the end?

That was an ambiguos ending if i ever read one. We see Jake and Brett become closer again and this time we think maybe they'll confess their love and stay with one another. But Brett cannot stay with one man and I think Jake begins to really accept it. I feel like before he said he was okay with it but really was not. Now, i think he fully accepts the fact that he will always love Brett but it cannot be. It even ends in a resigned fashion when Brett exclaims " we could have had sucha damned good time together."
and Jake replies, " Isn't it pretty to think so?" (pg. 251)

And then it ends with these characters never really accomplishing anything except being hurt by a fickle woman who seemed to be under her spell.

Graceful romero

Indirect characterization --"He took him (the bull) out softly and smoothly..." (pg.. 220)
We are seeing Romero indirectly characterized by his graceful movements. We, the readers, can tell much from him by the way he handles such stressful situations. He becomes nervous with a colorblind bull but continues to bullfight his best. he holds his composure and stays calm and beautiful in his movements. We see Brett worry about him but i think he finds Romero's bullfighting romantic and dangerous. I think this sense of danger makes her want him more and that is why she is drawn to him.

What does Brett live for?--motivation

What is Brett's motivation? I often wondered that for why she goes through men the way she does. She obviously is in love with Jake and yet she won't stay with him. What does she gain from this. I feel as though she is here for the ride of love. And when the ride begins to go towards something too serious she jumps out before the man even notices it. The men usually begin to show their love for her in some way. For instance, on page 220 Jake talks of "...he loved Brett. Everything of which he could control the locality he did in front of her all that afternoon." This is Jake speaking of Romero. But we know this cannot last. I think Brett is in love with the idea of love.

Mike is done for

"Tell me Robert. Why do you follow Brett around like a bloody steer? Don't you know you're not wanted?"

Oh mike has finally let the chips fall where they may. He has now crossed the line and compared Jake to a steer witha simile. He is a jealous man but could never have the composure of restraint that Jake possesses. He cannot seem to be able to deal with the crazy Brett. She is too much for any man. But at the same time he explains that Brett had an affair with Robert. It doesn't seem very pleasant to me to be sitting through this conversation. Even Brett herself is there. And yet she sits there all calm and quiet. I don't think she even cares. She just wants to have fun. The fun that her first evil husband took from her.

Motif--DRINKING

"What are you drinking?" I asked Bill and Robert. "Sherry," Cohn said. (pg. 157)

What else would they drink? Water? That is too funny to picture. I do not think i've read anything so far that did not have the characters wanting a drink. And i mean the hard drinks. The motif to eat and drink and eat and drink seems to show the alcoholism of this time period. Or at least there should be a lot of alcoholism with the amount of alcohol these people consume.I have also observed that when one is flustered or nervous the offer of a drink seems to calm them down. It is a very weird offer but I think it is very normal in this society of people.

FIGHT FIGHT FIGHT

"I hate him, too," she shiveered. " i have his damned suffering." (pg. 186)

In this chapter we see that Brett causes many fistfights with her many men she has exploited. She feels remorse but will not really own up to what she does. She hates Cohn because she feels guilty for having to see him suffer. And that feeling of uncomfortableness she cannot stand. Therefore, she claims she hates Cohn for making her feel bad. I like that because I feel happy that for once she feels uncomfortable. That for once, she feels the uncomfortable feeling of hurting someone or watch someone be hurt. It is almost like a lesson but she quickly brushes to the back of her mind with bourbon.

Circe allusion time

"He calls her Circe," Mike said. "he claims she turns men into swine." (pg.148)

Robert Cohn is at it again. He alludes to a mythological character. I feel that Robert is right. Brett does seem to have this affect on men. She can have them eating out of the palm of her hand like swine do. She also seems to intellectually capable so no men can really ever push her around. I also see that Robert is either sore with Brett for not being with him. That Robert is also so perceptive to what Brett does also makes me think he knows her better then the readers think. Although he still is in competition for the "man who knows Brett the best" with Jake.

