The Things They Carried Reflection

When our guest speaker Wes came into our classroom, I wondered about many things he was going to talk about. Not only that, I didn't exactly learned about the Vietnam War in my other class, so I was absolutely clueless. Hearing his speech and experience about the Vietnam War, it made me realized that it takes a lot of courage to go what he went through. He also explained that when he went to war, he didn't know his comrades in arms. I felt that if I went to the war and came back without knowing their names, I would feel guilty that I couldn't mourn over their deaths. Take my fingers and feel their carved names onto the momentum.

I didn't exactly know that it was wrong for women to join the military, so when I read this book, it showed that women can be fearless in war or completely changed from what they were originally. I think that Tim was trying to show that the war caused both genders to take into new roles of the story. Mary Ann was the sweet girl that seemed oblivious of everything until she came to the camp ground to visit her boyfriend, and became one of the soldiers in such a short time. I've been told by many people that men protect women because it was the right thing to do and that it was instinct that triggers it. Not only that, men would also think that women weren't cut out for the war and prevent them from joining in general.

I think that Tim was trying to create a world in the book that was half real and half fantasy. The real part of the book was parts of his past experience with slight changes. The fantasy is the similarity to what's real but telling it in a different way. Sort of like spinning a tale of heavy woes and happiness with a mixture of fiction and nonfiction. When I read a book, I like to believe every little word they put in a book even if it's not the truth. Sometimes that truth can never be a strong motion unless you were actually there. As I read Tim's book, the past experience he had in the war was very cruel and explicit to my standards, but when I look back on it, it's just the right push show what you want to say.

QUESTION~?~?~?~?~?~?~?~
What was your overall look of the book?
Who was the most dynamic character?
What was something that changed your view about the war?
How did you feel after reading this book?
Should we read more war stories?
What is your type of "Courage"?
If you were the opposite gender, what is your point of view of the war?