The Things They Carried

In "The things they carried" which one of the stories do you think is the most personal to Tim O’Brien and why?

Make sure you focus on how he seems to be affected by the circumstances in your story (think of both how he was affected when the story took place and how he is affected when telling the story).

Asked by
Last updated by Aslan
Answers 1
Add Yours

I think this is more a personal question for you to answer. I liked "On the Rainy River". “On the Rainy River” contains the main existential and moral crisis of the book. The turning point at the river is a classic Freudian scene. The boy wants to jump out of the boat, his ego and his id (his authentic desires) strain to go. But his superego (what society orders) constrains him. In this story, the superego is symbolized by O’Brien imagining large crowds of people watching him make his decision. The scene takes place on a river; water for Freud often symbolizes the unconscious, where the battle between the superego, id and ego takes place.

Source(s)

GradeSaver