Bill Gorton...Quite the talker

" All right, I'll go to sleep now,' he said. ' Don't keep me awake by talking so much.' " (pg.129)

O GOrton! How verbally ironic that you would warn the man of few words a.ka. Jake to not talk so much. Also we see that Gorton and Jake are becoming closer as friends. Jake seems to share and speak more with Bill then the other men he has talked with. I think Bill Gorton is also a person Jake can trust. He can sometimes become very bad tempered but i feel as though he is has a good sense of humor. I also believe he has a good view and perspective on life from all of his world traveling. His funy line to Jake also makes me think he just loves to crack jokes.

the web begins to tangle

" 'The funny thing is he's nice, too. I like him. But he's just so awful.' " (pg.107)

Now Jake and Bill don't like Cohn. I don't understand Jake likes him and then the mood this chapter becomes very angry. It all starts because Jake is just very jealous and hurt that Cohn didn't tell him about his date with Brett in San Sebastian. But at the same time Jake never mentioned in detail the the how deeply Jake and Brett had loved one another. But the yo yo of Bill and Jake's affection for Cohn goes back and forth. It finally seems to settle at the lowest opinion of him. But also saying his is a nice, wonderful man. It is paradox. Bill states that he is so nice but so awful too. It makes no sense. I think Gorton means that Cohn is fake nice but does such nice gestures to cover up this ingenues. Or he is genuinely nice but doesn't think about the consequences of his actions.

Brett...and more men

" Who did you think I went o San Sebastian with?" (pg.89)

Well she went with Robert Cohn thats who! She never ceases to amaze me with her many excursions that always involve a man. It seems to me she is incapable of being alone. How is Jake so civil with her? He is hurting inside but is still polite and nice to Brett's many suiters. Sometimes he even dines with them. He also is still friend's with Cohn although I don't believe he ever told COhn of Brett and his' history. Also she says that Cohn became " a little dull"(pg.89). Is that the real reason she cannot settle with Jake? She will begin to get bored and wander to another man with money to tickle her fancy.

Racism

We are introduced to a new character in Ch. 8 he is Bill Gorton a friend of Jake that has visited Vienne and how racist they were to this "nigger" fighter. Bill Gorton also used the word "nigger" so nonchalantly but at the same time he helped the fighter later on. He helped him because the crowd was mad that he had beat a white man. The injustice in this chapter shows the universality that makes it timeless and also shows what happens all around the world. Also it touches on THEME of inequality that can be seen in many books. Although Hemingway mentions it briefly with Gorton one also then knows that it is everywhere and will never be able to go away completely. It is apart of the way people think and will always think.

THrees a crowd

static character---The concierge in this chapter is a static character because she is only in the story for a short period of time and does not have much of a personality. She only lets us see that she is easily bought and is a brown noser!

And still in this chapter we witness Jake be ever so gracious with one of the many suiters that seems to always be by Brett's side. It's uncanny how many she seems to roll through. I cannot really believe that she loves Jake as much as she claims. It does not seem so real to me. If one claims to love another would they not be less selfish in their illustrations of their love to the other person. BUt i guess one can also argue that by denying herself Jake Brett is, indeed, acting unselfishly. Still her excuse is, "'That would be different. It's my fault, Jake. It's the way I'm made.'" ( pg. 62)

Oh The messes One Must Clean

"That's why he doesn't want to marry. He wants to have a big triumph this fall all by himself." (pg. 55)

Frances always was a handful now she is even more determined to make her point be heard. Even if she is the most passive aggressive woman I have ever heard speak. It was ironic that the entire time she berated Cohn she always had a smile on. She would jeer and snidely poke out insults about Cohn and his false and unworthy promises. But she would continue to smile "that terribly bright smile" ( pg.56). She never ceased to make the moments with Cohn and Jake very uncomfortable. It was palpable uncomfortableness and this is was all fictional and on paper. The irony of the moment helped make the reader see the true aggressiveness that Frances is capable of.

The war begins...

How do these men know their in love after one or two meetings with this Brett woman? I find her to be uninteresting and a huge heartbreaker. I guess that is what men want in a woman. Do they want something so unattainable that they must chase after it. That is what I believe Robert Cohn takes a sudden interest in Brett. He even begins to ponder the question of love when he says to Jack ,"...I shouldn't wonder if I were in love with her" (pg. 46). He has never really been out of the clutches of his crazy fiance and so maybe he feels the need to explore new possibilities..a.k.a: new women. Brett may be the perfect one with her curves and intellect. Also it seems to me that Brett will be the trouble maker of the story and won't be capable of changing her ways.

