The Things They Carried A Story By free essay sample

Tim O # 8217 ; brien Essay, Research Paper ? The Things They Carried? How does decease impact the behaviour of people? Although decease affects everyone? s behaviour otherwise, cognition of one? s at hand decease is a chief force behind behavioural alterations. This cognition causes emotions that motivate people to move in ways that they usually would non. In Tim O? Brien? s? The Things They Carried, ? the cognition of decease and its intimacy causes the work forces in the narrative to change their behaviour by altering they manner they display power, modifying emotions to alleviate guilt, and by exhibiting different actions to ease anxiousness. Death can alter how people display their power or how they use their bing power by changing their behaviour. Power is an emotionally strong component to hold ; power can do person experience better by cognizing that they have control over person or something else. When fright is present, power can help in easing the anxiousness by giving the individual the emotional lift that is present when control is felt. The power, which is present in the narrative, is physical power and an illustration is Norman Bowker transporting a pollex of a male child that had been killed. The carrying of the pollex shows that he had power over the male child ; this gives him some alleviation to cognize he had that sort of control. Cross? s power, over the remainder of the work forces, increased his fright of decease for all the work forces non merely himself because he is responsible for them. With his duty, Jimmy Cross alters his behaviour to maintain all of his work forces safe, and he merely does this because of his power. An illustration of Jimmy Cross altering his behaviour because of power was after Lavender was killed, when he led the troop into the town of Than Khe to destruct everything they could. Jimmy had been moving more passively about the war before Lavender was killed, but after he was shot Lieutenant Cross? s power over the town and his work forces made him take them into the small town to de struct it when he would non hold usually. The devastation of the small town does non convey Lavender dorsum or even do Cross experience better, but it shows how decease can change behavior with power. Guilt can do people to alter actions or ideas really quickly. It does this because guilt makes the individual repent how they ignored their values or ideals and the alteration comes from desiring to non reiterate the misjudgment of their actions. The involved alterations to alleviate guilt are alterations of behaviour. The alterations can be a alteration in one? s values or ideals on life or they could be a alteration in actions that they have been making. In the narrative Lieutenant Cross makes both of the alterations after the decease of Lavender. He changes his values by admiting that Martha was non in love with him and now he would non be in love with her and he besides burnt the images and letters so he was non looking at them any longer. The guilt that they all felt altered how they acted. Some of the work forces made gags about tense state of affairss that were non amusing because jesting made them experience better. The state of affairs grew lighter by laughter, even though t he work forces knew nil was amusing about their state of affairs, and this cognition made them experience guil ty about their insensitive Acts of the Apostless because it violated their values. The manner the work forces dealt with their guilt was by go throughing the incrimination or seeking non to believe about how incorrect it was, even though they knew. These sorts of unusual reactions to usually strain or tragic state of affairss are a manner to ease the fright of decease. Anxiety about decease follows the work forces everyplace they go and they have many different ways to mask their fright and many ways to support against it. The work forces were ready for everything in the war: they had their wireless to name in aid, their guns to support against enemies, and their pride and self-respect to mask fright. Disguising fright is really hard because it is such a strong emotion. Great fright is impossible to conceal as apparent by the actions of the work forces when they were involved in the intense battles where they would state? Dear Jesus and ( floating-point operation ) around on the Earth and ( fire ) their arms blindly and ( cringe ) and ( shortness of breath ) and ( beg ) for the noise to halt? ( 1075 ) . When it was all over they would acquire up dust them egos off and seek to smile to demo their self-respect and strength. Their strength in these state of affairss was lost for the clip, but because of the anxiousness they wanted to alter their exist ent behaviour to look fearless and ready for more. This type of action was done all the clip by the work forces they weren? T being barbarous they were merely concealing their frights O? Brien says? They were afraid of deceasing, but they were even more afraid to demo it? ( 1075 ) . This alteration in their behaviour is a camouflage of fright, but it is besides a defence against it. The work forces had many defences against fright including joking, being cruel, transporting guns, and killing other people. The work forces were most likely non barbarous persons, but to support against fright they had to take compassion for people, actions, and themselves. The work forces did this to non experience the hurting that is present when they lose a member of the group ; if they feel no fond regard to him there is no feeling of loss. The work forces? s actions did non look cruel to them ; it was merely their manner of combating against fright. This type of separation is a major alteration in behaviour because it is natural to go affiliated to others when they are close. Another major alteration in behaviour is the work forces killed other work forces ; it is non normal for these civilized work forces to walk through a jungle and kill other work forces. Why do they kill the other work forces? Because if they don? T putting to death, they will be killed and they know this a nd esteem it. The work forces have regard because of the fright they have of decease, and the fright is entered into them by experience and it is a major portion in their behavioural alteration. The ground the work forces changed behaviorally in the narrative was chiefly due to fear, but there are many other grounds why people change. Taking orders is another manner of altering as the work forces did in the narrative, separate themselves, lose compassion, and kill, because person else told them to. The orders gives the individual an alibi that? I was merely following orders, ? good in a sense that is what the work forces were making in the narrative. In the narrative they were following the unwritten orders of war and they changed their behaviour because they were told to by the war.