Rhetorical Analysis of the Things They Carried - 1537 Words

Michelle Zhang Dr. Bloomquist 2/13/2015 Rhetorical Analysis A Whole New World: Construction and Destruction in The Things They Carried While the Vietnam War was a complex political pursuit that lasted only a few years, the impact of the war on millions of soldiers and civilians extended for many years beyond its termination. Soldiers killed or were killed; those who survived suffered from physical wounds or were plagued by PTSD from being wounded, watching their platoon mates die violently or dealing with the moral implications of their own violence on enemy fighters. Inspired by his experiences in the war, Tim O’Brien, a former soldier, wrote The Things They Carried, a collection of fictional and true war stories that embody the†¦show more content†¦At the same time, O’Brien struggles with destructiveness of the conflicting images of violence and peace in death through the juxtaposition of the imagery of the dead man. While â€Å"his one eye was shut, the other eye was a star-shaped hole.† The dead man has one shut eye that resembles a peaceful sleep, while the other side is obliterate d by the grenade into a star-shaped hole. The image of the star-shaped hole in the dead soldier’s eye represents the hopes that he once had when he was alive: â€Å"He hoped the Americans would go away. Soon, he hoped. He kept hoping and hoping, always† (119). Furthermore, â€Å"his right cheek was smooth and hairless,† an image of untouched innocence that contrasts with his left cheek, which was â€Å"peeled back in three ragged strips,† destroyed by the violence O’Brien inflicts upon it. The juxtaposition of the butterfly that settles on his chin and the fatal wound on his neck, â€Å"open to the spinal cord†¦blood†¦thick and shiny† illustrate the complexity and ambiguity of the unnaturalness of war, depicted by the image of the dead man’s wrung neck, contrasted with the ironic peace and naturalism of death in the image of the fragile butterfly. These select images are also those that O’Brien chooses to fixate upon and develop throughout the chapter as he struggles to comprehend the moral implications of his actions. The innocence of the â€Å"slim, dead, almost dainty young man† is further reinforced when O’Brien describes his wrists as â€Å"wrists of aShow MoreRelatedThe Things They Carried Rhetorical Analysis Essay905 Words   |  4 PagesThe Things They Carried Rhetorical Analysis Essay In The Things They Carried by Tim O’Brien, O’Brien uses many short stories to describe his experience in Vietnam. 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