Ladies and Gentlemen.... The Harlot

Alright Earnest Hemingway...when does the plot begin?

At this point in the novel what i suppose is our heroin has now taken up company with a Harlot. We can conclude that he is really bored or very lonely. It is almost sad to see the conversation between the pair on page 23. They talk about being sick and Georgette ( or whatever her name is) responds with "Everybody's sick. I'm sick too" (pg. 23). It is almost symbolic language for her view of the entire world. That she would say that "everyone" was "sick" must mean that she thinks the world has a disease and we must live with it. Later we see that Georgette is , in fact, a harlot and is now being danced with as if she is some exotic person from another planet to enjoy an experience with. This whole chapter seems to have symbolic language about the mood of Jack also.

That Stubborn streak

" 'I want to go to South America.' He had a hard, Jewish, stubborn streak." (pg. 18)

The Stereotype in Jake's words is probably a long held stereotype of the Jewish culture still to this day. I often wondered where it originally came from. But I see that is was even used int this time period. But the main character seems to say it not in seriousness but almost in exasperation. He may not be prejudice against Jews but has observed or wrongly labeled this religion. In this chapter one sees another stereotype. We, the readers, see that Robert Cohn is very much well off. We come across this revelation more when the main character mentions that Robert has enough money and his reply is that he knows this and can even cover the main character's expenses. Is that not also a stereotype that since he is Jewish he is well off. Or maybe I am searching to hard and analyzing a bit to deep. Either way both points are stereotypes of the Jewish religion.

The Sun also Rises... the beginning

"I mistrust all frank and simple people, especially when their stories hold together, and I always had a suspicion that perhaps Robert Cohn had never been middleweight boxing champion, and that perhaps a horse had stepped on his face, or that maybe his mother had been frightened or seen something, or that he had, maybe, bumped into something as a young child, but I finally had somebody verify the story from Spider Kelly, Spider Kelly not only remembered Cohn. He had often wondered what had become of him." (pg. 12)

Already Hemingway begins the book in a very vague way. He describes the events of another character's life and then adds the main character's input. It makes me wonder if it FORESHADOWS that the main character will just be a bystander in the life of Robert Cohn. Cohn seems to be a man of noble morals but also seems like he could be easily corruptible. I see him as a not very confident man and being accosted by ladies like Frances to dominate him. ALso in the quote I was struck by the cynicism in what seems to be the main character's words. He has distrust for people who are frank and simple which will likely allude to a past event that made this mindset so. The main character also seems to be very flippant about Robert Cohn's problems and life. He describes it indifferently which makes me think that they are not really close buddies.

THE END

"I'm skimming across the surface of my own history, moving fast, riding the melt beneath the blades, doing loops and spins, and when I take a high leap into the dark and come down thirty years later, I realize it is as Tim trying to save Timmy's life with a story." (pg. 246)

The end is almost a FLASH BACK to what he's done his entire life.He see's that he has not changed all that much from when he was a little boy. And with this realization he is freeing himself from the burdens of his actions through retelling what has happened. Or should I say re-"fibbing" what had happened. For not all of his stories are true but based on true events that happen to have incidents added in for flair and deeper meaning. And so with the last page we see what the point of the novel was. For O'Brien to tell stories to save himself. But to also inform the reader on his life and his time in the war. We see the author for what he truly is... a regular guy dealing with the events that happened to him long ago.

SCores to settle

"I was down there with him. I was part of the night. I was the land itself-everything, everywhere- the fireflies and paddies, the moon, the midnight rustlings, I was jungle fire, jungle drums- I was blind stare in the eyes of all those poor, dead, dumbfuck ex-pals of mine-all the pale young corpses, Lee Strunk and Kiowa and Curt Lemon- I was the beast on their lips-I was Nam- the horror, the war." (pg.209)

O'Brien has officially crossed over to the dark side. He has become, for a second, the man that feels nothing. He feels no pity for his "ex-pals" he is opaque and blank in emotions. All he wants is to even a score and in doing that O'Brien becomes the war which is a symbol for emptiness and horror. Nam is the symbol for death and war. The author wants us to see what it can make men become. What it makes them do.

