Literature Analysis #1

1. Plot Points:
Exposition- Tim O'Brien was drafted into the war in his late teens and learns to mature very quickly. He becomes very good friends with his platoon and has many good and bad times throughout their years. Tim O'Brien gets shot at war which makes ends his war years. He is now back at home and starts to write a book on his experiences. Tim O'Brien tells his and his war friends' stories about their experiences in the Vietnam War. The long term effects on all of the soldiers are revealed throughout his book that consists of each of the soldier's stories.
Rising Action: Tim O'Brien is back at war after being shot for the first time. While back at war on his first few days he is shot again. There is a new medic named Bobby Jorgenson who is very shy and nervous about being in the war. When O'Brien gets shot, it takes Jorgenson a long time to get to him and help him. This causes Tim to go into shock and then Jorgenson doesn't realize it and treats him for the wrong thing. Tim makes it out alive but is very hurt and doesn't know if he will be able to go back into the war. After only being able to lay on his stomach for months, he finally recovers but is unable to return to the bush. He will still work in the military, but cannot go into the field. His new job is preparing supplies and weapons for those who go into the field.
Conflict: Tim O'Brien suffers Post War syndrome and has a hard time adapting back to real life or a "normal" life. He is now looked at different by his Platoon because he is not with them every day. He loses the brotherhood and family-like feeling with these men because he is no longer apart of the platoon. He is also looked at as a "wimp" or weaker man because he almost never sees combat or danger. He plays cards and drinks with the others for a good portion of the day, which makes him feel even more of a low-life because he can't do brave things and be a hero.
Climax: All of the soldiers come together to stand down and stay together for a couple of days. At this time, Tim O'Brien seeks revenge towards Jorgenson for not fully caring for his wound, which led to infection. He tries to get his old Platoon members to mess with Jorgenson, but they refuse because now Jorgenson is apart of their crew. Tim O'Brien is not apart of them any more, so they take Jorgenson's side. One man, Azar, agrees to help O'Brien get revenge on him. Azar and O'Brien go to where Jorgenson is working late at night and attempt to scare him. They make noises in the brush and make items float, which frightens Jorgenson. O'Brien finds a lot of joy in this, but then wants to stop after awhile. Azar convinces him to keep going even though he doesn't want to.
Falling Action: Jorgenson realizes that O'Brien is the person messing with him and starts to walk out into the brush and find him. He continues to say out loud that he knows it is him. Once the men meet, they talk about their differences and call it even. They forgive each other and have no more problems. They are friends again and have no hatred towards each other.
Resolution: The rest of the Platoon takes O'Brien back in and accepts him as family because he made amends with Jorgenson. The men finish their get together in a happy matter with no problems amongst each other. O'Brien realizes that things happen and he will be fine living life in a different manner. He realizes to forgive and forget.

The plot shows the author's purpose in many ways. The author's purpose is to show how the men carry physical and mental things throughout the war that will stay with them forever. He also wants to show how the war impacts a person's life in many ways and sometimes for the worst. He shows that there are ways to cope, like in his situation writing, but in other situations, there is no way out like Norman Bowker who committed suicide. The author also shows how the men really relied on each other's friendships and connections to make it not only through the war, but also through their lives.
2. The theme of this story is the guilt and shame built up within the soldiers that is revealed and redeemed through story telling and memories. Tim O'Brien and his platoon enter the war because they want to seem brave and masculine. If they do not enter the war they will be an embarrassment within the community. Although they try and seem brave on the outside, most of the soldiers are full of fear and anxiety. When O'Brien can no longer participate in combat, he feels guilty because he cannot fight for his country, rather he is doing the simple things on base. His shame causes him to want revenge and builds a feeling of hate within himself. Through story telling he can finally come to a consensus and accept what happened in war. His storytelling also helps him to adapt back to the "normal" world and not suffer too badly from Post War Syndrome.
3. The tone of the story is guilt and remorse.
"None of it mattered. The words seemed far too complicated. All I could do was gape at the fact of the young man's body."
This shows how guilty and horrible O'Brien felt for killing the innocent man.
"In a way, I envied him- all of them. Their deep bush tans, the sores and blisters, the stories, the in-it-togetherness. I felt close to them, yes, but I also felt a new sense of separation. My fatigues were starched; I had a neat hair cut and a clean, sterile smell of the rear. They were still my buddies, at least on one level, but once you leave the boonies, the whole comrade business gets turned around. You become a civilian. You forfeit membership in the family, the blood fraternity, and no matter how hard you try, you can't pretend to be apart of it.
O'Brien shows how he wishes he could be with his platoon again in the dangerous combat.
"I wanted to do something, stop him somehow... I was trembling. I kept hugging myself, rocking, but I couldn't make it go away."
This shows how O'Brien felt guilty about torturing Jorgensen and wanted to stop, but Azar would not let him.
4.  Point of View: This helps in that O'Brien tells stories through first person point of view because he was in the story himself.
"It was something that would never go away, he said quietly, and I nodded and told him I felt the same about certain things." Page 27
Symbolism: The title of the story symbolizes the physical and mental things the soldiers carry. They carry physical objects, but also things like guilt and anxiety.
"They carried all the emotional baggage of men who might die. Grief, terror, love, longing-these were intangibles, but the intangibles had their own mass and specific gravity, they had tangible weight." Page 21
Imagery: This technique helped to explain the gory within the war stories.
