Chapter 22

"The Lives of the Dead"

Quote 1:

"But this is true: stories can save us. [...] in a story, which is a kind of dreaming, the dead sometimes smile and sit up and return to the world." (page 225)

Analysis:

By starting the last chapter of his book with "[...] this is true: stories save us.", we can see that the author is trying to make it explicit for us, that without his stories he wouldn't have been able to be the person he is now a days. Also throughout his book O'Brien has been bringing the dead back to life, such as Kiowa, Kurt Lemon, Linda, Norman Bowker and the young man on the trail. All of them reviving in his stories. But, what is more essential and appreciated by the author is that this characters will remain a life in the pages of this book.

Quote 2:

"You did a good thing,' [Kiowa] he said. 'That shaking hands crap, it isn't decent. The guys'll hassle you for a while-- especially Jensen-- but just keep saying no. 

Should've done it myself. Takes guts, I know that." (page 227)

Analysis:

Soldiers tend to do this 'ritual' to the dead so they protect their reputation and show that they are tough, when in reality they are affected by the person's death, and know it is wrong to disrespect a dead person's body in such a way. In this quote when Kiowa says "Takes guts, I know that." what he really means is that it takes guts to admit that you are not always tough. 

Quote 3:

"I'm skimming across the surface of my own history, moving fast, riding the melt beneath the blades, doing loops and spins, and when I take a high leap for into the dark and down thirty years later, I realize it is as Tim trying to save Timmy's life with a story." (page 246)

Analysis:
In this extended metaphor we can see how the author, examines how the stories he tells evolved from the dreams and memories he had from Linda. Also Tim O'Brien is confident about the capacity that memories and stories have to give a certain kind of immortality to both to the dead- In this case his friend Linda, making her 'alive' again and giving her the possibility to skate with Timmy through the night- and also for the one who tells this story- in this case Tim O'Brien, permitting him to cope with his horrible and terrifying past.

In O'Brien's last story "The lives of the Dead" he deepens the meaning of his work by juxtaposing his first confrontation with death as a solider with his first encounter with death, when at age nine he lost his friend Linda to a brain tumor. In this fragment we can also see how O'Brien uses his memories and writing as comforting thing so he can cope with the mourning.

Chapter 21

"Night Life"

Quote 1:

"This whole war,' he said. 'You know what it is? Just one big banquet. Meat, man. You and me. Everybody. Meat for the bugs." (page 223)

Analysis:

For soldiers, imagination was another aspect of the the psychological baggage that soldiers had to carry. The fact that soldiers had the disadvantage of being in an unfamiliar place fighting against an unfamiliar enemy made them mentally unstable. Such is the case of Rat Kiley that imagines bugs clawing and nagging at his skin the whole time, he is just there a piece of "[...] Meat for the bugs.". Sometimes hallucinations take over the soldiers, partly because their body finds it difficult to adapt to the foreignness of the war and also because sometimes it is just too much to bare.

Quote 2:

"He took of his boots and socks, laid out his medical kit, doped himself up, and put a round through his foot. 

Nobody blamed him Sanders said." (page 223)

Analysis:

Before, we found out the real reason why Rat we might have assumed that he was hurt in combat; nothing else was expected of him since he had proved himself to be brave throughout the war. This is why it hurt to see him like that and give in to madness. It  may be true that "Nobody blamed him [...]" for doing what he did, sometime or another the soldiers have chickened out. But in Rat Kiley's mind he would see himself as a failure for committing such a cowardly act.

Chapter 20

"The Ghost Soldier"

Quote 1:

"Getting shot should be an experience from which you can draw some small pride. I don't mean the macho stuff. All I mean is that you should be able to talk about it [...]". (page 191)

Analysis:

In this quote we can see that back then, men still bragged about who had the biggest scar or the biggest wound, to proof who was the manliest of them all. Its the same with being shot, if you were shot, you could later share the experience with your buddies and proof to them that your masculinity and audaciousness was superior to theirs. But, being shot in the butt, and having to apply an ointment three times a day in your rear end, is not something someone should be proud to share with his war buddies.