Finished

"' That old man,' she said, "is he mad at you or something?'
'I hope not.'
'He looks mad.'
'No,' I said. 'All that's finished.'" (pg. 188)

This passage made me think of relationship between Japan and America. We are civil now. We don't fight with one another and we buy from them and the buy from us. I just don't understand how we ever got to this stage. The stage where the Vietnamese people are apparently with us too. "All that's finished." he said. How do people, after so much bloodshed and tears get to the place where they can see a person from the country that had burned down their villages and be civil and nice to them? I guess it comes down to being fed up with fighting and forgiveness. The forgiveness that sets one free and is able to move on with life and not dwell on the past. Although one should never forget.

Blame

"'Nobody's fault,' he said ' Everybody's." (pg. 176)

Tone
The tone O'Brien incorporates in this passage is one of hopelessness. One can hear it in the words being used. It was nobody's fault for Kiowa dying and yet to not have prevented it in the first place was everyone. The people at home, the President, it was not the "everybody" in the platoon but the whole world. The tone is one of all knowing too. Bowker expresses deep insight on the events taken place with these few words. He expresses the blame people feel and the tragedies of war that one must face. So who can people blame? Can they blame one person so they can feel better or blame the world and still not have a person to put with a death. It's scary but its true, not all deaths have somebody to blame.

Notes

"By telling stories, you objectify your own experience. You separate if from yourself. You pin down certain truths. You make up others." (pg. 158)

Why does O'Brien feel the need to make up truths in a story? That was the first question that popped in my head when I read this passage. And then it hit me, it is almost like therapy. "You separate" the story "from yourself." In a way it makes it seem as though it didn't not happen to you. You tell the story and add points in the story to make the reader understand what truly was going on in the minds of others by adding incidents that did not occur. The adding is what brings out the truth of the moment. Norman Bowker could not save Kiowa. But by adding the taste of poop and the feelings of Bowker ,O'Brien could not possibly have known, we see the emotion that was in the air. The reader begins to pick up on what that field truly did to the soldiers there present.

Drowning

" He would've talked about this, and how he grabbed Kiowa by the boot and tried to pull him out. He pulled hard but Kiowa was gone, and then suddenly he felt himself going, too. He could taste it. The shit was in his nose and eyes. There were flares and mortar rounds, and he stink was everywhere-it was inside him, in his lungs- and he could no longer tolerate it." (pg.149)

This point of view for Norman Bowker presents him in a light of vulnerability. He is in a position where he would like to save his comrade but must also save himself. I feel as though it wasn't really his fault. He blames himself but how can one truly save another when they, themselves are begging to drown. At that point there is not decision, for one cannot save another when they will too die also. It is a predicament that later eats at a person conscience. These stories are ones that stay with these men. They will never be able to run away from it. I think that is what O'Brien wants to show to his readers. He wants to show him the Norman Bowker's in wars and what really happens. It is not all glory and honor. It is survival.

Dancing it all away

"When we dragged them out, the girl kept dancing. She put the palms of her hands against her ears, which must've meant something, and she danced sideways for a short while, and then backwards. She did a graceful movement with her hips." (pg 136)

The girl's family is dead and yet she dances. It baffled me when I read it but Henry Dobbins and O'Brien seemed to understood. Azar didn't , of course, but thats because his character is flat and does not see the difference in cultures. I feel as though this was an example of the Vietnamese culture when grief is presented. Or it is the product after extreme shock and she must dance it all away. All of her grief, everything. She covers her ears, maybe to stop the world from going on without her loved ones. She is alone and for a moment she can find her family in her dancing. I am probably fishing too deep for an answer but it makes sense to me. To dance away your grief is much more expressive then to just stand there and watch your old home burn.

POINT OF VIEW

"I was terrified. There were no thoughts about killing. The grenade was to make him go away-just evaporate- and I leaned back and felt my mind go empty and then felt it fill up again. I had already thrown the grenade before telling myself to throw it." (pg.133)

This passage is the point of view from Tim O'Brien before he kills an enemy soldier. It is one of a frightened man who does the only thing he knows at this point, to kill. It's sad because he starts to analyze what he has done right after he delivers the fatal blow. But that is human nature to analyze what one has done after the action. This point of view gives the reader a look inside what O'Brien was thinking and makes us understand the pressures of war. He embodies every soldier that has had to make a difficult decision in order to survive. In the end the only judge he has to face is himself. But, of course, we are the judges of ourselves and our actions and more then never we are own worst critics.

