Wednesday, September 2, 2009
pg. 38
Stories exist to help us remember, to learn and hopefully understand. A story teller can not live for ever. When they die they take their memory with them. All the schooling they took their time to learn, all the knowledge they gained from their experiences, and the memories of things, of people, and of events that happened in a life that excited in a time that will never truly know. When a story teller dies they take all of that will them in one single breath. The story teller can no longer remember. The life and time in which they existed is completely gone, but we can if we decide to hear the stories.When a story teller tells their stories or even finalizes it with paper and pen, then others will learn what the other person learned. We do not have a complete understanding of the story of the life that once existed, but at least we understand and gain something. Then the story keeps on being told, sometimes in its complete form, sometimes only pieces are shared. The story is passed on and on which makes the story last for eternity.
Memory traffic rotary
O’Brien doesn’t just recall and prepare his stories, put them in order for a solid structure of storytelling, and leave them to the reader. He wants us to experience the way in which he recalls these memories, because it is the way in which the memories are fragmented, and the way certain objects or events tie to a seemingly unrelated memory that gives us insight to the psyche of the characters, of what it is like to experience the horror of war. O’Brien shows us in the first chapter that his recollection separates his story to either before or after the death of Ted Lavender. This shows the effect Ted’s death had on him. An object as innocent as a poncho makes him recall Ted’s death. In the chapter “Spin”, O’Brien uses separate sections or paragraphs for each small story or recollection, with no overall theme to tie them together, as a way of showing us how sporadic memory can be at recalling events. He recalls watching a game of checkers, and thinking about how the game is analogous to the Vietnam conflict. O’Brien uses a large margin to show that, these two thoughts don’t relate in a grand story arc, but they do relate because it jars his next thought, pure horror as he recalls the brutal death of Curt Lemon, and the death of Kiowa. I feel O’Brien throws in Kiowa’s death, which we have no idea of at this point, to show how there is no cohesion to his memories. As he says “The bad stuff never stops happening, it lives in its own dimension, replaying itself over and over.”
Repetition
O’Brien uses a lot of repetition in this book. He mentions Jimmy Cross’s love for Martha many times. How he longs to be with her and to have her love him. Every time Cross mentions his love for her, he also mentions that she was a poet, an English major, a virgin (he believed), and a very quiet girl who kept to herself.
The repetition of the Cross-Martha relationship made me think of how hard it must be to be a soldier in war, as in a different world. Yes, he had a very close bond with the soldiers, but there is a longing for a different kind of relationship. He wants so bad for the letters to just be love letters; For Martha to love him back. Although they have a deep friendship, he wants more from that relationship. It makes you feel sad for Cross; all he wants is to be loved.
On page 17 it says “she belonged to another world, which was not quite real”. I felt like Cross, being a soldier at war, feels a real struggle to want to be in Martha’s world, to be in that dream world where you don’t have to worry about you or your friends being killed. He just wants to be in love, walk on the beach, and enjoy life. But those are just dreams, imaginations, not quite real.
I also like how O’Brien depicts Martha’s reactions to Cross. She would give him a sad, sober look with gray neutral eyes and he used the word “uninvolved” when describing her. I feel that Martha had a totally separate struggle from Cross’s. To me, I think that Martha may have been sexually abused. On page 28 and 29 Cross is telling the story of when he met up with Martha later. Her mannerisms show that she wasn’t comfortable showing love. There was no pressure in return when he held her hand. She avoided the subject of love. He describes a moment when she closed her eyes, crossed her arms, and rocked slightly, as if she was trying not to remember something emotionally painful. And then she says to Cross “I don’t understand how men could do those things”. Even though Martha never describes what she meant by those words, you can feel her sadness and her vulnerability at that moment. I feel like she kept writing Cross and sending him pictures because she wanted to have a relationship with a man that she was able to trust. Someone that wasn’t like the rest of the men she knew. I believe that is why she kept their relationship as a friendship. She didn’t want a physical relationship, but a relationship built on trust. She wanted someone to understand her as a person, her hobbies, her interests, her love for poetry and helping others.
O’Brien never really tells the whole story. He adds bits and pieces to his book and they seem to form together to make a story. The repetition of images and events are ways of letting us readers see what he saw, what he felt was important to him during the war and how he felt about those different circumstances without writing it all down word for word.
The repetition of the Cross-Martha relationship made me think of how hard it must be to be a soldier in war, as in a different world. Yes, he had a very close bond with the soldiers, but there is a longing for a different kind of relationship. He wants so bad for the letters to just be love letters; For Martha to love him back. Although they have a deep friendship, he wants more from that relationship. It makes you feel sad for Cross; all he wants is to be loved.
On page 17 it says “she belonged to another world, which was not quite real”. I felt like Cross, being a soldier at war, feels a real struggle to want to be in Martha’s world, to be in that dream world where you don’t have to worry about you or your friends being killed. He just wants to be in love, walk on the beach, and enjoy life. But those are just dreams, imaginations, not quite real.