Quote 2:

"He was sitting there with Dave Jensen and Mitchell Sanders and a few others, he seemed to fit in very nicely, all the smiles and group raptor.
That's probably what cinched it." (page 203)

Analysis:

What this quote makes us understand is that truly, the troop-buddie bonds that you create are only temporary and last until the war is over. Jorgenson, as inept as he was, had become part of the troop, and O'Brien who had left the group even though he was part of the troop longer than Jorgenson, wasn't anymore. This inclusion and exclusion of people in the group had nothing to do with precedence of a group member but it had to do a whole lot to belonging to the fighting group.

Quote 3:

"Azar shrugged. After a second he reached out and clapped me on the shoulder, not roughly but not gently either. 'What's real?' he said. 'Eight months in fantasyland, it tends to blur the line. Honest to God, I sometimes can't remember what real is."

Analysis:

In this quote Azar manifests what the problem with giving teenagers  automatic gun, and letting them use them on situations where society expectations do not apply. Due to the young age at which Azar is asked to join the war he creates his own rules of what is acceptable and what isn't for the "[...] Eight months in fantasyland [...]".

Chapter 19

"Field Trip"

Quote 1:

"Like coming over here. Some dumb things happens a long time ago and you can't ever forget it." (page 183)

Analysis:

Here we can see how the new generation sees history; "[...] Some dumb thing [...]", if it is in the past you should leave it on the past, they say. In this case Kathleen still doesn't understand what the war meant to her dad and how foreign it all seems for her. This is also a reason why Tim O'Brien writes this story; so that hundred years from now people from the generations to come know how it was back in the day were the Vietnamese war was still being fought. 

Quote 2:

"The sun made me squint. Twenty years. A lot like yesterday, a lot like never. In a way, maybe, I'd gone under with Kiowa, and now after two decades I'd finally worked my way out." (page 187)

Analysis:

Through this quote we can infer that the author felt imprisoned with all the memories roaming around his head and not having anybody to share them with. But after writing this book, and finding the courage of accepting some things; such as being partly responsible for Kiowa's death, reliefs him, and it is as if he had been underwater for a long time and had finally surfaced to finally lay back and breath.

Quote 3:

"The old man," he said, "is mad at you or something?" 

"I hope not."

"He looks mad."

"No," I said "All that's finished." (page 188)

Analysis: 

This quote can be interpreted in two ways. You could see it from the 't way', meaning that the man is just mad because O'Brien submerged himself on the sewage. Or in the other hand you could see it from O'Brien's perspective; the rivalry between Vietnam and America was over and there was no need for people from these countries to still feel tension and hatred between each other.

Chapter 18

"Good Form"

Quote 1:

"Its time to be blunt [...] I want you to know what I felt. I want you to know why story-thruth is truer sometimes than happening-truth." (page 179)

Analysis:

In this quote we can see that the author starts the passage by pointing out that almost everything said in the book is false, and it can also be inferred that that from now on in the book he will lead you through the roller coaster of emotions that he went through. In this quote we can also see that he differentiates the story-truth and the happening-truth; the story-truth is what is feels like for Tim O'Brien and the happening-truth is what actually happened.

Quote 2:

"There were many bodies, real bodies with real faces, but I was young then and I was afraid to look. And now, twenty years, I'm left with faceless responsibility and faceless grief." (page 180)

Analysis:

Through this  quote we can see how O'Brien is ashamed by civilians' thought that by ignoring the body and face of a person you've killed makes it easier to cope with the fact that you have killed a man. In the contrary to what helps Tim O'Brien cope with his conscience he has to give a face and a body to the person he has killed.

Quote 3:

"What stories can do, I guess, is make things present. 

