The Role of Women in The Things They Carried Essay

All that crap about how if we had a pussy for president there wouldnt be no more wars. Pure garbage. You got to get rid of that sexist attitude. The role of women in the book The Things They Carried is an important one. These men have various views and feeling about the women they love, the women they hate, and the women that they may not know and can only dream of. While the text given to the ideas of women is small is stature, it is quite significant in meaning. There are three main women that enter and disrupt the lives of the Alpha company; Mary-Ann, Martha, and Henry Dobbins girlfriend, who remains unnamed. The men carry letters, rocks, and even pantyhose to remind them of the women back home, and that which they hope to†¦show more content†¦Then at full dark he would return to his hole and watch the night and wonder is Martha was a virgin. He recognizes the ideas that she may not be a virgin, and even acknowledges that there are other men in her life. Jimmy knows that Martha has many boyfriends, and when he receives a picture from her in the mail, wonders who the photographer was. He treasures the pictu re and takes it everywhere with him, and yet the small shadow in the picture of the man taking it seems to be his focal point. He wants to focus purely on his unrequited love for Martha, but he cant. He seems to force himself to understand that she does not actually love him. She will never be his, and he knows that somewhere inside him, but continues to imagine that the love that she signs at the end of her letters is really a romantic love. Mary-Anne was a completely different story all together. The way Rat told it, she came in by helicopter along with the daily resupply shipment out of Chi Lai. A tall big-boned blonde. She came from the sky like it was no big deal, to see her boyfriend Fossie. A girl coming into a war among the rations and medicine. She was barely a woman, only 17, and when she came to join them at the medical camp she was described as, had long white legs and blue eyes and a complexion like strawberry ice cream. Very friendly too. It was the very friendly part that should have been the problem. It was aShow MoreRelatedThe Role Of Women In The Things They Carried1203 Words   |  5 PagesThe Things They Carried by Tim O’Brien is a collection of multiple short stories about Tim O’Brien’s, recollections of his time as a soldier in the Vietnam War. This novel depicts the experiences and effects of the Vietnam war on the lives of the American soldiers. O’Brien inform s the readers that the stories may not be completely true or moral but that’s the point of a true war story. In the novel, O’Brien introduces characters by the items they carried. The thoughts of women or items women hadRead MoreWomen Roles in The Things They Carried Essay952 Words   |  4 PagesIn this book there are three major women Linda, Martha, and Mary Anne. Lindas role is positive yet very saddening because she in a way has given Tim OBrien the power to tell stories so in depth using memories. Mary Annes role is encouraging because she comes to Vietnam and throughout the journey she discovers herself; she redefines the typical role of women. Marthas role in this book could be considered positive because she is keeping up Jimmy Crosss morale but, at the same time it could beRead MoreWomen and Their Role in The Things They Carried by Tim Obrien888 Words   |  4 PagesThe Things They Carried Women and their Role in The Things They Carried Within the book The Thing’s They Carried, the stories of the male soldiers and their dealings with the Vietnam War. 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Marthas role in this book could be considered positive because she is keeping up Jimmy Crosss mora le but, at the same time it could beRead MoreFake Love in The Things They Carried by Tim O ´Brian Essay518 Words   |  3 Pagesexample, feels bereft after the war because his hope for happiness in Martha is dashed by her rejection.† (Loneliness and Isolation.) While reading the book The Things They Carried by Tim OBrian, a reader can easily come across many items that represent certain things for the carrier. All these items are symbols for those men and women. For Example, Lieutenant Jimmy Cross â€Å"humps† --a word OBrian used at the beginning of the book to open this point-- his love for a woman named Martha and the dangerRead MoreThe Outlander, By Gil Adamson1619 Words   |  7 PagesMary’s Character in The Outlander, and Gender Roles in the Early 1900s â€Å"Let women be what God intended, a helpmate for man, but with totally different duties and vocations†. In 1870, those words were said by Queen Victoria. By the early 1900s, what she said was still ringing in the ears of the people, even in Canada, which was a considerably young country at this time (History Learning Site). The Outlander, written by Gil Adamson, takes place in Canada during 1903. The story is about a mad youngRead MoreThe Things They Carried By Tim O Brien Essay832 Words   |  4 PagesSummary: â€Å"By and large they carried these things inside, maintaining the masks of composure† (21). In Tim O’brien’s The Things They Carried, the American soldiers of the Vietnam War carry much more than the weight of their equipment, much more than souvenirs or good-luck charms or letters from home. They carried within themselves the intransitive burdens—of fear, of cowardice, of love, of loneliness, of anger, of confusion. Most of all, they carry the truth of what happened to them in the war—aRead MoreThe Things They Carried By Tim O Brien1242 Words   |  5 Pages12) Tim O’s text, The Things they Carried, details his uses of word choice to portray his tone and bias. Tim O’Brien uses Martha to represents the idea of home and all it attendant images. He also uses letters and quotes to convey his image. Despite the fact that women assume a little part in The Things They Carried, it is a critical one. The Female characters Martha, Mary Ann e Bell, and Kathleen Cross all affect the lives of the soldiers . Tim O’Brien uses the female role to portray his view andRead MoreAssess the usefulness of functionalist theories in understanding religion today965 Words   |  4 Pagesthere are four main ways in which religion maintains value consensus. One way is through the sacred and profane, he argued that sacred referred to things that are separate from society and create feelings of awe, wonder and fear whereas profane referred to things that were inferior with no real significance. Durkheim therefore argued that the only thing powerful enough to inspire people in the way religion does is society itself therefore meaning people are not worshipping their religion or god, butRead MoreThe Things They Carried by Tim O ´brien Essay example642 Words   |  3 PagesIn the book â€Å"The Things They Carried† four female characters played an important role in the lives of the men. Whether imaginary or not, they showed the power that women could have over men. Though its unknown if the stories of these women are true or not, they still make an impact on the lives of the soldiers and the main narrator. Martha, even though she is only ever mentioned in the beginning of the book, still plays a huge role in the lives of the soldiers. In some ways, she is a large part