With the second half of his novel The Things They Carried, Tim O'Brien follows the same short-story structure of the first of the novel. The novel continues to sway from the traditional novel formula of story telling and completely lacks a central story arch that is followed throughout the book. In this way, The Things They Carried differs from traditional war novels, avoiding stories of missions and victories and defeats. Instead, the novel continues to focus on the almost random memories the soldiers had of the war. In doing this, O'Brien continues to comment on the power of story telling and creates a novel that rings true on an emotional level instead of a factual one.
One of the main points O'Brien makes in his novel is that it is the experience and emotions that should be portrayed in stories, not the factual and historically accurate information. This is clearly shown in the chapter "Field Trip" when the character O'Brien takes his daughter Kathleen to the mud field that O'Brien's best friend was killed in. When reaching the site, neither O'Brien nor Kathleen were deeply affected by the scene. Kathleen, while attempting to remain interested and respectful, was bored by the plain, smelly field. O'Brien, expecting to relive the emotions he felt the day of Kiowa's death, was disappointed by the reality of the field. To O'Brien, the memory of the field brought upon him great sadness due to the death of his best friend. The memory also brought him back to a time that he was no longer a part of, the world of war. But no, being present standing in front of the field, O'Brien feels strangely disconnected. The field, not as O'Brien remembered it, is now location of merely historical, not emotional, significance. Like the rest of the world, the field has moved on from the war. It no longer has the craters from the bombs or the salt from the sweat and tears of the men in it. Time has worn away the marks of war, leaving nothing but memories to prove that the events happened at all. In this way, O'Brien is demonstrating that memories and stories are the only true connection to the past. While historical facts and evidence can bring us closer to the events of the past, they cannot instill within us the emotions that went along with the events. This is why the act of story telling is so powerful. Through stories, we revive the past and bring the emotions of the past to the present.
In a way, stories that we tell are merely manifestations of the emotions that we remember from the past. Memories, unlike the landscape of the mud field, are save from the corrosion of time and live on with each story told. These stories continue to carry the emotions of the past and are passed on, allowing the past to continue living in the future.
Monday, May 5, 2014
Sunday, May 4, 2014
"A Poet to His Beloved", by William Butler Yeats
In his poem "A Poet to His Beloved", William Butler Yeats lyrically declares his love to a woman. The poem instills deep personal and emotional feelings in its verses. The poem suggests feelings of both passion and respect rather than lust between the two, implying the seriousness of their relationship.
Yeats begins the poem with showing his respect rather than lust. In the first line of the poem, "reverent hands" (Yeats line 1) connote feelings of respect that the speaker feels for the woman. The image of open hands being held up is symbolic as a sign of offering and sacrifice. The speaker, in this poem, is offering up part of his soul to the woman as a sign of love. What he holds in his hands is even more telling of this. In his hands, the speaker holds "the books of [his] numberless dreams" (line 2). The fact that there are "books" of dreams and that the dreams are "numberless" suggests that the speaker is deeply infatuated with the woman.
Yeats then goes to describe the woman. The first description the speaker gives of the woman is that she is "white" (line 3). The color white connotes purity and innocence. The woman can then be seen as a representation of the speaker's innocence, change the poem to a message to one's wistful youth rather than that of love. The color white can also connote feelings of intense, blinding emotion. In this way, the woman can be seen as an almost a subject of worship as the speaker offers his soul for the experience of this emotion. The woman is also described as being "worn" by "passion" (line 3). This effect of passion suggests that the passion between the two is strenuous and their relationship is not only intense but also taxing.
Yeats then moves away from the personal descriptions to create an extended metaphor of the relationship between the speaker and the woman. The tides seen in the passage "wears the dove-gray sands" (line 4). Doves, as symbols of peace and purity, are described as gray in this line. This graying of the doves suggests a tarnished purity and faded glory that is no longer there. This idea of faded glory is also seen in the tides as they "wear" (line 4) away the sands. This line instills a feeling of nostalgic endearment of the woman by the speaker.
In this sense, the "numberless dreams" (line 7) that the speaker brings the white woman can be seen as memories of a time gone by. The poem, then, reminisces the feelings of passion and the "fire" (line 6) of lust that is now replaced by deep respect.
Yeats begins the poem with showing his respect rather than lust. In the first line of the poem, "reverent hands" (Yeats line 1) connote feelings of respect that the speaker feels for the woman. The image of open hands being held up is symbolic as a sign of offering and sacrifice. The speaker, in this poem, is offering up part of his soul to the woman as a sign of love. What he holds in his hands is even more telling of this. In his hands, the speaker holds "the books of [his] numberless dreams" (line 2). The fact that there are "books" of dreams and that the dreams are "numberless" suggests that the speaker is deeply infatuated with the woman.
Yeats then goes to describe the woman. The first description the speaker gives of the woman is that she is "white" (line 3). The color white connotes purity and innocence. The woman can then be seen as a representation of the speaker's innocence, change the poem to a message to one's wistful youth rather than that of love. The color white can also connote feelings of intense, blinding emotion. In this way, the woman can be seen as an almost a subject of worship as the speaker offers his soul for the experience of this emotion. The woman is also described as being "worn" by "passion" (line 3). This effect of passion suggests that the passion between the two is strenuous and their relationship is not only intense but also taxing.
Yeats then moves away from the personal descriptions to create an extended metaphor of the relationship between the speaker and the woman. The tides seen in the passage "wears the dove-gray sands" (line 4). Doves, as symbols of peace and purity, are described as gray in this line. This graying of the doves suggests a tarnished purity and faded glory that is no longer there. This idea of faded glory is also seen in the tides as they "wear" (line 4) away the sands. This line instills a feeling of nostalgic endearment of the woman by the speaker.
In this sense, the "numberless dreams" (line 7) that the speaker brings the white woman can be seen as memories of a time gone by. The poem, then, reminisces the feelings of passion and the "fire" (line 6) of lust that is now replaced by deep respect.
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