I look at things I never looked at." (page 180)

Analysis:

One way in which Tim's stories help him, is by making them present, making all the memories he has from his past comeback to him and stick with him. Also by writing his  experiences down it helps him analyze things that he never had the guts to look over, for the fear of 'discovering' things that he overlooked before.

Chapter 16 and 17

"Notes"

Quote 1:

"I did not look on my work as therapy,and still don't. Yet when I received Norman Bowker's letter, it occurred to me that the act of writing had led me through a swirl of memories that might otherwise have ended in paralysis or worse." (page 158)

Analysis:

Here we can clearly see Tim's dislike for therapy. Although sharing his war "adventures" through this story he avoided suffering from PTSD (Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder) because otherwise he would've ended up in a "[...] paralysis or worse.", he still doesn't come to realize that for him, writing was a kind of therapy.

Quote 2:

"Norman did not experience a failure of nerve that night. He did not freeze up or lose the Silver Star for valor. That part of the story is my own." (page 161)

Analysis:
In this quote we can find the use of an allusion. This can be seen when the author states that "Norman did not experience a failure of nerve that night. He did not freeze up [...] That part of the story is my own." meaning that the one who lacked courage to save Kiowa and was paralyzed with horror was Tim and not Norman.

This quote is an eye-opener for the reader because it leads you to believe that all along you were blaming the wrong person for Kiowa's death. In this quote we can see how the author puts the blame on himself indirectly by saying "that part of the story is my own.", meaning that Bowker wasn't the one who lacked "[...] nerve that night." it was him.

"In the field"

Quote 1:

"Ten billion places we could've set up last night, and the man picks a latrine." (page 166)

Analysis:
Here we can also see a hint of allusion, when O'Brien sates that "[...] the man picks a latrine.", pinpointing all the guilt on Jimmy Cross. But he doesn't just blame him for picking "the wrong place", he also holds him responsible because he has to blame somebody, for his friend's death. He can't accept that his buddies' death was meaningless.

In this quote we see Mitchell Sanders blaming Lieutenant Cross for Kiowa's death. The accusation those not entirely come without merit, but Sanders also points out that after all who knew that it was a "shit field anyway."

Chapter 15

"Speaking of Courage"

Quote 1:

"And a pity about his father, who had his own war and who now preferred silence.

Still, there was so much to say." (page 147)

Analysis:

It is weird how Norman's father also participated went to war (apparently he went to World War II) and was such a traumatizing experience for him that he couldn't talk about it, and share experiences with his son about how it felt like going to war. Even thought both father and son went through the same experience, Norman's father can't come to realize how in great need of talking to someone.

Quote 2:

"Sometimes, like that night in the shit field, the difference between courage and cowardice was something small and stupid.

The way the earth bubbled. And the smell." (page 147)

Analysis:

Its kind of absurd, that what separates courage from cowardice, is sometimes so small. We tend to think that there is a abysmal difference between the two; some are heroes and others are cowards. But what can be seen in this quote is that even "[...] the smell." of something insignificant can change you from being "the man of the moment" to the coward of the story. 

Quote 3:

"He could not talk about it and never would. The evening was smooth and warm.

If it had been possible, which it wasn't, he would have explained how his friend Kiowa slipped away that night beneath the dark swampy field. He was folded in with the war; he was part of the waste."

Analysis:
Through the book, after incident, Norman keeps trying to find people he can talk to about Kiowa's death, but he just can't find the words. Even when he gets the chance to talk to the A&W, burger place, intercom; a nonjudgmental entity who's got all the time to spare, he finds himself unable to speak, and realizes that he too, like Kiowa "[...] was folded in with the war; he was part of the waste.". 

Chapter 13 and 14

"Ambush"

Quote 1:

"When she was nine, my daughter Kathleen asked if I had ever killed anyone. She knew about the war; she knew I'd been a soldier. 'You keep writing this stories,' she said, 'so I guess you must've killed somebody.' It was a difficult moment, but I did what seemed right, which was to say, 'Of course not,' [...]" 

