Adaptation

Plot
If you know me and my writing, the pattern that arises is darkness and death. Please do not ask me why, just every since 6th grade dark writing has just been easy for me to write about. Anyway the story that interested me, and actually made me laugh the most, was “once Upon a Time”. The ending is just so fitting, as I feel like my parents are that over protective. The story in movie form would start off the same way with the writer in her house, struggling to sleep. After showing why she is struggling, with all the rimes outside, the movie will move to her reading the letters asking her to write a children’s story. After some movie action later, round 25 minutes into the movie, she will walk into her room, and begin writing a children’s story. The story would start right after the ‘happily ever after’ couple gets married, and eventually movie into where the writer’s story starts. From there it will follow virtually the same plot, only adding some events to keep the story going. All in all it will end the same way, with the writer finally falling into a fitful slumber. Personally, I think it needs more action and people getting hurt by the parents over protectiveness.

Setting
Same setting. The movie would need to have the exact same setting as the story. The setting, with the dangerous neighborhoods and over protected houses, is the whole basis of the theme. I do think the theme should be anywhere from 1955- the present. The time period doesn’t matter at all, only the place and neighborhoods matter. The story aspect though, should be like the dreamy, unrealistic, “perfect” world. This makes the ending oh so much more fulfilling in my movie.

Point of view
The point of view of the movie would be identical to the one of Shawshank Redemption, with the writer narrating the story that is going on, but you do not hear her talk the entire time. Only moments out of the movie does Red ever speak, but we now that the entire time he is still narrating. The omniscient third person, sort of passive narrator, would be perfect for the role of the story that this is. I love how Red keeps out of the story, but at the same time is controlling the course of the story.

Characterization
Ok well I do not really know what to write here. I mean the parents and the “perfect” family would have to be looking their best and creepily smiling the entire movie. I think that Keaton would be the best Dad in the movie, with Cody being the child, and Katie English being the mother. The writer was a little more difficult, but I think that Kahle would be a good writer for the story. Tito Ortiz is, just because we are racist with him, the gardener of the happy little tale. The narrator would be Taylor Shackleford. The reason I cast these people is because they have the qualities that I feel would be ideal for this story in movie form.

Theme
The theme in this story is a favorite of mine. Over protection is more dangerous than little protection at all. Sure everyone needs a small amount of protection, but the extreme will have adverse side effects. The movie would show a much better example of this overprotection than the story does. The story does describe the protection taken by the parents, but in the movie the measures taken will be extremely obvious and taken the extreme. And I mean EXTREME. It will be hilarious how out of proportion the measures will be. This will emphasize the theme even more so then the story does. Plus the goriness of the child in the end will finally hit home the grotesqueness of this ending.

Hope

Plot
Most movies, and by most i mean virtually every, that are adapted from book to film have many significant differences and plot holes that are actually vital to the story. Thank the Lord that this was an exception to that trend! the movie was nearly identical to the story, the only notable differences being title, what happened to the guy that told Andy about the truth of his wife's death, and the order in which we discovered Andy's trial. Quite frankly if anything else was changed this story would not have the impact that it does. The sheer emotion that is shown truly shows what little emotion the story lacked. A key differnce not stated above that made me truly appreciate this work was the scene where andy made his escape. The story refused to mention his stealing the wardens clothes and the unvailing of the corruption in the prison to the press. Did anybody else get goosebumbs when andy ripped his shirt off in the rain and laughed?? i know i did. that quick, sign of happiness emphasizes the true nature of what freedom means.

Point of veiw
In both works Red is narrating the action that is taking place. The great part about the book is that for most of the time the reader forgets that Red is even speaking. King did an incredible job of making the reader feel like they were actually there as these events unfolded. a incredible parrallel between the two works is that the movie has the same effect. the action is occuring, and only intermetitly does Red have a noticeable interjection. This sense of experience the reader/viewer experiences is what makes these works universal, timeless, and so powerful the reader/veiwer wishes to kneel down and weep. the human spirit can emphasze with nearly all experiences, and King just saved the trouble of filling in some of the details to make this sense seem more lifelike than any other ever could.

Characterization
Wow i pictured Andy and Red extremely differeently. Freeman was the only actor that could play that role, first off. But i neverreally gave him a face becasue his job as the narrator sets him apart from the other characters, so no physical example is needed for him. Andy, however, is described i nthe book as being short and having glasses, and several other features. in the movie, he is tall and almost looks normal. definatly not the image of the banker that i had imagined. but their character and personality is still all the same, which is the key to this story. they still seem like normal people, even thoguh Andy is given a legendary status. The humanity makes this work so universal, which truly makes it one of the best works of literature and art ever conceived.

Setting
not really sure what to put here. Setting is setting, and the setting never changed. They are still in prison in the same time period. there really is NO difference at all in this topic. the movie makes it seem more definate the images, but is it worth it? althoguh the images of scenerary is better shown in the movie, the novel seems to make it seem more... real. The imagination that is required makes the reader imagine a place that they can make real, that makes the story seem more real. this emphisizes the universality of this work.

Theme
Hope. hope is key to life. well hope and love i should say. Those two key terms are what define our humanity and our life. without the two we have no life. Red could have left andy alone, could have never spoken to him. Andy could have let Red die of a suicidal death after prison, but becasue of their love i nthe prison and hope outside, they manage to stay alive. The movie and novel equally do an incredible job of showing this codependance and relationship between the two characters, which make their legend truthful. they manage to do what many can not do. trust another person with their life. this is why they are legends.

you're stupid also

I can not stand this person.She is oblivious to the world around her, and has no idea the impact she is making on others, as it is not a good one. not eve a fairly decent one at that. I am more than fine with teachers being annoying and frustrating, but randomly singing in the middle of class? i can see some teachers doing that, but i feel like for them it is almost expected. this woman was probably just released from a straight jacket.

Divorce is harsh

The topic i want to address here was stated in class, so probably multiple people have it. It may not seem too profound, but i'll try my best to liven this up a bit. the woman and guy do not care about anything but having the dominance of this divorce. A last, desperate grasp at power, if you will. truthfully i do not think they loved each other at all .They were stuck with child and forced to marry. After a while of resentment the father had decided he was going to leave. But They carry the same about the baby as they do the photo the mother grabs. Again same with the lottery story. The mother is thinking of herself and her well being more than that of her child, the one she bore. i guarantee that is she would have let the father have it she would have it back in a few days. But instead her determination is her undoing, and the death of her child.

Like Father like son... literally though!

Laughed my butt off while reading this!! unlike most short stories, this one has no unfortunate ending. In fact, it has a happy one because the mother thanks the son for being wasted!! I love the metal process of the son as he is drinking, middle of 346-347. "I was still thirsty. I saw i could reach the pint... It looked as if he had never drank lemonade before." (347). I nearly cried when i read this. Even when the dad is trying to ignore the beer, he tells his son to go play in the street!! honestly though, it took me a few reads to understand the significance of this humor. But personally, i feel that the son is the father's drinking issue. He ignores them both, and he must drag the son home, instead of himself while he carries the drunkenness on his back. The son tries to help his problems by drinking the beer, but just like when he dad drinks, the problems just get worse.

I won!! I won!! I-..... wait a minute....

