridicule and censure" (45). not only does he carry the weight of fear, but he also carries the weight of reputations. he is afraid of what society is going to think after he runs away and the insult his parents are going to have to face. he doesn't want them going through this. he later mentions how he "would go to the war...because [he] was embarrassed not to" (59). he thinks that the war is unjust but doesn't want to seem like a coward. he doesn't have a choice, and it doesn't matter how much he tries to avoid it, he has to go. And he realizes this but it doesn't come easy. he carries a lot burden and that comes very clear. he has a fear of shame and lacks the motivation. but again this is not a surprise because who would want to be forced to go to war. i think that there is internal pressure because he is killing himself inside thinking about this whole situation. i think that the main factor that keeps him from going to canada is what his parents will think of him if the didn't fight in the war. the shame they are going to face and the embarrassment he will face from everyone around him.
this is just an idea, i think that there will be a lot more themes as we read the book further.
Anyways, one theme that stood out to me so far is the burden to please everyone but oneself. I think that the narrator dealt with a lot of emotional burden. the last thing he wants to do is go to war but knows that he has to. he feels the pressure from everyone around him and knows there is no way of avoiding this. he mentions how he "feared losing the respect of [his] parents, feared the law, feared the ridicule and censure" (45). not only does he carry the weight of fear, but he also carries the weight of reputations. he is afraid of what society is going to think after he runs away and the insult his parents are going to have to face. he doesn't want them going through this. he later mentions how he "would go to the war...because [he] was embarrassed not to" (59). he thinks that the war is unjust but doesn't want to seem like a coward. he doesn't have a choice, and it doesn't matter how much he tries to avoid it, he has to go. And he realizes this but it doesn't come easy. he carries a lot burden and that comes very clear. he has a fear of shame and lacks the motivation. but again this is not a surprise because who would want to be forced to go to war. i think that there is internal pressure because he is killing himself inside thinking about this whole situation. i think that the main factor that keeps him from going to canada is what his parents will think of him if the didn't fight in the war. the shame they are going to face and the embarrassment he will face from everyone around him.
this is just an idea, i think that there will be a lot more themes as we read the book further.
February 3, 2010 at 7:00 AM
(Ravneet could you comment this to Elizabeth again. Thanks. Sorry for bugging you agin. But I think I figured out what is wrong. Hopefully)
I totally get where your coming from I also wrote about truth and how the novel centralize theme is that nothing can be true. I believe that O’Brien is writing the truth, that he sees through his eyes, his not lying to us because that’s what he sees. Also he confronts the reader and truthfully says what his writing may have faults in it and most other people defiantly do. O’Brien almost warns us that the truth he tells about the war is the only truth there is. Going as far as saying the reasoning of having the war wasn’t even based on truth and the reason why he went to war.
Very interesting that you add that quote about cowardness I like it. It brings irony to novel that already has irony in truth. The irony is that his a coward but others think his brave, showing that what people see is not always just. Seeing things from a different perspective and having a different culture background everything can be up for interoperation.
(B.T.W I think the reason why I can comment your blogs is because you haven’t add me. So please check if you haven’t my gmail is melissa.henry77@gmail.com and add me. Thanks.)
February 3, 2010 at 7:10 AM
(Ravneet this comment is for your blog)
I like your blog it has different ideas from the ones that I have read. If your going to use the idea that he cares about others above himself you should use this quote from Charles Dickens from The Tale of Two Cities, “The needs of the many out way the needs of the one or the few.” I think that It would fit nicely. However, I don’t think that the O’Brien is a person that cares more for others then himself. An example of this would be in the beginning of the book when he so selfishly let his team down and killed a guy by being all in his head thinking about that college girl and her “naked legs.” lol He apparently doesn’t care that much about his team and keeping them safe. There is another example of his low moral philosophy when he goes to Canada. Its not like his being forced to go to war, his not taking the inventive and going and helping fight for his country. Not only does he not support this idea but he almost books it and goes to Canada, chickening out on his responsibilities.
I thought you had a very original idea and you should use it because it will bring an agreement into your essay. Making your thesis very strong will help. Good job.
February 4, 2010 at 7:49 PM
I completetly agree with what you've written. What caught my attention the most, and i haven't thought of was on how you mentioned that most of these character's actions are based on fulfilling other people's needs. The one even that really ties down to it is the one you mentioned on how he didn't want to go to war but he found him self obligated in a way. He didn't want to make himself seem like a coward in the eyes of the rest. I just saw how you made it a theme of previous books too and i think it's a big part of what has made the narrator thus far. Thanks for the insights, I just thought about them after reading your blog :). good job!
February 5, 2010 at 9:05 PM
I really enjoyed reading your blog. I really like your statement, “not only does he carry the weight of fear, but he also carries the weight of reputations.” Now, not only does he not want to go to a war he believes is unjust and is only doing so because others believe it is right, O’Brien also faces the conflict of self-reputation. How important is one’s reputation? How much can one sacrifice just to have a great reputation? I think these are the questions that O’Brien wants us to ask ourselves. Even in our world, people care a lot about how people judge them. Does it really matter how others judge us? We should be the only ones judging ourselves. When we sacrifice our personal beliefs to carry on others’ personal beliefs we do face “internal pressure.” This is probably because we are constantly at war with ourselves. We know what we should do but if we do it then others will look down upon us. However, if we don’t do what we believe is right then we have a sense of guilt.
Great blog! I think you touched on some really great points!