The Things They Carried: Writing about the Past
Tim O'Brien's gripping Book, The Things They Carried
The Things They Carried is a fictional book by Tim O'Brien based on his real life experiences in the Vietnam War. A collection of war related short stories, this book makes no attempt to hide the grisly truth of the war. One of the main themes of the book is the main character, named after the author, using writing as a way to escape the reality of the war's terror and as a way to change the past, in a sense, at least inside of his mind.
It's a wonderful view on veteran writers as a whole using their stories as a means of release and escape from their gore-filled memories. The Things They Carried helps the reader understand why war veterans would need such a release so often, why writing causes such relief, and how writing about the war can help change the past from the perspective of the writer. Continue reading
Abraham Lincoln has taken a place in the side of history the United States is more proud of, earning his spot on both the penny and the five dollar bill. However, one question that seems to be rarely asked about him is whether his actions were actually right, even if they did have relatively good outcomes. At first glance, it seems preposterous to even question him, but when you take a closer look at the Constitution and what he actually did, it makes a person start to question him. The Constitution says that states have the right to secede, yet when they did, Lincoln took them back by brute force. On the other hand, he freed the slaves, which was far beyond righteous. This is a moral conflict in my mind: Was Lincoln right?
Animals are a very influential part of our society. In a good deal of households around the world, people keep animals as pets. They can also be found in the wild, from land to the ocean. If these creatures could talk, the world would be very different, as the basic speech barrier would be shattered! Let’s give this some straight up thought, though – how would the world be different if animals could talk?