Ok, ill be the first to say it. Kinda liked this story. Not gonna lie. Because my personality is mainly one of optimism, but at the same time i have a side of realism. and yes, humans have good in them, but they have evil also. And we get a sense of that in this story. is this that far fetched? not in the least. Human sacrifice has been going on for years, just not this... civilized i guess you could say. What shocked me the most is Tessie the mom tries to sacrifice her daughters to save herself! "There's Don and Eva" (269). That has NEVER happened last i checked. normally the mother is the most protective of their children and will do anything to protect them, but she flat out throws them under the bus!! Now that, my gentle reader, is barbaric!

Shawshank Redemption= masterpiece

By far the best story ever read for class. Honestly i would complain virtually never. Anyway back to analysis time.

Characterization:

One of my biggest fears is of going to prison. I highly doubt i will ever commit a crime, but that's mainly due to my fear of jail. unlike the narrator, I feel that Andy Dufresne is what most would call a legend. Granted maybe not all of his exploits were real and factual, but the actions that we know to be true, such as his bout with Hadley are legendary. That act of facing down armed guards who are getting ready to chuck you over the side of a building is phenomenal. the characterization of Andy by Red is one of rumors and of eye witness accounts on Red's part. "Most of what i tell you is hearsay... repeated four or five times."(39). We do not directly hear about Andy from his actions, because this entire story is a recollection of Red's months after Andy is already gone.

Red's character is not in any way conveyed thorough the story except for a few minor details. His role as 'a guy that can get you stuff' is relayed to us on page 1, and his lack of hope is slowly revealed throughout the story, and only really addressed in the last few pages when he discusses hope.

Point of View:

This story is mainly recollections of Red's a few months after Andy escapes, and a little extra story at the end of Red when he is on his parole. The entire story is from Red's thoughts. But he was there. He was closest to Andy. If not for Red, this story would not exist. "It's all about me. Ady is a part of me." (100). The interesting thing is that because red is a part of the story and telling the story, the point of view shifts. The point of view is at times first person when Red is reminiscent, and when he is story telling it is third person as he is then a part of the story, but not directly discussing himself. this shift in point of view would be for some storied confusing, like the bible, but because of the speed at which time travels in this story, the shift happens with such grace the reader feels like they are Red, watching, hearing, and remembering the whole story. The point of view makes this crazy, unbelievable story of escape, mistaken identity, and brains beating bronze actually seem realistic. Not just realistic, but actually it makes this masterpiece appear to be happening before one's eyes.

Setting:

The setting, up until the end is Shawshank prison. the time is between the 1920's and 1970's. but to be perfectly blunt, the setting in this story matters just as much as the types of rocks Andy used to carve. Now think about that for a second before you get all upset. the rocks were quartz, which are common but still a type of gem. The time of the setting and the prison itself are just rocks, yes, but the fact that most people are in a prison i their own life is the part of the gem, not the rock. At the end Red is describing how Andy is a part of him. "he is the part of me they could never lock up, the part of me the will rejoice when i step through those gates."(100). Everybody has an Andy in them. Everyone is at some point locked in a prison where the only light is the searchlights out side the barred windows. The setting of this story is people, their inner thoughts and minds. The story may in fact be about a prison, but it i actually a symbol for us.

Theme:

ahhh i love when i story just flat out tells you the theme. the last few lines are the theme, or one of. "I hope." (107). Hope!!!! the meaning of life, of one of its many aspects, is the sensation of hope, and that which we hope for coming to fruition! To hope is to love one or something, and to make it more a part of who we are. Red hopes to find Andy and live the life he has spent in prison. Shawshank is a symbol for childhood, where we are all sheltered and cared for with no worries besides maybe a bully or two. and when we are let out.... we are scared and trying to cling to whatever we can. Some succeed and some do not. Those that do succeed are those that have something to live for. they have something to hope for.

Plot:

For some reason this is the hardest one to analyze. I mean yeah its the story, big whoop. we already know the plot is what you are thinking right? Well yes that plot is told to you. The pace is weird. Because for the most part it goes at a slow nostalgic pace, but even when it goes slow it skips months and years at a time.

There are many profound moments in this story, and many odd foreshadowings. odd because although Red makes them clear to the reader, the reader is to enthralled to catch them. "nice guy. But such a big draft." (55). if you are like me and say the family guy parody of this story, you knew what was going to happen the whole time, but even i had to reread this a page later because i missed it at first. King has an unnatural way of causing this of the reader. he drags them in and then leaves them to wander through the story for a while.

Too good of an actress?

Some people simply can not accept reality. Some can not move on. and some are just so good at what they do that they apply it to their regular life, and they let the truth slip between their fingers. Miss Brill is one of those people. "It was like a play. It was exactly like a play." (Mansfield). We really do not know what part she plays. At first the reader believes that she is a young girl, probably early 20's, but as the story progresses, the reader gets a sense that she is late 50's. We as the reader aren't supposed to know. Another wonderful story where the author leaves it up to the reader. Great. My opinion is that she is late thirties, but that is just me.

Once upon a… WAIT WHAT??!!

Wow... was not expecting that to happen. I thought it was weird how as soon as the boy was dead, the narrator stopped addressing him as a human, but that is not my point of this blog. My point is that this us exactly what millions of parents do every single day. Welcome to reality parents, you are looking in a mirror. All the grotesque, crazy shows that are out there today, along with video games and internet content, are causing more and more of this to happen. Parents i warn you right now. Stop sheltering your kids with barb wire, or do not complain when you kill them when they try to experiment. In Europe the drinking and drug using age is very low, and their problems such as domestic abuse and juvenile delinquents are so much lower than America's that it is not even funny. Parents if you are going to have a child in this world, allow them to be their own people, make their own mistakes, otherwise you are killing them.

Phoenix

Well, someone has to ask the question. Is the boy dead or not? There are no textual references to say one way or the other, and personally I hate stories like that. Give me an ending, please do not leave it up to me. But one thing the story does reveal is that she makes this trip quite often, if not every two to three days. I got a sense of this when the nurse says “’charity’… making a check mark in a book.” (Welry). The nurse has obviously done this multiple times before, and for some reason is keeping track for the doctor. Is it even medicine she gives Phoenix? Who knows.

Eveline

A real down to earth story, this doesn't seem to be unrealistic in anyway. A girl who has lost her mother, who is swept off her feet by a man with a tanned face, whisking her off her feet to some far off paradise. But to me she learns the lesson many girls are not so lucky to learn. This girl, Eve for short, is not stupid. personally, i feel that she stayed for three reasons. One being she fells she could still take care of her family, fulfilling her promise to her mom; "to keep the home together as long as she could" (Joyce). The second reason is I feel that she realized she was not in love with him ,but in love with the idea of loving him. Also, i feel that she is just to terrified. We all get to the point in life when we must move on from our families and our small life, and she just can not do it.

Hollywood?

The story How i met my husband would make a fairly good movie, if they added a few details here and there. Kind of a random thought, but it is true. Because it is a romantic story, and it has the young girl bad boy drama, but it also has the aspect of realism. Of course it wouldn't work out with the pilot. But the mailan? Rrealistically yes that could work. and in a similar way no doubt. The problem right now is there are so many movie, novels, and illusions in the world about love that the newest generation can not sepereate real from never going to happen. This story would be such a great movie because it would point the generation in the righ tdirection, while keeping there caffinated attention.