I also like how O’Brien depicts Martha’s reactions to Cross. She would give him a sad, sober look with gray neutral eyes and he used the word “uninvolved” when describing her. I feel that Martha had a totally separate struggle from Cross’s. To me, I think that Martha may have been sexually abused. On page 28 and 29 Cross is telling the story of when he met up with Martha later. Her mannerisms show that she wasn’t comfortable showing love. There was no pressure in return when he held her hand. She avoided the subject of love. He describes a moment when she closed her eyes, crossed her arms, and rocked slightly, as if she was trying not to remember something emotionally painful. And then she says to Cross “I don’t understand how men could do those things”. Even though Martha never describes what she meant by those words, you can feel her sadness and her vulnerability at that moment. I feel like she kept writing Cross and sending him pictures because she wanted to have a relationship with a man that she was able to trust. Someone that wasn’t like the rest of the men she knew. I believe that is why she kept their relationship as a friendship. She didn’t want a physical relationship, but a relationship built on trust. She wanted someone to understand her as a person, her hobbies, her interests, her love for poetry and helping others.
O’Brien never really tells the whole story. He adds bits and pieces to his book and they seem to form together to make a story. The repetition of images and events are ways of letting us readers see what he saw, what he felt was important to him during the war and how he felt about those different circumstances without writing it all down word for word.
Imagination is the killer
We've discussed in class how the many things in our pasts effect our judgements and the way we see others problems or experiences. We always are seeking our own experiences to relate to everyone else's. With that being said; while reading the descriptions that the narrator describes and the pictures the author paints, about the tunnel, I noticed my mind wandering to times when my psychi played tricks on me. taking care of another families house. night time, all alone in a place unfamiliar to me. I remember a heavy weight come across my chest, my body reacting to my mind, worrying my soul of the darkness, of burglary, of rape or of murder. it may be funny know looking back at those illegitimate fears because nothing happened, but at the time they were real. i think O'Brien wants the reader to see how the imagination is a killer of the safe feeling we all have in our live. Under immense mental strain your mind will put images into your thoughts. Many times not being pleasant ones, because lets face it most of the human population are not optimists.
O' Brien, in my opinion, tries to bring this war, which to some of the younger generations is only a thing in the history books, to our vivid minds and imaginations. he wants us to feel what these young soldiers went through. not just read it. through this first part of the reading you feel the desire of Lieutenant Cross to be with Martha, even though he knows she is not his. In the passage on page 10-11 you can imagine, and start to feel, the anxiety that these men felt when they were selected to enter the hole. you feel the thoughts of heavy darkness fill their souls and get a scared sensation through your body. O'Brien makes the thoughts, feelings, smells, and stories real, as if you were there. The line that O'Brien uses before his rightfully exclaims "imagination was a killer" helps to make that line so powerful. he says, "the waiting was worst than the tunnel itself." if you don't have time to think those thoughts don't have time to build in your mind. those fears, generally, don't hit you tell your half way done with your task.
Imagination is generally a killer of dreams, confidence, hope, and security; in the minds eye. With waiting as the precursor.
O' Brien, in my opinion, tries to bring this war, which to some of the younger generations is only a thing in the history books, to our vivid minds and imaginations. he wants us to feel what these young soldiers went through. not just read it. through this first part of the reading you feel the desire of Lieutenant Cross to be with Martha, even though he knows she is not his. In the passage on page 10-11 you can imagine, and start to feel, the anxiety that these men felt when they were selected to enter the hole. you feel the thoughts of heavy darkness fill their souls and get a scared sensation through your body. O'Brien makes the thoughts, feelings, smells, and stories real, as if you were there. The line that O'Brien uses before his rightfully exclaims "imagination was a killer" helps to make that line so powerful. he says, "the waiting was worst than the tunnel itself." if you don't have time to think those thoughts don't have time to build in your mind. those fears, generally, don't hit you tell your half way done with your task.
Imagination is generally a killer of dreams, confidence, hope, and security; in the minds eye. With waiting as the precursor.
Prompt # 1 Carrying on with the Imagination!
The Things They Carried is extremely symbolic not only in the literal sense of what these men carried, but also the “things” they carried on their minds and in their emotions. When the passage “Imagination was a killer” comes into play I think it has multiple meanings. The phrase comes into Lieutenant Cross’ mind when he is thinking about his almost girlfriend, Martha. He is “killed” by the thoughts of her and cannot seem to get her off his mind. He is distracted and his mind is in a way murdered by thoughts of Martha.
Later on reader’s find out because Lieutenant Cross was in heavy daydreams about Martha one of his soldiers, Ted Lavender, is killed. So the passage “Imagination was killer” foreshadows the death of Lavender. Lieutenant Jimmy Cross is obviously troubled by the knowledge, his lack of attention on the war and his men caused on of his men’s death. He is truly disturbed by this fact. Tim O’Brien knows the end from the beginning he is a writing about the past, he can foreshadow with little hints. This passage alongside Ted Lavender’s death could show that Lieutenant Cross completely blames the thoughts of Martha for the death of Lavender, rather than blaming himself. Guilt always feels better if you are sharing it with someone or if you are able to pawn it off on someone else.
