Kingston, Maxine Hong, ed. Veterans of War, Veterans of Peace. Kihei, Hawaii Koa Books, 2006 - Essay Example

The Things They Carried Defined Peace: Introduction: An unknown narrator occupying the place of third person described the chapter "The Things They Carried Define Peace". He narrates the actions and thoughts of the Lieutenant Johny Cross, of the Army unit, how he combats his duty, how actively he took part in the war of Vietnam. The narrator mentions all the things that soldiers carry along with them of which some are tangible and some are intangible. In this chapter the narrator personifies the characters according to the things they possessed as for Dobbins carried extra food, which says he is foodie, and similarly Ted Lavender carried tranquilizer pills and Kiowa carries hunting hatchet.

Along with the things the also carry terror, love, dignity with a poise, grief and longing. When Lt.Cross was singled out from group of Army men, O'Brien presents in detail about the inner feelings and thoughts and stress that Lt.Cross carries the lives of his men along with his things.The Story is a reflection to the thoughts of the readers about the War of Vietnam and also about the soldiers who are fighting in the war. O'Brien was shot thrice and got wounded and so he was discharged from the duty of fighting.

He was ordered to serve the supplies to the men of Battalion from the company. With the transfer he was teared from the map of Vietnam. The story revolves around Bobby Jorgenson. He was in the place of Rat in the team of Army on whom O'Brien developed lot of anger. O'Brien had given importance to what soldiers do at night. He hated a lot to roam about night and delivered the pans of hatred and yearnings about Jorgenson. According to him the nights are totally different from the day as spending nights in the Army formed this opinion.

The old company was so different in the night with him and all this urged to take revenge on Jogerson. The aspect of peace in the chapter "In the Field" - The chapter deals with the death of he soldier Kiowa , when a young unnamed soldier accidentally gives signal of presence in the field to the enemy, then and there Kiowa was shot dead who was searching photographs he carried fell in the field. The search event was very depressing. The writer here forces readers ti think about the person of War than just event of War.

The search doesn't looked like for a martyr of a country, but like a friend searching for the body of another friend. . Reference text - Chapter Things They Carried Defined Peace "The things they carried were largely determined by necessity. Among the necessities or near-necessities were P-38 can openers, pocket knives wristwatches, dog tags, mosquito repellentcigarettesmatches, sewing kits, Military Payment Certificates, C rations, and two or three canteens of water. Together, these items weighed between 15 and 20 pounds, depending upon a man's habits or rate of metabolism.

"Sources:Wand Publications,2006,http://www.wand.org/faith/faith%20study%20cost.pdf CliffsNotes,2007http://www.education.yahoo.com/homework_help/cliffsnotes/the_things_they_carried/4http://www.education.yahoo.com/homework_help/cliffsnotes/the_things_they_carried/48