A Rose for Emily

This story was actually enjoyable in my opinion. At first the ending did not make any sence, but today in class my intrigue was caught and i reread the ending twice. What i found is that each of the sections progressivly makes Emily's life worse. The last line, and last image we get of Emily, a once great powerful woman, is a thin, silvery hair. She didn't pay taxes, and was married, and had a fairly nice house. She i reduced to nothing more than a thin hair. The fact that she was sleeping with a man rthat has not been seen in 40 years is an incredible twist. Personally it i one of the beter endings to a story that i have heard.

Nice monkeys

Weird. Honestly that is all i can say for this story. Weird. And not the good kind. This story is about a huge miunderstanding, and even thoguh it was in the same language. But what is odd about the atory is about how even though the story is set around the early 20th century, the parents are not treating their children like children, but more like sibilings. around this time most parents had control, but the children in this story have about as much of the power as the parents. We see this not only n this story, but also more often in today's world as well. Many teens are gaining their independence and growing up earlier and earlier.

Do not assume, because it makes...

This story has a very nice twisting ending that helps make its theme a little more understandable. Just like life, no one can predict what will happen next, and if a person assumes one thing, they will more than likely lose sight of what is important. If Edie had waited everyday by the mailbox, she would have ended up like Alice. holding onto the past and assuming someone was telling the truth, and assuming the best in people they are seduced by. Just like the reader assumes that the pilot will become her husband. The reader that assumed that was wrong in the end. And honestly her life is better because she dropped her assumptions. People need to drop their assumptions to have a better life.

My Mistress' Eyes

Shakespears poems are often about love and affection, and because of his style are usually "down to earth." Yes Shakespeare writes many impossible plays, but poems require inspiration. This poem is about a a man wooing a woman ,calling her by what she is, not what she is not. She is not a supernaturl goddess, she is a woman, but a gorgeous one at that. "I think my love as rare- as any she belied with false compare." (Shakespeare). His love for her is real, and supremely strong. BVut he does not need to tell her lies to prove this.

Crossing the Bar

The tone of this poem is one of acceptance, even happiness. The speaker of this poem knows that death is coming, and is accepting of this fact. They are in fact happy because it shows that time still moves on. For with every bad moment int life, and equally good one occurs. "May there be no moaning of the bar, When i put out to sea"(Tennyson). One goes out into the ocean of choices of life, but one always ends back where they strted. With their Pilot, or creator. One hope that one will always find our way back, and that one has not miscalculated or chosen wrong. And because this spreaker has come back safe, they are content with their end.

The Apparition

The pain. The onslaught of raw emotions tearing one's self apart. The heart is the most fragile part in a human's body. When it is shared with another, and then betrayed, the pain and corruption that ensues is the greatest force to be reckoned with. The mind shuts down, and the emotions take over, throwing caution to the wind. "I will not tell thee now, lest that preserve thee." (Donne). Revenge upon a harmful lover is what one would seek, because whe nthe heart is torn from their chest, nothing else reamins but a viod. One that can only be filled with an equally strong feeling.

Geting Out

High school. Relatonships. Depression. Heartache. All are common feelings to humans of our age.The pain one feels when their love is unrequited or when it is torn from them by the hands of another.The sheer weight of the heart as it sinks into one's chest, after being in te clouds. Reality sets in, and the world is again pulling one back down. Relationships are great and amazing and wonderful when they work; and when they do not, they change one's self in a way no one can imagine. "We held on tight, and let go." (Mathis) And raw emotions turn to despair.. and the love is no more.

next to of course god america i

A supremely fast poem, to state an understatement. This poem is rapidly and quickly running through famous patriotic lines at a fast pace. Because of the last line "He spoke. And drank rapidly a glass of water." (Cummings) we can assume that the person is a speaker, and possibly a politician. Most politicians generally do not say much, if anything, and this satirical work is proving that. Throw enough random lines together, say it quickly, and people will rejoice, all to afraid that if they speak up for not understanding that they will be mocked and ridiculed. Corruption, ignorance, and embarrassment rule the country. all it takes is a person with a strong hand and a time of peace to gain acceptance by the people. The trouble arises when an actually issue comes up, and then the politician that faked their way to the top is left high and dry. The truth is this country and the people in it need a change. The answer is knowledge and common sense.

APO 96225

This poem is an incredible example of how regular citizens can not handle the travesties of war. No words or emotions can truly, completely, and fully convey the horrors soldiers witness. This poem to me also has another location also. Right here in our own daily lives, as high schoolers. Parents, and even friends, will occasionally ask what is wrong, and because the average, typical teenager is stubborn, and bull headed, we will continuously push off the confrontation until we give in. And the questioner will not always be happy with the resulting answer. "But his mother -- reading between the lines as mothers always do." (Rottmann) We are still just kids at heart, but our minds are maturing. Even we are not always proud of what we do.

Ozymandias

First off, I hate this Pharaoh's name. That really has no literary value, I just had to say that. Secondly, this poem really speaks to everyone. Human's have quite a lot of pride and honor in their hearts, and this shows us how if we let pride lead our lives. People can be extremely tunnel visioned at times, and when this happens they lose sight of what and who is around them. This Pharaoh wanted his image to be shown to all those that walked by, and eventually, even this body deteriorated. Unfortunately, people have weak memories, and history makes everything new again with time. Our physical presence will always disintegrate quickly, and even our reputations, though they last longer than we do, disappear with time as well. "Nothing beside remains." (Shelley)

Batter my Heart

This poem screams religious themes. The speaker is Cristian, as we now from the "three person" or trinity, and they speaker is a sinner who wants to find redemption. "Take me to you, imprison me, for I... never shall be free." (Donne) This poem has some very well written symbols and verbs. The speaker is trying to be forgiven for being a human, and they want God to do so in a very physical and destructive manner, so that they can be constructed with God. This ties into the Catholic belief in baptism, and how th water creates us anew with Jesus. In the Bible, God is portrayed both as a loving, forgiving god, juxtaposed to a spiteful, wrathful God. This person wants both sides of God so that they can be closer to Him.

Toads

This poem is an example of symbolism towards society. i feel this way because the main symbol has to do with money. "With its sickening poison..." (Larkin). The poison is a person's dependency on money, which eats away at us from the inside out. The toad itself symbolizes greed. We know this because in the seventh stanza it says how he has a toad-like thing in himself. many humans have this greed for money, and will do anything to do it. This person just does not have enough to make a difference, as he works so much to just barely get by.

Pink Dog

"It's Carnival!" This is a line I heard on The Simpsons in which the family travels to Brazil, and while there, they get in the middle of a huge parade that is Carnival. This allusion is for a gigantic parade that falls on Fat Tuesday in Rio, a fiestival that tries to get everyone's impulses and morally questionable descisions out of the way before the beginning of the reverant Lenten time. People sould be as crazy as possible, and get every sinnful action out of them before hand so that they can better prepare for the coming suffering. "go bobbing int the ebbing sewage, nightsout in the suburbs, where there are no lights...." (Bishop.) This line shows that even the lowly, peasents should dress up, to show God that the next day they are ready to give Him their whole attention to His suffering. It also shows how the rich try to get the poorest people to dress up as well so that they are not seen, and ruin the flamboyant festivities that will occur in the night.

