Surname1
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Comparison of how different authors of different genres look at war.
War is a terrible thing. It disfigures, maims, and kills, not to mention the psychological
trauma that it causes. The writer, Tim O'Brien, explores this concept in his short story "The
Things They Carried." The story follows several soldiers as they come to terms with their
experiences in the Vietnam War. The writer, Wilfred Owen, does something similar in his poem
"Dulce et Decorum Est." He explains how war is not all glory; instead, he intends to show how
war is a terrible thing that breaks men down and destroys their humanity.
The most apparent difference between these two works is that one is a war story, and the
other is a poem. O'Brien uses prose in his work to help us understand what his characters are
thinking, feeling, and doing. Owen uses poetry to give us a picture of the battlefield and its
effects on soldiers. He also uses rhyme (contained in the Latin phrase of the title) to provide us
with a sense of how language can be corrupted by war since "decorum" means "appropriate
behavior" or "courtesy" and "dulce" means sweet (Cochran,60). The irony of this phrase is that
the speaker describes a world where nothing is appropriate or courteous, and even death is not
, Surname2
necessarily sweet or gentle. While both authors use the imagery in their work about war, they use
it for different reasons. O'Brien tells us about things he carries as part of his equipment (or, as we
would call it now, gear). These things represent a combination of necessary equipment (like
guns), personal items (like photos and letters), and superstitious objects (like stones). The images
also represent comfort to these soldiers—the idea that they are carrying something they need
Although O'Brien and Owen come from two very different backgrounds, they show the
horrible reality of war through vivid imagery. In "The Things They Carried," O'Brien tells about
the physical burdens his platoon carried with them into battle and delves into the emotional
weight that each man drags along as he remembers his loved ones, friends, and past lives.
O'Brien writes about soldiers carrying heavy burdens. These men physically carry backpacks and
weapons, weighing them down, but they also have to grapple with their internal struggles. The
character Azar is an excellent example of this. He carries antipersonnel mines and a baseball
glove, showing how he makes light of his duties even though he is terrified. When he sees a child
die after stepping on a landmine, he feels extreme guilt because he knows one of his did it
(Owen, 462). His baseball glove is symbolic of his fear: at first, it was an amusing toy to him,
but now he has been forced to face up to violence in its proper form. Owen uses imagery to show
the horrors of war in “Dulce et Decorum Est.” He shows how a simple gas attack can destroy
men’s lives forever and in ways they never imagined.
Tim O'Brien and Wilfred Owen have one significant theme in common: war. In "The
Things They Carried," O'Brien writes about the horrors of war, mainly through imagery. When
he writes about Kiowa's death, he uses images to paint a picture of the soldiers being surrounded
by "the smell of feces, and we were scared." He also talks about how they all had blood on their
hands when they grabbed Kiowa to pull him out of the watery grave. His words are very vivid,
Name
Professor
Course
Date
Comparison of how different authors of different genres look at war.
War is a terrible thing. It disfigures, maims, and kills, not to mention the psychological
trauma that it causes. The writer, Tim O'Brien, explores this concept in his short story "The
Things They Carried." The story follows several soldiers as they come to terms with their
experiences in the Vietnam War. The writer, Wilfred Owen, does something similar in his poem
"Dulce et Decorum Est." He explains how war is not all glory; instead, he intends to show how
war is a terrible thing that breaks men down and destroys their humanity.
The most apparent difference between these two works is that one is a war story, and the
other is a poem. O'Brien uses prose in his work to help us understand what his characters are
thinking, feeling, and doing. Owen uses poetry to give us a picture of the battlefield and its
effects on soldiers. He also uses rhyme (contained in the Latin phrase of the title) to provide us
with a sense of how language can be corrupted by war since "decorum" means "appropriate
behavior" or "courtesy" and "dulce" means sweet (Cochran,60). The irony of this phrase is that
the speaker describes a world where nothing is appropriate or courteous, and even death is not
, Surname2
necessarily sweet or gentle. While both authors use the imagery in their work about war, they use
it for different reasons. O'Brien tells us about things he carries as part of his equipment (or, as we
would call it now, gear). These things represent a combination of necessary equipment (like
guns), personal items (like photos and letters), and superstitious objects (like stones). The images
also represent comfort to these soldiers—the idea that they are carrying something they need
Although O'Brien and Owen come from two very different backgrounds, they show the
horrible reality of war through vivid imagery. In "The Things They Carried," O'Brien tells about
the physical burdens his platoon carried with them into battle and delves into the emotional
weight that each man drags along as he remembers his loved ones, friends, and past lives.
O'Brien writes about soldiers carrying heavy burdens. These men physically carry backpacks and
weapons, weighing them down, but they also have to grapple with their internal struggles. The
character Azar is an excellent example of this. He carries antipersonnel mines and a baseball
glove, showing how he makes light of his duties even though he is terrified. When he sees a child
die after stepping on a landmine, he feels extreme guilt because he knows one of his did it
(Owen, 462). His baseball glove is symbolic of his fear: at first, it was an amusing toy to him,
but now he has been forced to face up to violence in its proper form. Owen uses imagery to show
the horrors of war in “Dulce et Decorum Est.” He shows how a simple gas attack can destroy
men’s lives forever and in ways they never imagined.
Tim O'Brien and Wilfred Owen have one significant theme in common: war. In "The
Things They Carried," O'Brien writes about the horrors of war, mainly through imagery. When
he writes about Kiowa's death, he uses images to paint a picture of the soldiers being surrounded
by "the smell of feces, and we were scared." He also talks about how they all had blood on their
hands when they grabbed Kiowa to pull him out of the watery grave. His words are very vivid,