Analysis:

In this quote we can see the how remorseful, Tim O'Brien feels about having killed that man. He remembered  how Kiowa had woken him up to do the night shift, and how he watched the young man walking through the trail. Now that the author looks back upon this event, he thinks that If he wouldn't have thrown the grenade at the man, he would just have made his way through the platoon, without harming any troop members. That is why when Kathleen asks him "[...] If i had ever killed anyone." he lied because there was nothing glorious and bravery in killing a person on the contrary it is devastating and even more so if the person was innocent.

"Style"

Quote 1:

"A while later, when we moved out of the hamlet, she was still dancing. 'Probably some weird ritual,' Azar said, but Henry Dobbins looked back and said no, the girl just liked to dance." (page 136)

Analysis:

By calling the girl's dancing to a "[...] weird ritual [...]" Azar transmutes the girl into something surreal. Since she is Vietnamese people would normally tend to infer that she is in fact doing a "[...] weird ritual [...]" But Dobbins humanely reminds the reader that when he looks back at the girl, all she sees is a girl who just lost his family, and likes to dance.

Quote 2:

"'All right, then,' Henry Dobbins said, 'dance right.'" (page 136)

Analysis:

In this quote we can see that Dobbins is the most "humane" soldier. After burning down the village, the soldiers pass through a burning hut, and they find themselves with a girl dancing through the ashes and the wreckage.They all find it funny except Dobbins, and when Azar mocks the girl trying to imitate her dance steps, Dobbins jumps to her "defense" and threatens him by telling him that he will end up in the dwell if he didn't "[...] dance right [...].". 

Chapter 11 and 12

"Church"

Quote 1:

"Dobbins shrugged his shoulders. 'What's serious? I was a kid. The thing is, I believed in God and all that, but it wasn't the religious part that interested me. Just being nice to people, that's all. Being decent.'" (page 121)

Analysis:

In this quote we can see a literary figure being used, which is allusion. When we refer to the fragment, where O'Brien states that Henry Dobbins that he went to church not because "[...] 'the religious part interested me. Just [...] Being decent.'" we can imply that Dobbins find the whole war to be rather an act of cowardice than a heroic act.

This quote explains how Dobbins was rather obliged to go to church every day, rather than going for his own sake, making us allude that he went to the war because he felt obliged to go rather than doing it by doing a heroic act. Also Dobbins would rather join the monks not because "[...] 'the religious part interested me.'" but because he liked "[...] 'being nice to people that's all. Being decent.'" this last part of the quote gives a hint that Dobbins thinks that going to war was dishonest on the behalf of both sides.

"The Man I Killed"

Quote 1:

"Beyond anything else, he was afraid of disgracing himself, and therefore his family and the village." (page 127)

Analysis:

Through this quote what Tim is truing to communicate is that the man he killed has more things in common with him than the people back at home. This can be inferred  when he says "[...] he was afraid of disgracing himself, and therefore his family and the village." which was the author's biggest fear and the same reason why  went to war; for the fear of infamy. 

Quote 2:

"Then he squatted down.

'I'll tell you the straight truth,' he said. 'The guy was dead the second he stepped on the trail. Understand me? We all had him zeroed." (page 129)

Analysis:
In this quote we can see how strong troop bonds are. Such is the comradeship, that Kiowa is willing to take some of the blame for the death of the man Tim killed. Which makes us recall one of the first quote of the book were Tim O'Brien states that all soldiers in a troop "shared the weight of memory."

Chapter 9 and 10

"Sweetheart of the Song Tra Bong"

Quote 1:

"The way she looked, Mary Anne made you think about those girls back at home, how clean and innocent they all are, how they'll never understand any of this, not in a billion years." (page 113)

Analysis:

Even after Mary Anne had  turned into a creepy version of herself, Fossie's troop members still liked her being there because she acknowledged the part of them that "[...] those girls back at home, how clean and innocent they all are, how they'll never understand this, not in a billion years." All the ladies back at home were stuck between two worlds, Vietnam and America; but in both of those places they felt out of place. In America they felt out of place because they would never understand what the soldiers went through and in Vietnam, they felt out of place because they would never accept how the war was.