Dream Deferred

Because this author writes this during the Harlem Renaisance, it is fairly safe to assume they write this over the African American movement for equal rights. But dreams are created by everyone. And just like the scenarios expressed in this poem, anything can happen. Welcome to life, humble reader. The speaker uses painful, disgusting, gruesome, and grotesque adjetives to explain how a dream can go horribly wrong. Life has many options, many choices, and many outcomes. Few are whatwe expect them to be, and most dreams fall by the waysaide. If every child who said they wanted to e a fireman fulfilled that dream, we could have a fireman in every house of America keeping watch. "Or does it explode?" (Hughes). I love this line because everyone has one passion in them, and when they truely work for that one dream, nothing can stand in their way, and out of the norm they explode to stand out.

February

I find it interesting how this poem begins with winter, and ends with spring. This shows how February is more of a transistor month: freezing to begin with, and quite warm to end. Just like nature, it seems, the speaker can not make up their mind on what to do. The whole while the syntax of this poem is short, very unformal dition, along with a little satire and humor thrown in the mix. And yet the reader gets the sense that the speaker is just about to stumble upon some great discover, some incredible epiphany, but she never does. "If we wise
hominids were sensible, we’d do that too..." (Atwood.) The speaker is tryinf to get over her feelings of disgust for love, as this is the month of Valentine's Day, but she also is trying to admit her own desires for the fateful emotion. Indescision rules this poem, just as it does our own struggle between mind and heart.

Bright Star

This poem has a magnificent comparison between a lover and a star. Stars are phenomonons of nature that have such power, such energy; to compare a giant of this nature to a mere human being is truely an example of one's passion and love. "And so live ever- or swoon to death." (Keats) This final line is a perfect ending to the poem that has so much intimacy and attention to detail. This lover would love to forever more be transfixed with his one desire, to always be with her; and if he can not do so, then he would quickly rather depart from this world with a smile on his face that he could but for a second glance upon the face of his true love.
The imagery is quite compelling, as by ourselves (as the star is first described) we rely on what we see and what we know as a reality. And yet in the second half of the poem, Keats relies more upon the feelings and touch, as when in love we rely upon our sense of touch and our emotions. Truely i find this to be a well executed poem, in that he so accuratly explains our minds when alone and when in love, without ever once directly making the comparison.

No I am not Depressed

Sad to say, but honestly I loved reading Dickinson's poem. The poem was incredibly enjoyable for me, from the dark depressing confusion to the panicked ending that suddenly stops. A little background of me is that in grade school I was famous for my dark, deep, blood spattered writing. This deep, multi layered poetry is what i crave, and what truly engages me. Hence how i came up with the crazy, yet logical, birth metaphor theory. As a child, I grew up in fourth grade. So ever since i was ten years of age, I have been aware of tragedy and despair around me. Dickinson's poetry really speaks to me because hers is not always dark because she herself is depressed, but because she is just showing us what is truly in front of our faces. "Sense is breaking through..." (Dickinson). This line shows how when someone hits maturity, they are usually thrown off balance, and they need to adjust, just as I did at a young age.

Those Winter Sundays

This poem is negative and depressing. "early.... blueblack cold... no one ever thanked him." ( Hayden) This poem introduces a father who works exceptionally hard to keep his family alive, and is not thanked. The cold, wintry adjectives cause the reader to feel sympathy for the suffering man.

The second paragraph, however, makes the reader feel bad for the child, and not the father. "Chronic angers?" Could this be representing abuse or addiction? this would explain why the father is not readily thanked, but as interpreters we can not assume this.

The Widow's Lament

Despite the flowers, this poem is very depressing. The juxtaposition of misery and beauty is supremely executed. confusion only sets in during the last three lines. "I feel i would like to go there/and fall into the flowers there/ and sink into the marsh near there." (Williams) the falling appears to signify her hope of change, and yet the sinking action shows that she knows no change will occur. The flowers, all through this work, seem to describe the good in her life. She just can not accept the good and she is unable to overcome the negative aspects.

Allusion

In the poem "Spring" by Gerard Hopkins, Eden is referenced as the original paradise. This allusion helps to go along with the theme that the innocence will disappear and become spoiled. Spring in this poem is a symbol for a new, untainted beginning. The adjectives at the beginning of the poem support how life can be so wonderful before sin and human nature destroy it. "Have, get, before it is cloy." (Hopkins) We as readers are showed that we must enjoy life before it is ruined, ironically, by ourselves more often than not.

Funeral For My Brain

This tone is exactly like all of Dickenson's poem's tones: dark and deathly depressing. But something, personally, felt almost... off. Could this poem possibly be about birth?? All of the capitalized words could be symbols that would suggest so. Symbols like "Sense breaking... Mind going numb... Reason, broke." (Dickenson) can easily support this out of the box theory. The baby's known world (the womb) is being taken from it, and just as we would react when sanity is taken from us, the baby, or "strange Race" is stressing out and panicking. The "Drum" could symbolize the mother's heartbeat as she is experiencing labor. The poem does not need to be depressing. It just shows a monumental change.

Perrine Poetry

I can only somewhat agree with his theory of "correct" poetry. I feel that as long as the reader has a theory of what the poem pertains to, and they can defend their stance, then they are correct. I agree that if they have no basis to refer to, then yes the interpretations are wrong. But even if a so called "better" answer is out there, if support is given, how can something be considered wrong that is so ambiguous to begin with? What really struck me was the first quote in the third paragraph. " ' If it suits you that way, than that is all right with me' " (T.S. Elliot, Perrine). This quote to me really hit a chord because it shows how even the author believes that if someone feels one way about an ambiguous poem, they are in the right. Everyone comes fro ma different background and history, therefore, everyone is going to read a poem in different ways.

The poem really did not change many of my interpretations, as the intro states that any supported interpretation can be correct. However, later he states that the more correct interpretation is the one that relies the least on assumptions. this to me has conflicting aspects. For one, I agree that the more one refers to what is there is more correct. However, who is to say the author did not mean something else? For example the poem The Night March. Perrine tells us that the poem is about stars. Which, personally, I can buy as correct. But still, I can read it as soldiers as well. The silence, the shining adjectives, these could refer to ghosts soldiers just as well as stars. Yes the reader has to assume a thing or two, but to me it makes just as much sense. And in essence, that is in a way what reading is all about. Reading is about entertaining the reader, while also engaging them in some way. In poetry it keeps them guessing, while in other works they teach a lesson or set an example. All is still considered literature.

Concluding thoughts

Well, the summer reading is over. Two famous authors, two famous works. Personally, if these are considered masterpieces, I fail to see how. Architecture is my passion, and i can see the passion in building from achitects past. But in these two books, i fail to see any passion at all (save a few moments in The Things they Carried.) Masterpieces are supposed to be filled with the passion of their creator, and these books are just very well written examples of literature. I am not saying i know how to write the next big epic, but I can at least throw together passionate poem for my girlfriend every now and then. From a literary standpoint, i appluad these books. From a masterpiece and co creator of creativity, I give The Sun Also Rises a thumbs down, and The Things They Carried a five out of ten.

This is still so true...

Disgracefully, many men will do anything for a pretty face. The count bought alchoal and loaned his car to Brett when she wanted to leave him behind, Cohn tries to beat up the only people even close to friends he has, and Barnes tries to hook his one love up with another guy. Brett is jsut lost in all of this because she loves to see a pretty face, and or Cohn's. She is soon to be engaged to Mike, and now she is mezmorized by Romeo. "I'm mad about that Romeo. I'm in love with him, i think." (Hemingway 187.) Brett is always so torn because her one love, Barnes, won't take action and tell Brett how he really feels. She knows he loves her, but they ignore their feelings for some odd reason.

