For
me, I found it hard to connect with the characters. I think this was because I couldn’t
imagine what it would be like to be a soldier in Vietnam during that time. If I
had to choose someone who I connected with it would probably be Tim, just
because I feel like I would have had the same feelings that he had when he was
drafted to war. I feel like he doesn’t dance around the hard things that he
went through and he didn’t hide them, even though he wanted to. I like his
honesty.
Tim
uses many conventions in his writing. One I have noticed throughout the book is
that he often uses repetition when making a point. I think this is so he gets
his point across. The very first chapter is titled “The Things They Carried.’ Throughout
this chapter numerous sentences began with “the things they carried.” In the
chapter “How to Tell a True War Story,” once again numerous sentences began
with this theme. Many sections began with “a true war story is.”
One
passage that really stood out to me was on page 81. It read “And in the end, a
true war story is never about war. It’s about sunlight. It’s about the special
way that dawn spreads out on a river when you know you must cross the river and
march into the mountains and do things you are afraid to do. It’s about love
and memory. It’s about sorrow. It’s about sisters who never write back and
people who never listen.” This was a very powerful passage in my mind. I think
that it conveys the way Tim feels about the war, that it isn’t just a war. I think
it shows that war isn’t just kill or be killed. It shows that war is everything
but war.
For your connection to a character I do agree with you it is hard to relate oneself to the characters in the book because they have such a vastly different lifestyle than our that there is really little to no common ground to relate to
ReplyDeleteThe story about Mary really stood out to me also. I was kinda shocked to see what happened to Mary. I didn't understand how she could be changed so much. I was expecting something bad to happen to her, but I did not expect her to choose to run away. I put myself in her fiance's shoes and I felt terrible. How could someone, who loved him so much turn away from him? That must be what war does to people.
ReplyDeleteLindsey,
ReplyDeleteI absolutely loved the quote that you used from "Sweetheart of the Song Tra Bong". I completely agree with you when you said that this chapter showed how war changes people This chapter touched me and made me very intrigued to read on and finish the book.
I have similar thoughts about what i thought was the most interesting part of the book. That chapter you mentioned to me was one of the more engaging stories. I just wanted to know what happened to her and why.
ReplyDelete