"The Things They Carried" by Tim O'Brien

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“The Things They Carried” by Tim O’Brien
Amazing! “The Things they Carried” was a great story portraying the life of a soldier trudging in the jungle during the war, giving us the story behind the things the soldiers carried with them.
O’Brien grips the reader with the optimistic lover, and the letter he carried. A letter reminding lieutenant Cross of the outside world and the woman he loves, all in a 10 ounce letter. Then we are introduce to the things they carried: the fire arms and ammunition, the 2.9 pound-23 pounds depending on the fire arm and the body size you were, a five pound steel helmet, 2.1 pound jungle boots, six to seven ounces of dope, the 15-20 pounds of food and water, and the endless weight of emotions the soldiers bared with them. (O’Brien 1-26)
O’Brien ties in the story with the bond the war creates among the soldier, a brother hood between the men and how the men subliminally take each other’s load, physically and emotionally. How it’s not the soldier carrying his own supply to survive, but carrying the supply for the squad, so it can survive.
O’Brien does a good job keeping the reader in the story by introducing the characters, the lovable or hateful ones: Lieutenant cross the hopeless lover, Ted Lavender the paranoid soldier, Rat Kiley the field medic, Mitchell Sander the war enthusiast, and so on, using the soldiers attributes and flaws as the thing that keeps the squad together.
Citation Page
O'Brien, Tim. The Things They Carried. New York, New York: Mariner Books, 2009. 1-26. Print.




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"The Ghost soldier" by Tim O'Brien

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Summary
“The Ghost Soldier” by Tim O’Brien is a story of a soldier at war who has been shot, and due to those circumstances is placed in easier, less battle section of the war; being removed from his squad, and placed in a new one. Eventually the old squad stumbles in to this section of the war where the soldier has been transferred to, running into him. The soldier then has resurfacing emotions towards a member of the squad, leading him to seek revenge for past events, events that haunt him, leading him seeking justice.
Analysis
“The Ghost Soldier” by Tim O’Brien is a story of the trauma a soldier goes through. The traumatic effect war has on a soldier even after the war is over. In this story a soldier is shot twice and due to that is transferred to a sector of the war that is not in constant battle (O'Brien 189-218).But this soldier can’t let go of that fact that war might be over for him, eventually seeking revenge on a fellow squad member for a botched bullet removal, sub-consciously bringing him pleasure in it, pleasure that only war gives him, and pleasure that war has traumatized in him.
Tim O’Brien’s “The Ghost Soldier” reminds us of the even darker side of war. The side that the soldiers take with him, in this case a soldier who was not ready to leave war, creating his own war, at the cost of his life, of his friends, and quad. Seeking revenge on his fellow soldier so he could feel he has a place in life that only war can give him, due to the trauma of war itself.

Citation Page
O'Brien, Tim. The Things They Carried. Boston, New York: Mariner Books, 2009. 189-218. Print.


http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tim_O'Brien_(author)

The Necessity to Speak by Sam Hammill

Hammill tells of the necessity to speak, to speak the truth, and to take responsibility of what goes on in our own back yards. Hammill encourages us to not be afraid of what exist in our world, and to confront it, that it’s it only then that we have control and the power to amend our wrongs.
Hammill speaks of murder, the Victim and the executioner; Painting a picture of society hiding, hiding from the truth, murdering their children in the process by hiding them from the world, denying the youth history that is them. Hammill believes that by parents negating to tell children of the realities of the world: murder, rape, war, lie, that parents have become executioners, and worst of all the children the victims. Hammill suggest that we as a society have desensitized ourselves from reality, not being open to the harsh realities of the world. And that only when the truth is told to the youth, the surreal possibilities of the world, thing that according to Hammill parents fear telling; fear because they believe will make their children become victims, victims of the truth that they hid them from, but the truth is that the truth only prepares them for that possibly.
Hammill also helps us in the amending process, encouraging us to use our emotions, and not be afraid of them. Hoping that we recognize our mistakes, saying that we should not be ashamed of our emotions that men should not be a shamed of what they feel, especially because of some gender role applied by society. That woman should not be treated less than a man, paid less, and treated as an inferior being because it’s the norm in society. Persuading us as a society to be open with our emotions, that doing so it could teach us about the residing mistakes in the world, and that just because some aspects of the world don’t reside in our lawn does not mean it’s not affecting us.
A while a go I read two poems; Sharon olds “Rite of Passage”, a story of her son’s birthday party, she writes of how she felt watching the kid in the party interact, giving her thoughts and emotions on the event. I also read Santiago Baca’s”Immigrants in Our Own Land”, a poem of the life of an Immigrant, and its turmoil. So now that I read Hammill’s “The Necessity to speak” I feel I’m a murderer, a murderer by Hammill’s definition of murder. Sharon Olds “Rite of Passage” was a warm, funny, lovable story of a mother watching a checkpoint in her son’s life, portraying these kids innocence through the poem. I can only imagine being a parent, and I would never trade a moment of my child’s happiness like the one Olds capture in her poem. Reality is harsh and I would whant to prepare my child for the world, but I guess I would like to do it as slow as possible. Giving him the wisdom the world has to offer, but never negating him of a happiness his child has to offer too, that I feel this harsh world can take from him/her.

Poetry Review

Rite of Passage by Sharon Olds

Rite of Passage grabbed my attention with its humor, “How old are you? —Six. —I’m seven. —So?...I could beat you up, a seven says to a six,”(Olds). I’m a humorous person at least I like to think so. So for an author to write this poem about her child’s birthday, describing the event; “Hands in pockets, they stand around jostling, jockeying for place, small fights breaking out and calming.”(Olds), it’s funny to me, especially imagining this children shoving each other around, and sniping each other. I remember my childhood and if I could record some of birthday parties’ as an observer I can imagine them being somewhere in this poems description. But besides the humor I feel that this poem had some motherly heartfelt feelings, “My son, freckles like specks of nutmeg on his cheeks, chest narrow as the balsa keel of a model boat, long hands cool and thin as the day they guided him out of me, speaks up as a host for the sake of the group“(Olds).So overall I liked this poem, I feel the author had some fun while writing something dear to her heart.


Immigrants in Our Own Land by Santiago Baca
“At the gates we are given new papers, our old clothes are taken and we are given overalls like mechanics wear. We are given shots and doctors ask questions. Then we gather in another room where counselors orient us to the new land we will now live in.”(Baca). I heard many stories like this one Baca tells from my own family. My family migrated from South America many years ago, so when I read or hear of the stories of immigrants, and how they are treated or struggling I can sympathize with them. I think Baca has written something that a majority of America can relate to. Although I have never been in a situation like that of an immigrant, my parents have. So this poem is something I can sympathize with, but I feel that those who have lived through it would be more moved by this poem.

Myself

“Good Readers and Good Writers” by Vladimir Nabokov

Imagination and intellect, two things one must have to be a good reader, at least for writer/reader Vladimir Nabokov. Nabokov believes one must have a harmonious balance between imagination and intellect to fully grasp and appreciate what’s being read. I think Nabokov depicts reading not as a skill one acquires learn, but as a possibility to emerge oneself in a world that an author creates. A world were one could truly learn what it is the author has written, but only if not tainted with preconceived notions and bias that would defer one of the message. When I read I usually only read things that interest my certain taste, electronic magazines, internet articles, and certain books. So with Nabokov’s idea, I’m not a good reader, and probably a bias one, but do I agree? I do. It wouldn’t hurt to read just to learn, and to take fully what I’d learned and judge it, like it should be; I think it’s only then that one has read.