The Things They Carried Wow

A young man marching
conveying what is unseen
fighting his ain war

Several years ago, one of my students visited me after school to talk about problems he was dealing with. Not criminal in nature but serious struggles that would claiming even the strongest adult. We talked for a while and I offered him resource that I thought might be helpful. After our chat, I periodically checked in on him. I have non heard from him since graduation, until recently. The nature of our conversation had a completely different tone this fourth dimension. He told me about the overwhelming challenges he went through after high school, and some he continues to work through, simply his life looks completely and positively different now. I could not be more proud of him and honored to hear from him. Although this post is inspired by one student, the details of this scenario could describe several students I have had the honor of working with through the years.

Our conversation fabricated me think near the many "things" that people might carry, that are invisible to everyone else. That would describe most of united states of america. Those thoughts reminded me of a book I love to teach, The Things They Carried, past Tim O'Brien. Because the book is set in the Vietnam war, it is night and graphic at times, but throughout the book O'Brien'south writing is descriptively and poetically cute. The showtime chapter shares the title of the book and describes the many tangible things men fighting in the Vietnam War had to carry, similar weapons, food rations, and mosquito repellent, then the affiliate moves into the intangible things men carried. After reading that chapter my students had to write a verse form about the things they personally carried, both tangible and intangible, and so present their verse form to the class. The final poems were moving and revealing and created a sense of community in my classroom.

I will not inquire you to write a poem, beloved reader, simply I will share an excerpt from the "intangible" section of Tim O'Brien's outstanding book. Edited for linguistic communication and strong content, withal, if sensitive to the realities of war this passage may be a trigger.

The Things They Carried by Tim O'Brien
excerpt from Affiliate 1~

They carried all the emotional luggage of men who might die. Grief, terror, love, longing—these were intangibles, simply the intangibles had their own mass and specific gravity, they had tangible weight. They carried shameful memories. They carried the mutual undercover of cowardice barely restrained, the instinct to run or freeze or hide, and in many respects this was the heaviest burden of all, for it could never be put down, it required perfect balance and perfect posture. They carried their reputations. They carried the soldier's greatest fear, which was the fear of blushing. Men killed, and died, considering they were embarrassed non to. Information technology was what had brought them to the war in the offset place, nothing positive, no dreams of celebrity or honor, just to avoid the blush of dishonor. They died so equally non to die of embarrassment. They crawled into tunnels and walked point and advanced under burn. Each morning, despite the unknowns, they made their legs movement. They endured. They kept humping. They did not submit to the obvious alternative, which was only to close the eyes and fall. So easy, actually. Go limp and tumble to the footing and let the muscles unwind and not speak and not budge until your buddies picked you up and lifted you into the chopper that would roar and dip its nose and carry you lot off to the world. A mere matter of falling, yet no one e'er fell. Information technology was not backbone, exactly; the object was not valor. Rather, they were likewise frightened to be cowards.

Past and large they carried these things within, maintaining the masks of composure. They sneered at ill phone call. They spoke bitterly most guys who had found release by shooting off their own toes or fingers… Information technology was fierce, mocking talk, with only a trace of envy or awe, simply fifty-fifty so the prototype played itself out behind their eyes.
…
And they dreamed of freedom birds.

At night, on baby-sit, staring into the dark, they were carried away past jumbo jets. They felt the rush of takeoff. Gone! they yelled. And so velocity—wings and engines—a smiling stewardess—simply it was more than than a plane, it was a real bird, a big sleek silver bird with feathers and talons and high screeching. They were flying. The weights brutal off; there was nil to bear. They laughed and held on tight, feeling the cold slap of wind and altitude, soaring, thinking It's over, I'm gone!—they were naked, they were light and free—it was all lightness, bright and fast and buoyant, low-cal as light, a helium fizz in the brain, a giddy bubbles in the lungs as they were taken up over the clouds and the state of war, beyond duty, beyond gravity and mortification and global entanglements—Sin loi! they yelled. I'm sorry… just I'g out of it, I'1000 goofed, I'grand on a space cruise, I'grand gone!—and it was a restful, unencumbered sensation, just riding the light waves, sailing that big silverish liberty bird over the mountains and oceans, over America, over the farms and keen sleeping cities and cemeteries and highways and the gilded arches of McDonald's, it was flight, a kind of fleeing, a kind of falling, falling college and higher, spinning off the border of the globe and across the lord's day and through the vast, silent vacuum where there were no burdens and where everything weighed exactly cypher—Gone! they screamed. I'm sorry simply I'm gone!—and then at night, not quite dreaming, they gave themselves over to the lightness, they were carried, they were purely borne.

Tim O'Brien is a Pulitzer Prize winning author and engaging speaker who did serve in the Vietnam War, but his novel is fictional. I tin't help but wonder, when reading his volume, what really happened and what details are a product of his imagination, or are blurred war memories. If war stories interest y'all, I highly recommend the book and suggest watching one of his interviews. I discover his views on story telling specially interesting.

Cheers for reading and listening. Be gratis. Exist well. 💗 Michele

Reference: O'Brien, T. (1990). The Things They Carried. New York: Broadway Books. 21-23.

Photograph ane: by Pixabay (Pexels) Photo ii: my image taken in Newport, Oregon

Observe my photos on Instagram ~ @mlsefton

© 2021 Michele Lee Sefton.

The Things They Carried Wow,

Source: https://myinspiredlife.org/2021/08/07/the-things-they-carried-a-reading/

Posted by: murraycallather.blogspot.com

Share this post