Quote 2:

"She had crossed to the other side. She was a part of the land. She was wearing her culottes, her pink sweater, and a necklace of human tongues. She was dangerous. She was ready for the kill." (page 116)

Analysis:

Here, we can see how Mary Anne has "changed troops" completely, nonetheless she is still wearing the pieces of clothing that reminded them of the American girls, such as "her culottes, and her pink sweater [...]", meaning that she there is still a part of her that hasn't changed. Although it seemed at first it was Vietnam that had changed her, but the real reason of her new attitude was the ongoing war. She, as any other lady would have, change drastically because all of all the new experiences she was encountering. 

"Stockings"

Quote 1:

"Like his country, too, Dobbins was drawn toward sentimentality." (page 117)

Analysis:

In this quote it can be inferred that the pantyhose symbolizes the role that America took in the war for Dobbins, and Dobbins represents America's role in the war for Tim O'Brien. Having said this,  a pantyhose doesn't belong in a war; neither did America in the authors point of view. It is true that O'Brien questions the role that America took in the war, but in other fragments of the book it can be seen how, he has opposing views of  America's involvement in the Vietnamese war.

Chapter 7 and 8

"How to tell a true war story"

Quote 1:

"This is true." (page 67)

Analysis:

If we see that the author and main character of a book share the same name, and a book is based on a personal experience we know the author over went, it gives us an instinct that all of what is said in the book is true. In this quote we can see how O'Brien expects the reader to belief that most of what is said in this book is true. But then, the book is written in Tim's perspective, so in other words it is the author's definition of truth that is being portrayed throughout the book.

Quote 2:

"Rat pours his heart out. He says he loved the guy. He says the guy was his best friend in the world. They were like soul mates, he says, like twins or something, they had a whole lot in common." (page 68)

Analysis:

This quote shows the other face of the coin for soldiers. Normally soldiers tend to form strong relationships with their troop-buddies. Nonetheless due to the manliness that is looked for in the soldiers, it was really complex for the soldiers to explain what their troop members really mean for them. When "Rat pours his heart out." he starts by saying "They were soul mates, [...] ", we see how hard Rat Kiley is pushing his limits and admitting that he feels for his friend's loss.

Quote 3:

"if you don't care for obscenity, you don't care for the truth; if you don't care for the truth, watch how you vote. Send guys to war, they come home talking dirty." (page 69)

Analysis:

This quote here is a political statement in the book, and it giving us a sense that it is about the truth. Normally civilians, think that war is all gore, wreckage and bloodshed. But only those men who went to the war come home knowing things that citizens can't know or for the most part they do not want to hear. As it says in the quote "Send guys to war, they come home talking dirty.", meaning that if you send a man to war you shouldn't expect him to be the same person when he comes back.

"The Dentist"


Quote 1:

"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." (page 88)

Analysis:

Curt Lemon was known as the thrill-seeker of the troop, and of course he would be ashamed to let anybody know that he was afraid of the dentist. He is so mortified that he starts "[...] cussing, bawling himself out." In the end he "proofs" to his troop members that he is still the daredevil of the troop by asking the dentist to pull out a perfectly good tooth.

"Sweetheart of the Song Tra Bong"

Quote 1:

"The way she looked, Mary Anne made you think about those girls back at home, how clean and innocent they all are, how they'll never understand any of this, not in a billion years." (page 113)

Analysis:

Even after Mary Anne had  turned into a creepy version of herself, Fossie's troop members still liked her being there because she acknowledged the part of them that "[...] those girls back at home, how clean and innocent they all are, how they'll never understand this, not in a billion years." All the ladies back at home were stuck between two worlds, Vietnam and America; but in both of those places they felt out of place. In America they felt out of place because they would never understand what the soldiers went through and in Vietnam, they felt out of place because they would never accept how the war was.

