The Oppression of Love and War in O’Brien’s The Things They Carried and The Man I Killed: A Study in Technique

• 作者: Sawsan Ahmad Daraiseh
• 来源期刊: 美中外语:英文版
• 学科: 文学
• 关键词: WAR STORYTELLING resistance remembrance daydreaming
• 年，卷（期）: 2020,（7）
• 页码范围: 228-232
• 页数: 5页
• 分类号: H31

摘要

This research paper tackles the two short stories The Things They Carried and The Man I Killed from Tim O’Brien’s short story collection The Things They Carried.O’Brien wrote about his difficult experiences as a soldier in a way where he went against the grain.He never considered himself a hero for participating in killing innocent people while serving in Vietnam.He spoke about a new type of reality which many soldiers shielded from the public,one which many soldiers would not usually confess to;the guilt of serving in wars and how to deal with it.The current paper discusses how love and war could be oppressive factors to soldiers who are serving far away from their countries—they could drive a soldier to act in opposition to his/her belief system,too.On the other hand,the research discusses how O’Brien uses storytelling as a method of resistance focusing on the theme of love,repeating particularly certain parts of a story,and creating wholes scenarios to stories that have a real beginning but an unknown rising action or ending;in other words his aim is to feel at peace with himself,and battle feelings of guilt due to his participation in ending the lives of innocent civilians.