Nobility?

It is the 20th century, and people still carry names like Count, and earl, and Lady? To Americans in the 21st century this seems comical and absurd. Titles such as those were done away with in the middle ages... correct? Actually, it was just the power that was lot with the titles. Plus with inbreeding and disease, many bloodlines eventually died off themselves. But yes, some people did, and still to this day do, carry their titles to distinguish their heritage. The essence of the titles however has unfotunatly been lost to history. " like the count. Brett had a title, too. Lady Ashely. " (Hemingway 38.) Some want to treasure, the past, while others can only see forward.

The fight

Finally, Cohn shows a back bone. His finace, his wife, eve nhis friends keep putting him down ,and he just keeps taking it and taking it. He never does anything to try and man up and defend himself. He sends Barnes down for the count in two blows, and knocks down Mike with one shot. And then, when he is finally on top, finally has a little dignity... he goes and cries about it. But the important thing is he is not crying about beatin gup his one friend, Barnes. He is crying because finally, he lets out all his bottled emotions about Brett. " You were the onl friend i had, and i loved Brett so." (Hemingway 198.) If he could learn to express his pain and emotions in a helthy way, maybe someday he could have a real relationship.

Where is the middle ground?

A hero is considered a person who can preform super human, or extra ordinary feats. An antihero is a person who lacks qualities associated with a hero. So... where does Barnes fit in? Truth be told, he is in the middle, like most humans. Like most typical people he is who he is, and thats all. othing special nothing out of the ordinary. Nethier is Cohn or Brett an antihero. Everyone faces heartache and resoultion. Such are the facts of life. "This is Brett, what i felt like crying about. And of course in a little while i felt like hell again." (Hemingway 42.) No one can escape the desires of the heart. Infatuation corrupts our veiws, while true love can scare us away. Hero's may have superhuman abilities, but when shown their own hearts they are no different from the rest of us.

Do you remember?

This Novel is filled with allusions, many of which i do no know. Many of the places and bars are more than likely fictional, to help Hemingway's story, but some of the aspects are not. For instance, the reader is not told what Malagueno expressions (Hemingway 178) are, but they can assume from context it is an important part of bull fighting. This book also uses many French and Spanish phrases, such as Corrida de toros (Hemingway 177), that most readers more than likely would not understand. But the references are not what the reader should get hung up on. This book would be a much longer read if they looked up every single word or place in this book. What is important is that the travelers in the book are knowledgable, and can connect to others around them and not be offensive.

Good times bring people together

Total strangers meeting up in today's world probably would not become fast friends. Hoever, in a time such as the mid 20's, where most men were just happy to be alive, it seems fitting that Harris, Barns, and Bill become such close friends so quickly. A little drinking, a little liesure time, and soon enough they are exchanging addresses and cards. "I say Barnes. You don't know wat this means to me. You really can't." (Hemingway 134.) These guys are just enjoying life, forgetting about the past, and moving on. And having a great time doing. it. A little liquor can change a lot of things. And it chagned thses men's relationship quite quickly.

Time away from... work?

Barnes is, yes a writer, but we as readers are never told he works hard at what he does. So when he takes a leisurly vacation away to go fishing in the mountains, I almost want to ask 'Does he need it?' Sure, everyone can use a break every now and then, but for someone that spends his nights in Paris, drinking and dancing with friends and strangers, and then sleeps till noonish, and works several hours, it doe not seem to me like he needs a vacation. "I went and found the man who suscriped my tickets for the bull fights every year, and he had gotten the money i transfered." (Hemingway 102.) For a man whose line of work does not sound so stressful, he does receive a fair amount of money. He takes these trips every year, and they do not sound so cheap at that. In a country trying to rebuild itself after the war, this book does a fabouls job addressing the social changes, but fails to mention uon the finacial chaanges still affecting Europe.

Next Blockbuster movie??

Sadly, I feel the answer to this rhetorical question is no, the novel The Sun Also Rises will not be the next blockbuster hit. Does it have suspense? Yes, this novel has its own kind of suspense. Like will Cohn find a girl that does not treat him like dirt, or will Bill ever get some money. But no, aside from the bull fighting, this book was not made to keep audiences on the edge of their seats. "The man who had been gored lay face down in the trampled mud... I could not see the man because the crowd was so thick around him." (Hemingway 201.) The is probably the most suspenceful part of the book so far, from my standpoint. Is he alive, or dead? More than likely, due to the nature of horns and the lack of defense humans have, this man is dead. Later, a page over, actually, we discover, yes, he died of his wounds. Not the most dramatic scene ever thought of, but it did bring a quick sense of excitment to an otherwise level-headed story line.

Customs

For people that know very little about a culture, it can be extremely easy to judge while they are outside looking in at customs of a culture. In Spanish class, we discussed the Bull fighting tradition in Spain. To most, it seems cruel, brutal, and barabaric. But to the Spanish, it is the highest honor to be a famed matador. Sure people may die along the way, like Vicente Girones (Hemingway 202), but it is all for the sport. It is a tradition that has been carried out for years. And Spanish people (for the most part) accept it and enjoy it for what it is: a test of a human's ability to battle nature, head on. Notce how it NEVER says in the passage of the funeral that his family is saddened at all. Sure, we can assume that they were sorrowful over his death, but they knew he died keeping alive a part of their heritage. And that is an honor in all cultures.

Not to beat a dead horse

This novel continues to infuriate me with it's lack of conflict, yet with its continueing story plot. This is not one of Shakespeare's great plays filled to the brim with situational irony and intense plot twists. This is not a great Greek tragedy of divine struggle. It is not even a comedy or religious work to scare people into praising God. It is just.... some events that were written down. That is it. In a way, however, it is a romance tragedy, but not fro mthe perspective of the hero. If one was to say it was such a piece of literature, Cohn or Brett culd be considered the hero/heroine trying to find love, and coming to a miserable and lonely end. "I just couldn't stand it about Brett. I've been through hell, Jake. It's been simply hell." (Hemingway 198.) Cohn can not find true happiness because he has never been treated properly by women, and by few men. He is always put down, and is always trying to find happiness that everyone has, but he lacks.

What does it look like?

Hemingway has a distinct style of presenting his novels to the reader. For one, he has a mild idea of how to describe sceneray to the reader. Unfortunatly, he has a poor habit of describing characters. He uses minimal adjectives to describe the characters and his imagery is lacking to say the least. Cohn is really the only character we get a halfway decent description of, and that is of small quality as it is. "He had a flattened nose... and took to wearing spectacles." (Hemingway 11.)
Do not get me wrong, however. Never do i say that this is a bad choice of writing style. thankfully, unlike what the media had done to recent generations, it keeps the readers imagination flowing, and growing, as they fill in the gaps of what they think the characters would look like, using and ever changing opinion of them to grow upon the characters features. More over, I feel reading books like this with a lack f imagery can be of great use in stimulating the mind.

Picked up slang

Personally I have noticed that when I spent anytime at all around people with even a slight accent, I have a talent for picking it up myself. Basically i have a talent for noticing and picking up local color, or customs and ways of acting. Everyone does it at one time or another, usualy without even noticing it. Barnes does it after spending some time with Harris and Brett. "What rot, i could hear Brettt say it. What rot! When you were with English you got into the habit of using English expressions in your thinking." (Hemingway 153.) Personally i feel it is a great way to expand on one's outlook on life and social interactions. It, along with food, are great ways of connecting people and getting to know why people act the way the do.