Quote 2:

"She had crossed to the other side. She was a part of the land. She was wearing her culottes, her pink sweater, and a necklace of human tongues. She was dangerous. She was ready for the kill." (page 116)

Analysis:

Here, we can see how Mary Anne has "changed troops" completely, nonetheless she is still wearing the pieces of clothing that reminded them of the American girls, such as "her culottes, and her pink sweater [...]", meaning that she there is still a part of her that hasn't changed. Although it seemed at first it was Vietnam that had changed her, but the real reason of her new attitude was the ongoing war. She, as any other lady would have, change drastically because all of all the new experiences she was encountering. 

Chapter 5 and 6

"Enemies"

Quote 1:

"In any other circumstances it might've ended there. But this was Vietnam, where guys carried guns, and Dave Jensen started to worry." (page 62)

Analysis:

In this quote the author explains how "little" things such as stealing a jackknife or breaking someones nose are not a big deal in day to day situations. But in the other hand when in Vietnam, those kinds of things smolder. In Vietnam "[...] where guys carried guns [...]" magnified all the guiltiness and the blame made everything so much worse.

"Friends"

Quote 1:

"Later we heard that Strunk died somewhere over Chu Lai, which seemed to relieve David Jensen of an enormous weight." (page 66)

Analysis:

Jensen Strunk in this chapter, had made a pact that if one of them was agonizing the other would put him out of his misery. But later, when Strunk is hurt by a bullet in the leg, and he has to have his leg amputated, nevertheless he pleads to David Jensen to leave him alive. Jensen agrees to this, but still feels a great burden because he  didn't carry out his part of the deal. This is because soldiers are normally committed to most pacts they make, but in this case Jensen found himself in a double bladed sword situation. By not killing Strunk, Jensen felt a huge guilt for not going through with the pact, but he would have felt even guiltier if he had killed Strunk.

"How to tell a true war story"

Quote 1:

"This is true." (page 67)

Analysis:

If we see that the author and main character of a book share the same name, and a book is based on a personal experience we know the author over went, it gives us an instinct that all of what is said in the book is true. In this quote we can see how O'Brien expects the reader to belief that most of what is said in this book is true. But then, the book is written in Tim's perspective, so in other words it is the author's definition of truth that is being portrayed throughout the book.

Quote 2:
"Rat pours his heart out. He says he loved the guy. He says the guy was his best friend in the world. They were like soul mates, he says, like twins or something, they had a whole lot in common." (page 68)

Analysis:

This quote shows the other face of the coin for soldiers. Normally soldiers tend to form strong relationships with their troop-buddies. Nonetheless due to the manliness that is looked for in the soldiers, it was really complex for the soldiers to explain what their troop members really mean for them. When "Rat pours his heart out." he starts by saying "They were soul mates, [...] ", we see how hard Rat Kiley is pushing his limits and admitting that he feels for his friend's loss.

Quote 3:

"if you don't care for obscenity, you don't care for the truth; if you don't care for the truth, watch how you vote. Send guys to war, they come home talking dirty." (page 69)

Analysis:

This quote here is a political statement in the book, and it giving us a sense that it is about the truth. Normally civilians, think that war is all gore, wreckage and bloodshed. But only those men who went to the war come home knowing things that citizens can't know or for the most part they do not want to hear. As it says in the quote "Send guys to war, they come home talking dirty.", meaning that if you send a man to war you shouldn't expect him to be the same person when he comes back.

Chapter 4

"On the Rainy River"

Quote 1:

"Even now, I'll admit, the story makes me squirm. For more than twenty years I've had to live with it, feeling the shame, trying to push it away [...]." (page 39)

Analysis:

In this chapter Tim O'Brien starts by admitting that his reputation is still go great importance to him. The story of how he ended up in the war is disgraceful for him and it has been a burden for the past twenty years. He still regrets going to the because for the sake of protecting his reputation.