What does it mean to kill?

DICTION

"He was a slim, dead, almost dainty young man about twenty. He lay with one leg bent beneath him, his jaw in his throat, his face neither expressive nor inexpressive. One eye shut. The other was a star-shaped hole.
'Talk,' Kiowa said." (pg.130)

O'Brien seemed to shut down in this passage. He can't talk he is beside himself with guilt or horrid fascination at what he had done. The diction the author used to describe the man killed makes the dead man seem almost child like. He uses "slim" and "dainty". Such words to describe an enemy soldiers makes the reader feel such great pity for the dead man. O'Brien thinks this way to make himself seem more guilty. For who would want to kill someone who was described like a cherub child or innocent. The diction helps add to the guilt and O'Brien's persistence to stay silent and brooding is the result.

Washing Hands

"You're right," he said. "All you can do is be nice. Treat them decent, you know?" (pg. 123)

This is a big refreshing look on life. After the chapters that have made me doubt the goodness in mankind we find someone that has seen the light. AKA the light of goodness. Henry Dobbins has always been the good guy in this book. He may do bad things, but even so one reads about him and pegs him for the straight arrow guy. In this instance i think he fully understands what the monks are doing by saying this line. He makes a washing motion before that, mimicking the monks and i don't think he fully understands what that means. I think it means that I cleanse my hands after work respecting what I have accomplish. It is almost like a fulfilled experience one has made.

Good Luck Charm

"But then, near the end of October, his girlfriend dumped him. It was a hard blow. Dobbins went quiet for a while, staring down at her letter, then after a time he took out the stockings and tied them around his neck as a comforter.
'No sweat,' he said. 'The magic doesn't go away.'" (pg.118)

Dobbins always seems to have this positiveness around him it is also kind of a CLICHE since he is big that he is automatically good, honest, and a big cutie pie. That seems to happen in many books and movies today. But even so it never gets old to me. I enjoy Dobbins thorough zest for life and the way even after such a rough end to a relationship he manages to mask his true feelings or truly believe these panty hose will help him. It inspires me but also makes me think that maybe he is delusional. Maybe he believes this girl doens't really mean it. Either way he gets through or works through his grief.

Please Pull My Teeth OUT!!

Indirect Characterization

"The dentist couldn't find any problem, but Lemon kept insisting, so the man finally shrugged and shot in the Novocain and yanked out a perfectly good tooth. There was some pain, no doubt but in the morning Curt Lemon was all smiles." (pg. 88)

Lemon was a complex character. He wasn't in the story long but O'Brien needed a story to truly show the personality of this weird man. He was crazy loved to prove himself and when he was made a wuss out of, he would think of a way to prove he was tough. I arrived at this conclusion all from a story describing the actions of this man. He encompasses that "macho man" syndrome where one is constantly trying to prove his manhood. Or he just revels in the excitement of pain and near death experiences. Curt Lemon was a character all right.. although he's just a story now.

A True Story...NOT

"This is true." (pg.67)

That's enought O'Brien there is no need to lie to me... but wait did this really happen? Tim O'Brien dances around the truth this entire book using harsh words to describe the harsh "realities" of war. But is that the reality? He was in the war so I guess all of these stories are from experiences or at least based on experiences. But why lie or why "make another truth". And when the author states that " you can tell a true war story by its absolute and uncompromising allegiance to obscenity and evil." Is such words true? Can there be no good heart in war. I can not believe that. I choose to believe that some people can act or try to act courageous. It was discouraging but also enlightening. For it is human nauture to become a killer so that one can survive. Maybe that is what O'Brien is trying to describe without having the world really know for a fact all the uncourageous things he had done. One can never truly know i guess...what the "truth" is.

Friends?...kinda

"In late August they made a pact that if one of them should ever get totally fucked up-a wheelchair wound-the other guy would automatically find a way to end it. As far as I could tell they were serious." (pg. 65)

These men cannot seem to deal with a body that is less then perfect. Azar for example exclaimed that someone seemed to not have enough bullets to finish the "poor" one-legged kid off. It is as if to be alive is not enough. it like thinking, "Yes i am alive but i am disabled. I don't want to live." Such thoughts make me wonder if that is the type of people that sign up to be in the army or if war makes people think that way, maybe it's both. But even so it's saddening to think that people in this world think that way.