With this passage “Imagination was a killer” Tim O’ Brien also gives the impression that when a soldier is at war there is way too much time to think about all the other things going on in the world besides the war. In the first few chapters the other characters are introduced, but the one I became emotionally attached to was Jimmy Cross. Tim O’Brien spends a great deal of time and detail on him and his “imagination” of his “almost” girlfriend, Martha. There is obviously more on the subject of the imagination that will come into play in the rest of the novel.
Omission on Reading Schedule
It has recently come to my attention that I made a mistake on the Assignment Schedule (it's probably not the only one, but we can hope). I inadvertently left out a day's reading, so if you have tried to read ahead at all, you may be asking yourself, "Why did he leave several sections of the book out? Are we supposed to skip them?" No, you aren't. Here is the revised reading schedule (the reading for tomorrow is unchanged; I wouldn't switch it on you at the last moment):
TH 9/3
Read "The Things They Carried," "Love," and "Spin" (1-38).
T 9/8
Read "On the Rainy River," "Enemies," "Friends," "How to Tell a True War Story," "The Dentist," and "Sweetheart of the Song Tra Bong" (39-116).
TH 9/10
Read "Stockings," "Church," "The Man I Killed," "Ambush, "Style," "Speaking of Courage," and "Notes" (117-161).
T 9/15
Read "In the Field," "Good Form," "Field Trip," "The Ghost Soldiers," "Night Life," and "The Lives of the Dead" (162-246).
TH 9/3
Read "The Things They Carried," "Love," and "Spin" (1-38).
T 9/8
Read "On the Rainy River," "Enemies," "Friends," "How to Tell a True War Story," "The Dentist," and "Sweetheart of the Song Tra Bong" (39-116).
TH 9/10
Read "Stockings," "Church," "The Man I Killed," "Ambush, "Style," "Speaking of Courage," and "Notes" (117-161).
T 9/15
Read "In the Field," "Good Form," "Field Trip," "The Ghost Soldiers," "Night Life," and "The Lives of the Dead" (162-246).
I apologize for the mistake. Please make note of these changes.
Tuesday, September 1, 2009
The Things They Carried Prompts, Part I
Please choose one of the following prompts and post a response. You do not need to retype the question(s) or state which prompt you have chosen. These things will be obvious to us as we read. Also, you don't have to answer the prompt exactly. The prompts are meant to help you, not constrict you. If you want to go your own way, that's fine (as long as it's well-done). You can either write an original post or post a comment to someone else's post (with the exception of this one; don't comment on the prompts). Just make sure you meet the minimum length requirements. Finally, please think about, and come prepared to discuss, all of the prompts, even the ones you do not choose to write about. This will make our class discussions more rewarding.
1. On page 11, near the top, we read, “Imagination was a killer.” What do you think O’Brien means by this?
2. Pick out three things that you think are symbols, and explain what you think they are symbols of/for.
3. At the top of page 25, after Jimmy Cross burns the letters from Martha, we read this sentence: “He understood.” What does Jimmy Cross understand at this point? Interpret this sentence.
4. Why do you think Kiowa needs to keep telling the story of Lavender’s death? Is there something significant about the way he tells it?
5. Discuss O’Brien’s use of repetition. What images or incidents are told more than once? What effect does this have on you as you read? Why do you think O’Brien does this?
6. When we get to “Love” on page 27, there is a distinct shift in the point of view of the narrative. Discuss what it is that changes at this point and the effect those changes have on you as a reader.
7. On page 32, O’Brien writes, “as I write about these things, the remembering is turned into a kind of rehappening,” and on page 36, he writes, “What sticks to memory, often, are those little fragments that have no beginning and no end.” How does O’Brien try to capture the way memory works with his writing? Point out some of the specific things he does.
8. Interpret page 38.
Thanks. Make sure to get your responses up before Thursday's class.
-Daniel
1. On page 11, near the top, we read, “Imagination was a killer.” What do you think O’Brien means by this?
2. Pick out three things that you think are symbols, and explain what you think they are symbols of/for.
3. At the top of page 25, after Jimmy Cross burns the letters from Martha, we read this sentence: “He understood.” What does Jimmy Cross understand at this point? Interpret this sentence.
4. Why do you think Kiowa needs to keep telling the story of Lavender’s death? Is there something significant about the way he tells it?
5. Discuss O’Brien’s use of repetition. What images or incidents are told more than once? What effect does this have on you as you read? Why do you think O’Brien does this?
6. When we get to “Love” on page 27, there is a distinct shift in the point of view of the narrative. Discuss what it is that changes at this point and the effect those changes have on you as a reader.
7. On page 32, O’Brien writes, “as I write about these things, the remembering is turned into a kind of rehappening,” and on page 36, he writes, “What sticks to memory, often, are those little fragments that have no beginning and no end.” How does O’Brien try to capture the way memory works with his writing? Point out some of the specific things he does.
8. Interpret page 38.
Thanks. Make sure to get your responses up before Thursday's class.
-Daniel
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