The_Things_They_Carried

The Things They Carried In Tim O’Brien’s novel, The Things They Carried, numerous themes are illustrated by the author. Through the portrayal of a number of characters, Tim O’Brien suggests that to adapt to Vietnam is not always more difficult than to revert back to the lives they once knew. Correspondingly the theme of change is omnipresent throughout the novel, specifically in the depiction of numerous characters. Tim O’Brien is drafted one month after graduating from Macalester College to fight a war he hated. Tim O’Brien believed he was above the war, and as a result pursued the alternative of escaping across the border to Canada. This understandable act is what Tim O’Brien considers an embarrassment to himself, and to others. When Tim O’Brien finds accommodation on the border to Canada, he meets Elroy Berdahl who eventually influences Tim O’Brien, to change. Elroy Berdahl acts as a mentor to Tim, a figure that remains detached in the sense that he must provide enough support and understanding without being attached to the results. At the rear of the boat Elroy Berdahl pretended not to notice...I realized that Canada had become a pitiful fantasy. Silly and hopeless. It was no longer a possibility. Right then, with the shore tim, o’brien, war, mary, anne, vietnam, rat, life, change, bowker, through, over, night, eventually, elroy, berdahl, after, novel, norman, mark, kiley’s, kiley, just, happened, fossie, days, canada, begins, around, act, world, way, understood, unable, time, soldiers