Quote 2:

"I tried to will myself overboard.

I gripped the edge of the boat and leaned forward and thought, Now.

I did try. It just wasn't possible." (page 59)

Analysis:

In this quote we can see the culmination of the authors decision to run away from the war and flee to Canada so no one would find him. A amiable man takes O'Brien onto the Canadian Border, but something keeps him from jumping out of the boat and swimming towards the bank. He imagines the FBI behind his parents dissatisfaction. He thinks he has no other option but to surrender to humiliation.This is why O'Brien ends up going to the war, and its at this point in the book where a moment of cowardice on the authors behalf is shown.

Quote 3: 

"The day was cloudy. I passed through towns with familiar names, through the pine forests and down to the prairie, and then to Vietnam, where I was a soldier, and then home again. I survived, but it's not a happy ending. I was a coward. I went to the war." (page 61)

Analysis:

In this quote it can be seen how the author is nostalgic about his past and looks back on he could have done differently. When he writes "[...] I was a coward. I went to the war." he snuck away from something more black-harted than going to the war back at home.

Chapter 2 and 3

"Love"


Quote 1:
"Jimmy shook his head "It doesn't matter," he finally said. "I love her." (page 28)

Analysis:

In this quote we can see how even so after the war, Jimmy Cross's love for Martha hasn't  gone away, and how he still dwells on the fact that she doesn't love him. In this quote we can also see how O'Brien shows through Cross's character that sometimes painful memories are essential for survival.

Quote 2:

"He got into his car and rolled down the window. "Make me out to be a good guy, okay? Brave and handsome, all that stuff. Best platoon leader ever." He hesitated for a second. "And do me a favor. Don't mention anything about-"

"No," I said, "I won't."(page 30)

Analysis:
In this quote we can see how Lieutenant Jimmy Cross carried a doleful secret with him, whose origin came from leading a troop from the Alpha Company, but O'Brien leaves the secret's essence open to debate. The reader may suppose that Cross's dark secret is the nagging guilt that he feels for Ted Lavender's death, but it still leaves the reader doubtful of what is really hiding behind all the mystery.


"Spin"


Quote 1: 
"The bad stuff never stops happening: it lives in its own dimension, replaying itself over and over." (page 32)

Analysis:
In this quote we can see how the author uses an anthropomorphis to explain how " [...] bad stuff never stops happening:it lives in its own dimension [...]" are sometimes so vivid and painful that  they aren't feasible to forget sometimes.

In the fragment were O'Brien tries to explain how  his war memories are turned into stories to connect the past with the present. Detrimentally, the author can't forget the war. Kathleen, his daughter, even tells that he should write joyful stories instead instead of war stories. In spite of that, O'Brien writes "[...] it lives in its own dimension, replaying itself over and over." The war, and the memories that come with it have stuck with him, and he knows they will never be erased. 

Quote 2:
"And sometimes remembering will lead to a story, which makes it forever. That's what stories are for. Stories are for joining the past to the future. Stories are for those late hours in the night when you can't remember how you got from where you were to where you are. Stories are for eternity, when memory is erased, when there is nothing to remember except the story." (page 38)

 Analysis:
Tim O'Brien applies the use of anaphora by repeating the word "stories" throughout the quote. This can be seen when the author says "[...] That's what stories are for. Stories are for joining the past to the future. Stories are for those late hours in the night when you can't remember how you got from where you were to where you are. [...]", he emphasizes that stories are something that become part of you, and they help you cope with loneliness. 

O'Brien seeks seeks prosperity for The Things They Carried. He wants his story to be read by a million people one hundred years from now. The Vietnam war was historic. A century from now we will all here from the vietnamese war in documentaries from that time, but if you want hear what it really felt like to be in the Vietnamese war, all the people who can tell us would have passed away.We will need a testament of the memories, and that is what this book is for.