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Essay / Analysis of Soldiers' Expectations of the Things They Carried
Book AnalysisIn "The Things They Carried", by Tim O'Brien, the audience can see the lives of many soldiers during their time in Vietnam before , during and after their time. Many soldiers in history have to deal with the effects of pressure from others on their psyche without knowing how to deal with it. Although certain expectations may push soldiers to engage in heroic acts of war, they may cause them to do things that ultimately use and shock them. When faced with the idea of failing to meet the expectations set for them, soldiers tend to obsess about failing to meet them. Say no to plagiarism. Get a tailor-made essay on “Why Violent Video Games Should Not Be Banned”? Get the original essay The author, Tim O'Brien, had enormous difficulty with this. O'Brien found himself thinking the night before the war about how others would react if he fled the war. Tim imagined how the others would take it, how the neighbors would talk and “The conversation slowly focused on the young O'Brien child, on how that damn sissy had left for Canada. At night, when he couldn't sleep, he sometimes argued with these people." Even though no one was fighting against him, Tim is unable to move away from the judgment of his peers, with the pressure of not doing what people expect of him clearly taking control. This will drag Tim into a war he won't be able to escape. The war itself introduces Tim to Curt Lemon, who wants to maintain his newfound respect for the brotherhood. When Curt appeared cowardly in front of the men by passing out at the dentist, the boy seemed to take it quite badly. The soldiers looked at this and said, “He seemed a little stunned. We could hear him swearing from time to time, yelling at himself. Anyone else would have laughed at it, but it was too much for Curt Lemon. » Although no one is pressuring him, Curt Lemon's belief that he doesn't live up to his expectations of what a soldier should be takes a harsh turn. His inability to let go of his cowardly appearance makes him feel like he's letting someone down. Then, Curt pulled out his tooth to try to show that he wasn't the coward he thought he was, despite the fact that his teeth were in good shape. The soldiers seem to care too much about what others will say, even though no one seems to care. After the war, we find that although the soldiers have lived up to their families' expectations, they find themselves in a much worse situation than expected. Characters like Norman Bowker are shown to have difficulty regaining a connection with others, mainly his father. Norman's father had a misguided idea of what his son would be like in the war and how many medals he would win. Norman brings several medals to show his service when he returns home, but he cannot obtain them. for not having received The Silver Star yet. He only talked about his Silver Star with his father when he thought about telling others about the experience, he kept thinking, "He wouldn't say a word about how he almost won the Silver Star for Valor..." Silver Star? his father might have said. “Norman Bowker's inability to let go of his fixation on medals and the need for a better relationship with his father are not healthy. This takes Norman back to the dark places he would be better off forgetting during the war and makes him feel alienated from other civilians. In this, Norman is much the same as Tim because both regret not having been able to accomplish things in the past. After deciding to go to war, when he/3/.