Death Sucks
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The main message which Tim OBrien expresses in his novel The Things They Carried is that “Death sucks” (p. 243). This quote is said in the last chapter of the book by Tims good friend Mitchell Sanders on one of the worst days of the war and I believe it is a beautiful way to put a close to the book. Throughout the book death occurs numerous times and is really one of the main themes of the novel. By the end of the war OBrien and the rest of his platoon just want to return home and get away from the constant death and the constant fear of losing their own lives. The platoon had experienced the death of three of its members, OBrien said each time they lost a fellow soldier it was like losing a family member; he says “These guys had become my brothers” (p. 194). Death can be found within every chapter of the novel, whether its the death of a brother, the death of the enemy, or the death of a loved one; death was the inspiration for this book. I chose this quote because I believe it truly expresses how OBrien feels as the war comes to an end and is the base which he uses to write the book.
The war had started to consume OBrien near the end of the story; this becomes obvious when OBrien said “I was Nam-the horror, the war” (p. 209). This quote is late in the book and it shows how an incredible bond had been created between himself and Vietnam. He says (I was the land itself- everything, everywhere- the fireflies and paddies, the moon, the midnight rustlings, and the cool phosphorescent shimmer of evil” (p. 209). I believe that these quotes are important because they show the transformation that OBrien went through; the war had not just become a part of him, it had become him.