I will pay for the following article Summary of The Things They Carried by Tim O’Brien. The work is to be 5 pages with three to five sources, with in-text citations and a reference page. He emphasizes that official information about the event usually misses many important moments. OBrien reminds us that his writing is fiction and the events he writes about did not really take place. Such words as “real and “reality” are applied by the author throughout the story to make the readers doubt any information no matter if it is official or not.

When we read Tim OBriens stories for the first time, we become so deeply involved with the characters and the plot, that we can hardly believe the fact that these stories are fictional. Every story discusses its own theme: courage and heroism, the meaning of death, the truth, the nature of war, the meaning of friendship. There are many stories about the life of ex-soldiers but the main thing we know about them is that they are considered to be heroes and have a lot of rewards from the government. However, we do not know anything about the mental state of ex-soldiers, their real life after the war, their feelings and thoughts. In order to learn about it, it is enough to read the Chapter 15 of Tim OBrien’s book called “Speaking of Courage” that tells about a war veteran who returned home and instead of being respected and supported has to adjust to peaceful life without having any help from his friends and relatives. In the story “Speaking of Courage” the author tells us about the sorrow and isolation of Vietnam soldier, Norman Bowker by name. The person has a serious inner conflict: he can’t overcome the feeling of shame connected with his friend’s death when he could not save his life. He could not save his friend and failed to get the silver star, the desirable reward. Norman Bowker had several rewards, but he was sure that the absence of this one testifies about the lack of heroism. He can’t forget the war and his shit experience that remains with him and could not let him live and enjoy the life after he returned home from war: He knew shit. It was his speciality. The smell, in particular, but also the numerous varieties of texture and taste.