Robert Cohn

Not only is Hemingway's plot style unique, so is his charcter devolpment. His characters seem so one dimensional, and yet the have a form of depth to them as well. Cohn is a character that really disgusts me as a reader. All he does is mope around and try to chase after Brett, who is trying to get a cross that she doesn't have any positive feelings for him. Frances was doing him a favor when she beat him down verbally. It was something he needed to hear, and thanks to Mike later on, he heard again and again. No matter how many times people tell him to grow up and move on, he just can not do it. Even after the fight, all he does is sulk. "Cohn was crying... 'Please forgive me Jake.'...'I was crasy. Please don't remember it.'" (Hemingway 198.) Cohn is nothing but a lowely, lonely loser who pisses me off again and again.

Gee, I wonder what happens next...

This is the most uneventful novel I have ever encountered. All the people are doing is what they say they are going to do next. The onlyforeshadowing skills needed is when Cohn repeatitly gets pset, and acts like he will start a fight, and thanks to the note early on about his boxing technique, any reader could more than likely foreshadow that the fight was going to end with Cohn wiping the floor with the other men on page 195. "'I say, you were out cold.' 'Where were you at?' 'I was around.' 'He knocked Mike down, too.'" (Hemingway 195.) It is very difficult to foreshadow any events in this book, becasue the fight was the first official event yet. In a book that doesn't really move the story along in a normal style, how can one predict normal events?

What's your mood today?

The mood of this piece is laid back, carefree, and a total disregard for consequences. The people in this book are cleaning up the remains of th war they fought in, and they are alive. They want to have a new appreciation for what they do have, forgetting about what could happen. They are getting drunk on every page, and several are having maritals without the mariage. This was becoming the norm, and unfortunaly, set the mold for what we live by today. Tradionally people only drank wine in Europe because the water quality is so poor. Yet the characters are simply drinking to drink."Let us utilize the product of the vine. Is this all we've got?' 'Just the two bottles'" (Hemmingway 127.) Two bottles of wine is plenty to get a perso drunk, and these people are dissapointed when they do not have more. Self control is sorely needed i nthis time period, as these people think they are living, yet they are driving themselves closer to their graves.

What is the point?!

Why? Why did Hemingway spend his time writing this? Quite frankly I had no idea through most of this book what Hemingway's motivation was for writing this book. As far as i could tell their was no underlying lesson, no political injustice being exposed, not even a small bit of advice. I neared the end thinking this was a random bit of literature that is considered a masterpiece.
That is, however, until I read the back cover. THen the pieces started to fall into place and i saw that Hemingway's motivation, in my opinion, was to show the world what was hapening all around them: change. A sudden quick change that spread across the globe and was built out of the wreckage of the old. "It was an age of moral bankruptcy, spirtual dissoulution, unrelaized love, and vanishing illusions" (Hemingway back cover.) Love was a new topic to these people. No longer was love jsut for Romeo and Juiet of old, but for the common man as well. if your heart desired something, go for it! self control was not a lesson learned yet, but it would be very soon.

Listen to the rhythm!

Hemingway shows a very unique writing style that is also a reflection of the attitudes of his characters (discussed post "Tradition!!"). Hemingway's rhythm of writing is short and to the point, just as the characters in his novel use short sentences to say what is on their minds. The vast majority of the conversations that take place use very little words in the actual verbal interaction of his characters. "'Don't forget it yet.' 'No?' 'No.' 'All right.' 'I would like a hat like that.' 'Good. I'll get you one' " (Hemingway 190.) This small conversation is not only how Hemingway handles his dialog, but his other narration as well. He does not spend a lot of time getting to th point of what he wants to say, but his characters do not say very much at all.

Tradition!!

Just as in the Broadway favorite, A Fiddler on the Roof, a mention of tradition comes up on page 190. "It would be very bad, a torero who speaks English" (Hemingway 190). There is a clashing of old and new moral values here, as there are all over the world in this time. People are learning how precious life and time are, so they are trying to get the most out of both while the values of the past are slowly eroding and falling by the way side.

The new set of rules, which is ironic as it is a lack of rules, says that as long as no one gets hurt to badly do whatever you please and it will be okay. People are starting to branch out and look at life in a different light, and with this, they are changing their culture. the zinc bars are more popular, and becoming drunk with friends is no longer an American right of passage, but a European one as well. Not everyone is completely losing faith in the old customs, as Romeo shows, but more and more people are allowing their moral compass to slide.

This is one boring war story....

Hemmingway's style of writing in this novel is so unconventional to myself. Normally books have a semi obvious plot with bumps along the way. This story, however, is quite different. As i read i expect something big and grand to happen.... yet all that is going on is people living life. So far the only plot twists is who Brett loves next. Bill gives a great representation of their outlook on life in this time period on page 126, "We should not question. Our stay on earth is not for long. Let us rejoice and believe and give thanks." The people that make up the main set of characters aren't off in some far off land saving the freedoms of those back home or saving the lives of loved ones. They are simply enjoying life for all it is worth and getting the most out of what they have.

Final post for the book

There are still many aspects of this book I have yet to even touch upon. there are so many different layers in this novel. But to round it all up, I decided to do my personal reaction to the book itself. As I mentioned in my first post, being called to war is my biggest fear. Up until this book, I had only a generic run of the mill idea of what war was. This book clarified some of these speculations, but for many of them it gave them a whole new twist.

"Your out of touch man... he is with us now." (O'Brien 188). O'Brien clearly says that there is no way to describe something to someone unless they were there. Army buddies are stereotypically men that sit around, share stories, and remember the days of their service. They discuss topics normal men can not comprehend, but the retired men try to explain it anyway. They are trying to warn about the terror they witnessed. It does not matter if what they say is true or not, or exaggerated a little here and there. What is important is that the lessons they learned, the knowledge they gained, is passed down. My speculation that many stories are changed a bit has stayed in tact, but the reason for the change has been given a whole new light to shine in.

Hidden, but not gone

God has an interesting way of popping in at the most random of times it seems. But after closer inspection, we find that He showed up exactly when He needed to. God is present even in an atrocity such as war. The monks were so generous and caring, even though their families had all likely been killed by the men. They help to show that God is universal. No matter where you are, no matter how desperate and helpless you seem, God is there, you just have to know how to look. "It wasn't the religious stuff that interested me. It was just being nice to people." (O'Brien 115).

Many people, myself included, believe that although there are many different religions in the world, and they have similar core values, they all worship the same God, the same entity. It is the one that is inside all of us. The goodness that is half of our conscience. Yes i believe there is a higher power some where in existence, but i believe it works through all of us, each and everyday.

It is simple, but so true

He is right. He is absolutely correct about our loved ones. We keep them alive with our remembrance of them. We should not focus on grief, but rejoice in the lives they lead and the impact they had on our lives. "Once you are alive... you can't ever be dead." (O'Brien 231). This book is a tribute to those that Tim O'Brien has loved and lost. It is a template of how we should let our loved ones live in peace, yet never forget them. Yes it hurts and stabs at the heart to lose a loved one. Yes depression seems so easy to slip into. But what Timmy and Linda are telling us is to move on, yet do not leave the dead behind. Bring them with you to help guide you on life's journey.

