The Things They Carried

The idea of love and war is ironic in the story. One of the themes that seems to burst out to me is the fear of being shamed before one’s friends/loved ones. It seems to be a strong, yet motivating factor in war. Such an example is when he is unsure to flee to war. He is not unsure because of the dedication and work effort that will have to be put forth, but because of what his family and community will think of him if he does not fight. This idea can be a conflict between the misinterpreted expectations of a certain group of people that are significant to O’Brien and that he is unsure regarding an appropriate path of achievement.

This idea also takes part in the soldiers heading to Vietnam. In social acceptance being a major conflict between the soldiers leads them to be prone to more dangerous actions. The hardships of war, the young age of the soldiers, and the uneasiness of Vietnam create a rather insecure psychological misunderstandings that strengthen the actions of fighting ultimately. This ultimately misguided because of rather inescapable incentive for heading to war.

Other ideas of themes might include physical and emotional states of the characters. Physical flaws always tie into the emotional ones; same was vice versa. They carry fear and care too much of his or her reputation instead of just automatically doing things because it is right. It is ironic how people who survive live in guilt.

Mmm….that is about all the ideas I can think of. I am not sure if it made sense or not but I hope so =)

Postmodernism

Postmodernism has been very challenging and difficult for me to understand this past semester because of its complexities in its terms. It is described as being hard to define, "because it is a concept that appears in a wide variety of disciplines or areas of study, including art, architecture, music, film, communications, technology, etc.," according to a website colorado.education.org. In this being described, it is just like its own discourse. We have been hearing this term "discourse it seems like all throughout this past semester. Not only through Postmodernism, but through the stories we read as well. Through 1984, Brave New World, and Cat's Cradle it all carries similar characteristics in coming to opinions in the society's nature or the science involved in the environment. People almost become as one discourse in the society because brainwashing becomes a powerful aspect that seems to eliminate one's own mind.

Although I give this definition, Postmodernism may have infinite meanings to a variety of different people. Although, it is supposed to be what a society separates from “normal”, For existence, something so normal to us now, is simply just black and white in our eyes. Although, if we see something abnormal we all view it to be distant from society, Ironically, if the qualities of something abnormal must occur for Postmonderism to be existence, the majority of people in that society must take the idea of acceptamce into consideration on one widespread thought. This ultimately contradicts itself.

This means that if the society starts to be technologically advanced and attempts to evolve to a higher technical standard, people must agree to the new ideas for his or her discourse to be similar in nature. Change occurs each day, and it is up to each person to accept it or not.