Where's My Jackknife??

External Conflict

"Lee Strunk and Dave Jenson got into a fistfight. It was about something stupid-a missing jackknife- but even so the fight was viscious." (pg. 62)

When I think of a soldier, I see men and women not smiling with total self-control and self-discipline. That was the stereotype that was always with me, even as a child. In this passage I was astonished to learn the total lack of trust and loss of self control that over took Jenson and Strunk. I guess that is what O'Brien is trying to show the readers. He is trying to show us what "real" war is. What really goes on and the conflicts that erupt between two soldiers that need to work together and trust each other. This external conflict sent Lee Strunk into a craze. To be unable to trust a person that is on your side would send anyone mad!

A River Runs Through It

Internal Conflict

"All those eyes on me-the town, the whole universe- and I couldn't risk the embarrassment. It was as if there were an audience to my life,that swirl of faces along the river, and in my head i could hear people screaming at me." (pg. 59)

In this passage the reader sees O'Brien at of his weaker points. This conflict takes place all inside his head. HE doesn't even talk to anyone about his feelings. I think internal conflicts are the worst sort of fights. They take place within a person's mind and there they battle with their toughest critic...themselves'. To face oneself and to see what is truly there is the most challenging of fights. O'Brien here torments himself and then makes a decision not for himself...not really...for it is not what he wants. He wants to be free of this burden and yet takes it anyway so he won't have to face the shame and embarrassment that will come afterwards. Such a decision tells the reader that this is a real human being because we are not all strong and always willing to fight. We are human. We make mistakes. The question is can we own up to them?

Comfort in Violence

"Finally one of his buddies asks what happened with then use, why so hot for combat, and the guys says,' All that peace, man, it felt so good it hurt. I want to hurt it back.'" (pg. 5)

This just stuck out at me because to get to the point where peace is just too good that one cannot become assimilated with it, to get to that point to me, would be hell. It makes me think these soldiers were so use to discomfort and pain that they began to find joy and comfort in these violence of war. They begin to think all the time in "war mode" and to be out of it is like being a foreign country without knowing the language. O'Brien had used an example that women will just can't understand because they haven't seen a war. Well, with the knowledge that this is what could happen then I guess I'm glad to know being a soldier is not for me, not because I am a woman, but because I know I could never become comfortable with war.

A REAL Soldier

"'Right,' I said. He got into his car and rolled down the window.
'Make me out to be a good guy, okay? Brave and handsome, all that stuff. Best platoon leader ever.' He hesitated a second. 'And do me a favor. Don't mention anything about-'
'No,' I said, 'I won't'" (pg. 30)

In this passage you realize that soldiers do not always make the right decision or even if they did the best they could there will always be that guilt. It will eat at you and then the reader realizes that there is an Antihero portrayed in this story. Jimmy Cross is not the strongest platoon leader and didn't always make good enough decisions. He is not always strong and brazen and ready for battle. He is the epitome of a real human being, flaws and all. And Lavender's death will always live with him.

The Things They Carried..COVERED IN ANECDOTES!

The first page you read and already one is reading a story within a story. You know this book is about war and yet you read a story of a man in his own world to keep his love alive with a woman that may not love him. Such anecdotes is what this Whole book is encompassed with.
Anecdote-Brief story, told to illustrate a point or serve as an example of something, often shows character of an individual.

"First Lieutenant Jimmy Cross carried letters from a girl named Martha, a junior at Mount Sebastian College in New jersey They were not love letterss, but Lietenant Cross was hoping, so he kept them folded in plastic at the bottom of his rucksack. In the late afternoon, after a day's march, he would dig his foxhole, wash his hands under a canteen, unwrap the letters, hold them with the tips of his hfingers, and spend th e last hour of light pretending. He would imagin romatic camping trips into the White Mountains in New Hampshire..." (pg 1)

Such an anecdote makes the reader more informed about where the heads of some of our great soldiers really, in fact are, some of them are not really "in the war" so to speak but live inside the world of fantasy to pass the time and make war more "bearable". But of course there will always be exceptions to this rule. Some men revel in the pains of war and that is just another type of person.