What matters?

O'Brien has developed a curious way of delivering his work, which I find intoxicating. He, just like myself, seems scatter-brained and self contradictory. He is trying to tell a story, so it seems, but he keeps pausing and stopping and correcting himself. He even tells us later on some of his stories were not completely true.

"Almost everything else is made up." (O'Brien 171). I still have to reread every sentence in that chapter. Because in truth, it makes sense. But it goes against everything I have ever learned about... to be honest I do not even know. Life? Story telling? Or having others believe what you tell them? O'Brien has shown us this world of heart break and torment, and then told us its partly true, but not completely. It feels like someone pulling a rug out from under one of foot, but leaving the other standing. Do you fall down, or do you stay standing up? But O'Brien does present a valid point: "Absolute occurrence is irrelevant." (O'Brien 80). The story is all that matters. It does NOT matter who the story happened to, or all the fine little details. All that truly matters is what is presented to the reader.

Pride over life

I have discussed earlier my fear for being called to war. I still, especially after reading this book, hold that fear deep in my heart. So when O'Brien throws away his chance at an escape, I was forced to stop reading for a while. The decision he made was both the opposite, and very similar to hat i think i would have done in his place. He had freedom, he had life, he had no attachments back home; so why could he not have done it? Why could he not have jumped and lived?

"Embarrassment. That's all it was." (O'Brien 57). He could not live because he was scared of what people thought of him. His life flashed before his eyes, and all he could see what had been, not what could be. He could in fact had had a life in Canada, he just would not be able to look at himself ever again in a mirror. Personally, I do not believe I could have done what he did. Besides my girlfriend and my friends, I have no attachments here. I could make a life for me on the other side of the border. I know my friends would understand, and my girlfriend would too. So for me the choice is easy... jump. Swimming is very easy for me, and this would be no exception I believe. But until I stand where he stood, I can not guarantee my answer.

April fool's day came early

Holding a grudge can be a risky business. Especially when tensions are as high as a war situation. Everyone can say they have been afraid of the dark at one point of another in their life. I never was... that is, until I saw Paranormal Activity. Now I can barely go in my basement without looking over my shoulder at night. The dark is mysterious, it is potentially dangerous. Human beings, the majority anyway, are terrified of what they do not know or understand.

O'Brien feels betrayed and he seeks to find some self justice by attacking Jorgenson where it will hurt him the most... by playing with his darkest fears. "I've pulled enough night guard to know how the fear factor gets multiplied as you sit there hour after hour." (O'Brien 195). I feel that personally this would be horrible revenge, and of course it backfires in the end. Jorgenson is not terrorized, and O'Brien has a panic attack halfway through the plan. If someone truly wishes revenge, they need to give the other person a taste of their own medicine. But, because I have not been to war, I have not experienced Vietnam, I can not say if for the people that have been there, this is a reliable sense of revenge.

Just listen

When O'Brien is relating how he tried to escape to Canada early on in the book, he comes across a loner in the woods operating some dilapidated cabins. And just like in the book Siddhartha, the elderly gentleman living by the stream helps the one that seeks knowledge and solace. "the man's self control was amazing. He never pried" (O'Brien 49). Many people feel they can not possibly solve their problems by themselves. They crave the advice of others on how to live their own lives. Most people, if not all, however, are fully capable of figuring out the answers they need on their own. All they need is to get away from everything, and focus on other hobbies or odd jobs until they can clear their head, and face their demons head-on. Elroy did not ask O'Brien of his troubles, mainly because he knew it would do more harm than good. he simply gave O'Brien the tools to fix his own issues, and left it at that.

One brave little buffalo

War is a hell hole. War brings out the best in people when bravery is shown, but for the most part it brings out the worst in people as well. It causes people to cope, and some people just can not cope in normal ways. "Garden of Evil. Over here, every sin is fresh and original" (O'Brien 76). What causes a man to slower torture and slaughter a buffalo calf?

He lost his best friend, he lost his brother, he lost the man he had grown to love. Something as vile and as purely evil as war could only be created by man. It rots the brain, it hardens the heart, it drains the life from the soldiers brought back in bags or own their legs. The buffalo, in a way, represents one man's attempt to stand against the monster. No matter how long you stand, no matter your courage, if one single man tries to stand against the devilish hellfire of war that others have created, the single man will be crushed in it's wake.

Peace?

Where in the story does O'Brien find peace? To be honest it depends on what you consider the "story". Tim O'Brien the character finds peace when he revisits Kiowa's death site. He delivers the shows and immerses himself in the water that plagued him that fateful night some twenty years prior. "And now after two decades I'd mostly worked myself out." (O'Brien 178). By climbing out of the mud he has been able to climb out of his chaotic thoughts and breath in fresh air of peace. he is never able to get rid of his past, as it sticks to him like the much, but he is able to move past it all.

Tim O'Brien the narrator/ author finds peace in the last few pages of the book. He finds his resolution when he tells the reader how he keeps Linda, Kiowa, and the rest alive in his dreams and stories. He has always been plagued by their loss from his life, but through his mind and his book they live on.

So where do you stand?

Tim O'Brien is, obviously, the author of the book, and around chapter three the reader finds out he is the narrator. His point of view for the novel is the reminiscing narrator. All of the stories and flashbacks are from O'Brien's head, his experience. They are his way with dealing with his ghosts, and with relating them to people who were not in Vietnam.

Instead of just presenting the novel and letting the reader judge the war on their own reactions, O'Brien engages the reader in his memories and in his own chaotic sorrowful feelings and thoughts. "All i could do was cry. It seemed that all around me a crushing weight was pressing on me." (O'Brien 54). O'Brien spends an entire chapter telling of his inner storm, his chaotic, twisting thoughts swirling inside him as he tries to escape his fate. He is not just making these feelings up or retelling them from someone else. They are his and his alone.

Wait... What?!

Personally my favorite literary technique is situational irony. It combines suspense and foreshadowing, but in a convoluted way. Situational irony is when the reader suspensefully awaits to see if their foreshadowing is correct of not, and it is always wrong. If my foreshadowing is correct, i tend to think 'well if i could come up with that, why did i buy this book instead of writing it?'

Readers like to be surprised. They like to be blown away with an outcome. That is one of the many reasons Shakespeare is still revered to this day. "Man you must be deaf. She is already gone" (O'Brien 107). When I came to this part of the story, I thought for sure the girl was going to end up dead in the end. I never for a second thought she would join the green berets and then run away into the wilderness. Personally, I loved the surprise when it came. Having your own conclusion gives one a little self confidence, but being proven wrong keeps one interested.

Saw it coming

Most people when asked would more than likely say that the army is very boring for people who like to chose their own path, and perfect for people who are good at taking orders. O'Brien shows us a side of the army that most people could not dream of in their wildest of dreams. Men high-fiving corpses (214), cruelty to a baby buffalo (75), and men bringing their girlfriends over (89) are all examples of the choices these men had. O'Brien makes it very difficult to foreshadow anything in this book because it makes us believe it is true, and even thought it is true, it is so far fetched no Hollywood writer could ever dream it up.

