The essays on The Things They Carried explore various aspects of the Vietnam War, which was a highly challenging conflict. One reason for this difficulty was the absence of clear boundaries, making it nearly impossible to conquer territory. Moreover, soldiers had to face harsh weather conditions, tough terrain, diseases, and their own personal struggles. This specific essay focuses on the relationship between soldiers and their officers. It is reasonable to argue that the American soldiers sent to Vietnam lacked sufficient discipline. These soldiers were often just eighteen years old and did not receive adequate training to handle the numerous challenges they encountered. Their service deprived them of their youthful innocence and forced them to mature prematurely. When something went wrong, it became common for soldiers to blame their commanding officers. Tim O'Brien effectively portrays this dynamic in his s
...tory "In The Field," where Lieutenant Jimmy Cross grapples with guilt over Kiowa's death. Despite fulfilling his duties as expected, Cross holds himself responsible for not considering his troops' well-being. Even though they knew he was not at fault, some soldiers direct their anger towards Cross due to Kiowa's death. As emotions intensify, O'Brien describes this escalating situation through syntax in his writing style.
The text aims to convince readers that all the soldiers were aware of Cross's innocence, but some felt compelled to blame him. Sanders sarcastically criticizes Cross for choosing a toilet as their camping spot. Bowker agrees that nobody knew about it until afterward. Jimmy Cross is emotionally shaken by Kiowa's death and disappointed with Mitchell's reaction. Such incidents create tension between officers and soldiers, leading to protests and punishment. In Vietnam, soldiers increasingly fragged
officers due to dissatisfaction and desire for decision-making power. This delicate topic arises because officers must follow orders while soldiers want involvement since their lives are at stake. The excerpt showcases syntactic and paratactic writing styles through its straightforward description of soldiers' actions without hidden meaning. Jimmy Cross never wanted the responsibility of leading these men even though he signed up for ROTC during college without much thought.During daybreak, a platoon comprising of eighteen soldiers gathered together in a loose formation and commenced navigating through the deep muck of the feces-infested field side by side. Progressing slowly amidst the rain, they utilized the butt ends of their weapons as tools to probe ahead, traversing across the field towards the river and subsequently retracing their steps back. Exhausted and despondent, their sole desire was to complete this arduous task (185). It was imperative to interpret O'Brien's words literally.
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