"The rain was hard and steady. Along the perimeter there were quick bursts of gunfire. Another round hit near round, spraying up shit and water, and for a few moments he ducked down beneath the mud." Page 148
Juxtaposition: This shows the soldiers feelings towards death which happened so much.
"Sharp grey eyes, lean and narrow-wasted, and when he died it was almost beautiful, the way the sunlight came around him and lifted him and sucked him high into a tree full of moss and vines and white blossoms." Page 70
Simile: This helps to show how the stories really impacted the lives of the soldiers.
"He could pass through barbed wire and melt away like ice and creep up on you without sound or footsteps." Page 202
Metaphor:  There is an extended metaphor throughout the book that shows Tim O' Brian's connection to the war even many years after the war.
Kathleen, O'Brian's daughter, stands for the young generations that don't understand the war because they did not live in the time period, while O'Brian is still holding the war with him even though it had been over for many years. As the author, O'Brian compares himself and his daughter to show the difference between the different generations.
Irony: The irony shows how the soldiers could not give up the war even when it ended.
"Finally one of his buddies asks what happened with the nurse, why so hot for combat, and the guy says, 'All that peace, man, it felt so good it hurt. I want to hurt it back.'" Page 35
Black Humor: This shows how the soldiers accepted death so easily.
"'Easy does it,' he told me, 'just a sad wound, no problem unless your pregnant.' He ripped off the compress, applied a fresh one, and told me to clamp it in place with my fingers. 'Press hard,' he said. 'Don't worry about the baby.'" Page 190
Personification: This helps to provide clear examples of what happened at war.
"But if I could ever get the story right, how the sun seemed to gather around him and pick him up and lift him high into a tree, if I could someone recreate the fatal witness of that light, the quick glare, the obvious cause and effect, then you would believe the last thing Curt Lemon believed, which for him must've been the fatal truth." Page 84
Flashback: This is seen throughout the whole story as the author reminisces on the stories of the war. "For a long time I lay there all alone, listening to the battle, thinking I've been shot, I've been shot: all those Gene Autry movies I had seen as a kid." Page 189
Characterization:
1.  O'Brian uses both direct characterization and indirect characterization. In the beginning of the story O'Brian uses direct characterization to give background on the story like when he said, "Kiowa, a devout Baptist, carried an illustrated New Testament that had been presented to him by his father, who taught sunday school in Oklahoma City, Oklahoma. This shows how Kiowa was a good-hearted man and also very religious. He also used direct characterization when he said, "Until he was shot, Ted Lavender carried 6 or 7 ounces of premium dope, which for him was a necessity." This shows how Lavender couldn't accept war without being on drugs. The author shows indirect characterization when he says, "He released Kiowa's boot and watched it slide away. Slowly, working his way up, he hoisted himself out of the deep mud, and then he lay still and tasted the shit in his mouth closed his eyes and listened to the rain and explosions and bubbling sounds." This shows how Bowker could not handle the pressure of the war and the horrible environment. He also uses indirect characterization when he says, "It wobbled and went down sideways period. Rat shot it in the nose period. He bent forward and whispered something, as if talking to a pet, then he shot it in the throat. All the while the baby buffalo was silent, or almost silent, just a light bubbling sound where the nose had been. It lay very still." This shows how Rat Kiley needed something to take his anger out and he chose to torture an animal, which shows how he also can't handle the pressures of war.
2. The author's diction remains the same throughout the entire story. The reason for this is because the entire story is stories or communication about the war. Therefore, there is profanity and mature words used throughout the story, such as, "Before they die, though, one of the dead guys says, 'The fuck you do that for?' and the jumper says, 'Story of my life, man,' and the other guy starts to smile but he's dead." Also, there is a lot of talk about death because in war many people die and many bad things happen. The syntax remains the same, except for when direct stories are being told. There is usually more dialogue being used in the stories when the men are talking.
3. The protagonist is Tim O'Brian. He is dynamic because in the beginning of the story he does not want to go to the war and is very scared and tries to run away from the war. After many years and being in the war, he now can't leave the war without writing about it or going back and visiting where the war was. He is now a very brave person and feels guilty that he cannot participate in combat. He wanted nothing to do with the war in the beginning of the story and now he lives only through telling his war stories and reminiscing on old times. O'Brian is a round character because he goes through so many obstacles while in the war and is forced to overcome them. He is also the main character as well as the author of the story. He reveals his feelings and true self by retelling the stories of the war, the stories he lived through and had to deal with for his whole life.
4. I feel like I met a person in this story. There was so much detail and even though some of the stories weren't true or some of the details weren't true, I feel like I really met a person who had been in war and couldn't accept the fact that the war was over and it was time to return back to a normal lifestyle. O'Brian wants to keep connected with his war years by retelling the stories to younger generations and friends, but also by writing this book. I feel that I had a very long conversation with O'Brian and he was telling me all of his sad and sometimes happy stories. These words, 'I'm young and happy. I'll never die. 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 into the dark and come down thirty years later, I realize it is as Tim trying to save Timmy's life with a story,' make me feel like I just had that deep conversation. That conversation about how Tim O'Brian didn't want to give up his younger years and how he still struggles to this day of giving up that life and living a normal life.