"'I guess this was your first look at a real body?' I shook my head. All day long i had been picturing Linda's face" (O'Brien 215). This is one of the few, if only, parts of the book where one can guess what comes next. O'Brien has not yet introduced a character called Linda, and we can infer she died. But when he talks of his first love, a little girl, he creates a scenario where the reader forgets that she is going to die. Even when he hands us the answer, O'Brien is a master at drawing the reader's attention else where, only to whip it back to the ending.

I remember when...

In a way all the stories in this book are flashbacks, because the character telling the story was present when it occurred. They are reliving what transpired, and retelling the events to the listener or the reader. A normal novel would be interrupted by a flashback primarily to fill the reader in on an important detail. The difference with these flashbacks are that the are the story. Personally, I believe the purpose of this book is to allow the characters to be remembered as long as this is in print. O'Brien tells us that as long as the dead are remembered, they are not really dead. "To listen to the story, you'd never know Curt Lemon was dead" (O'Brien 227). So by writing this book and by telling us these happenings in Vietnam and the post-war, the characters never die, but are remembered by many. We the readers may not be able to know exactly what the characters looked or sounded like, or even their true names, but their essence can be relived and remembered through O'Brien's novel. O'Brien is not trying to grieve in the losses of his life, he is attempting to move past them and find solace by telling us his loses.

"The man i killed" (O'Brien 118)

O'Brien does a tremendous job through out the book of giving a laundry list of visual effects that helps the reader with imagery. O'Brien normally tells inner thoughts while narrating his memories and stories, but in this chapter he is silent. All he relates to the reader is the look of the man he killed. He drives the image home by repeating the image over and over again, utilizing well implemented repetition, along with simple yet powerful imagery.

His delivery of this deceased man is a perfect way of showing the simple thoughts in his mind, yet the chaotic storm racing through his head at the same time. He can not express himself, so his mind goes blank. He never says this, but he shows it by saying nothing. "His jaw in his throat, his eye a star-shaped hole. His right cheek sooth and unblemished." (O'Brien 118). These are very simple words, very simple imagery, but because O'Brien uses repetition so well, the repetition really makes this man come alive to someone's mental eye.

"It's against the rules"(O'Brien 107)

Many movies, games, and books rely upon suspense to keep their audience entertained and interested. O'Brien has done an outstanding job of luring the reader into a frame story, and right towards the end, stops. This is a mood killer if you were hearing the story from someone in person, but for a reader, it only increases their will to read on and discover what happens next. It keeps not only the reader entertained, but it also brings out emotion from the characters.

O'Brien the entire book has told us very little of the platoon except the equipment and several names of the men in it. He does, however, develop the men in their own short stories. In this story we see Mitchell Sanders' passion for storytelling. The purpose of this is to make the characters come alive, and when tragedy strikes, we as bystanders can feel sorrow for a loss of the platoon. If O'Brien had just told the characters natures at the beginning, it would have been too much too soon, and the reader would not appreciate the loss of the men as dearly as they do when the learn of the men's nature through out the book.

Who is the villain?

Well, to answer my own rhetorical question, in this novel of confession, loss, and a search for redemption, the villain is war and no one else. The antagonist of the story is Tim O'Brien. His memories are the main character in a sense, with him bouncing from one to the next. O'Brien is the antagonist because, up until he revisits Kiowa's place of death, he can not find peace. And the peace he finds there is short lived, due to the fact that he then remembers losing his boyhood sweetheart. the only true peace he discovers is in finishing this novel.

He feels such lose from the war and his life, and he misses his loved ones so dearly. "Right now I'm not dead. But when I am... it's like being a book that no one has read in a long, long time" (O'Brien 232). The people we love and care for are never dead as long as we remember them in a happy way. If we remember them in a sorrowful way and forget to live while we are remembering them, then they are like Linda was whenever Timmy was asking her how death was. She was bored and dying to be alive again. When we cherish our dears ones, and never forget them, then they are never truly dead.

What does chocolate taste like?

As page 108 states, describing war to someone who has never been is like trying to describe chocolate to someone who has never tried it (O'Brien 108). As O'Brien says again and again, telling a good war story is extremely difficult, if not impossible. The reason being that no one is ever going to fully understand what you are telling them, and that sometimes the truth appears to be false as the lie seems to be true. In a way, Tim O'Brien's The Things They Carried is an allegory. The entire novel is trying to relate one man's experiences in Vietnam to "civilians" who have never experienced anything such as war.

Through Hollywood, media, and video games, the generation of today thinks they know what war is. With the help of O'Brien's award winning novel, the generation of today is shown that in fact, war is a vary far truth from what we are told to believe. This book stands for, what i believe from my life experience, to be the greatest example of true war life from the eyes of one man's life.

Hero... maybe?

Most books will fairly early on give a protagonist to the book. But for a book with such depth as this, determining the protagonist is fairly challenging. The first two chapters suggest that Jimmy Cross keeps the story going and develops the plot, first going from antihero to a model lieutenant. "... his obligation was not to be loved but to lead" (O'Brien 25). Once chapter three starts, however, the reader is told that the narrator/author Tim O'Brien is in fact the protagonist. So which is it?

In truth, the protagonist is something we all carry inside us: the ghosts of our pasts. We all must "hump" these burdens with us everyday, and everywhere we go. What distinguishes the antiheroes from the heroes, however, is how we carry them. Heroes carry them as a small reminder of what can potentially happen, and as a guide for the future. Antiheroes carry them as regrets and as a solemn reminder of what did happen. In order to develop the plots of our own lives, we must be the hero.

Superstition

Humans have been given an incredible sense of touch. When darkness falls we can see in the dark using our fingers. Our palm can tell when food is down cooking or when the fire is ready to be used to cook our meals. But like most blessings, our touch comes which a fatal flaw: the need to feel a tangible sense of safety. Sometimes all someone needs for comfort is a hug, or possibly a small child needs to hold a favorite toy. Our tangible sense of touch, along with our emotional sense of touch at one point or another needs human contact, a reminder of humanity.

Whether it be a "lucky pebble" (O'Brien 12) or " a rabbit's foot" (O'Brien 12) superstition is a mind's way of dealing with the soul's desperate fear for some form of security. But the mind can take any superstition or coincidence, and turn it against us as well. An example of this is myself. I happen to be deathly afraid of being enlisted, and Lavender (my girlfriend's favorite smell) was killed on April 16, which happens to be my birthday. Coincidences occur very frequently in this world of our's, but some people see signs that other's over look.

Boom- down. Like cement.

When an American, teenage boy hits the age of eighteen, they are required by law to sign up for the draft, should one ever be instituted. Some accept this fate with quiet acceptance. Others, such as myself, dread this inevitable outcome with cold blood slowly creeping through their system, procrastinating their destiny until the last possible moment. The reason being a unexplainable terror for the horrors of war illustrated in this book. Imagine walking back from relieving one's self, smiling away, only to have the brains and teeth blown out of one's mouth in the blink of an eye. After all of the work and planing and hopes for the future, to have it all just thrown away in the blink of an eye, to see the light from a comrades eyes slowly disappear... this is a fate worse than a thousand agonizing deaths.

Having one's heart and soul weighed down by all the "grief, terror, loving, longing, all the intangibles.... and to carry the heaviest weight of all, barely held- back fear" (O'Brien 20) is a feeling that no person that has not experienced this can imagine. Lavender fell like cement not because of the weight he carried, but because the emotions in his soul had hardened his heart and made it weigh that of cement.