Wednesday, April 15, 2015
The Things They Carried "Sweetheart of the Song Tra Bong" pg 85-110
In chapter “The Sweetheart of the Song Tra Bong” Rat Kiley, a soldier with a reputation for telling tall tales claims to have witnessed the transformation of Mary Anne Bell a typical American girl who visits her fiancé, Mark Fossie in Vietnam into a wild jungle beast.
"It wasn't a question of deceit. Just the opposite; he wanted to heat up the truth, to make it burn so hot that you would feel exactly what he felt."
Rat Kiley wasn't known for telling the truth so when he did it came across as a surprise and surprised all the soldiers. This explains why he doesn't always tell the truth as a story teller Rat wants to spice up the truth to make it more interesting.
The Things They Carried "The Dentist" pg 82-84
In the chapter "The Dentist" O'Brian has troubles getting overs Curt Lemons death and reminds himself about Curt Lemons profound fear of the dentist.
"He seemed a little dazed. Now and then we could hear him cussing, bawling himself out. Anyone else would've laughed it off, but for Curt Lemon it was too much. The embarrassment must've turned a screw in his head."
This quote is talking about how all the soldiers made fun of Lemon for his fear of the dentist and this bullying led him to force himself to go to the dentist to get a tooth pulled that didn't need to be pulled.
"He seemed a little dazed. Now and then we could hear him cussing, bawling himself out. Anyone else would've laughed it off, but for Curt Lemon it was too much. The embarrassment must've turned a screw in his head."
This quote is talking about how all the soldiers made fun of Lemon for his fear of the dentist and this bullying led him to force himself to go to the dentist to get a tooth pulled that didn't need to be pulled.
The Things They Carried " How to Tell a True War Story" pg 64-81
The chapter " How to Tell a True War Story" is about how O'Brians friend dies and Rat Kiley writes a letter to that soldiers sister explaining that he was a hero. Later on O'Brian criticizes Rat for telling a war story wrong. He says a true war story has no moral while Kiley was making his friends was story have moral.
"That surreal seemingness, which makes the story seem unreal, but which in fact represents the hard and exact truth as it seemed."
This quotation explains how war and stories have that kind of fictional glare and thought of "this would never happen" But the truth is really staring you right in your face once you take a better look and analyze the meaning.
"That surreal seemingness, which makes the story seem unreal, but which in fact represents the hard and exact truth as it seemed."
This quotation explains how war and stories have that kind of fictional glare and thought of "this would never happen" But the truth is really staring you right in your face once you take a better look and analyze the meaning.
The Things They Carried " Friends" pg 62-63
The chapter " Friends" is about the friendship between Dave Jensen and Lee Strunk's new found friendship in the chapter Strunk lost his leg at the knee to a mortar round. The two vowed if anything happened that would make them end up in a wheelchair they would find a way to end that persons misery. Strunk ended up passing away later on.
"Strunk frowned at the sky. He passed out again, then woke up and said, "Don't kill me"
"I wont," Jensen said." pg 63
This excerpt explains how when people say they will kill each other and are willing to die for something they believe is just an inconvenience to life they really don't mean it. If Strunk had really wanted to die he would've asked Jensen to do it right the moment the mortar shot his leg off.
"Strunk frowned at the sky. He passed out again, then woke up and said, "Don't kill me"
"I wont," Jensen said." pg 63
This excerpt explains how when people say they will kill each other and are willing to die for something they believe is just an inconvenience to life they really don't mean it. If Strunk had really wanted to die he would've asked Jensen to do it right the moment the mortar shot his leg off.
The Things They Carried "Enemies" pg 59-61
The chapter "enemies" is about a fight between two soldiers Lee Strunk and Dave Jensen. At the end Jensen feels the guilt of breaking Strunk's nose and ends up taking a pistol and breaking his own nose. When Strunk finds out everything becomes square between them.
"Jesnsen couldnt relax. Like fighting two different wars, he said. No safe ground: enemies everywhere. No front or rear."
This excerpt is about the anger and suspicion and stress build up during the war and in between the fight of these two solidiers.
Wednesday, April 1, 2015
26-58 The Things They Carried Reading #2 Chapter (SPIN)
In the Chapter "Spin" Tim O'Brian addresses how war wasn't always just chaotic and violent. War also had a side of beauty and peacefulness about it.
"I remember Norman Bowker and Henry Dobbins playing checkers every evening before dark. It was a ritual for them. They Would dig a foxhole and get the board out and play long, silent games as the sky went from pink to purple. The rest of us would sometimes stop by to watch. there was something restful about it, something orderly and reassuring. There were red checkers and black checkers. The playing field was laid out in strict grid, no tunnels or mountains or jungles. You knew where you stood. You knew the score. The pieces were out on the board, the enemy was visible, you could watch the tactics unfolding into larger strategies. There was a winner and a loser. There were rules." Pg 31
This excerpt from The Things They Carried explains how even during a time of chaos and destruction Norman, Henry and other soldiers can find peace and relaxation in little activities making this experience better than it should have been.
"I remember Norman Bowker and Henry Dobbins playing checkers every evening before dark. It was a ritual for them. They Would dig a foxhole and get the board out and play long, silent games as the sky went from pink to purple. The rest of us would sometimes stop by to watch. there was something restful about it, something orderly and reassuring. There were red checkers and black checkers. The playing field was laid out in strict grid, no tunnels or mountains or jungles. You knew where you stood. You knew the score. The pieces were out on the board, the enemy was visible, you could watch the tactics unfolding into larger strategies. There was a winner and a loser. There were rules." Pg 31
This excerpt from The Things They Carried explains how even during a time of chaos and destruction Norman, Henry and other soldiers can find peace and relaxation in little activities making this experience better than it should have been.
26-58 Reading The Things They Carried by Tim O'Brian #1
In the chapter "Love" Tim O'Brian Meets up with his friend Jimmy Cross and they talk about the war and Martha.
"For the rest of his visit I steered the conversation away from Martha. At the end, though, as we were walking out to his car, I told him that i'd like to write a story about some of this. Jimmy thought it over and then gave me a little smile. "Why not?" he said. "Maybe she'll read it and come begging. There's always hope, right?"
"Right," I said"
This excerpt on page 28 of The Things They Carried illustrates Jimmy's approval to be written about in Tim's book however later on page 29 Jimmy says "And do me a favor. Don't mention anything about-". I think that this states how everyone has their demons they must hide and Jimmy's demon hes learning to accept however has yet to be so comfortable with it to be made public knowledge.
"For the rest of his visit I steered the conversation away from Martha. At the end, though, as we were walking out to his car, I told him that i'd like to write a story about some of this. Jimmy thought it over and then gave me a little smile. "Why not?" he said. "Maybe she'll read it and come begging. There's always hope, right?"
"Right," I said"
This excerpt on page 28 of The Things They Carried illustrates Jimmy's approval to be written about in Tim's book however later on page 29 Jimmy says "And do me a favor. Don't mention anything about-". I think that this states how everyone has their demons they must hide and Jimmy's demon hes learning to accept however has yet to be so comfortable with it to be made public knowledge.
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