OBriens Things They Carried Essay An American Nightmare

History has shaped every country and their people, in particular negative experiences like the Holocaust in Nazi-Germany or the Vietnam war, involving the United States in a grueling controversy from 1964 until 1975. The author Tim OBrian confronts an American audience in his short stories The Things They Carried with the inhumane consequences of political and military power decisions by rewriting history from a subjective,individual point of view. Thus he forces the audience to take a stand, to ask questions, to get morally and ethically involved. The narrative structure of the Sweetheart of the Song Tra Bong and How to Tell a True War Story contains two levels, the first on being a discourse about the characters of Vietnam†¦show more content†¦This place is ambiguous, even treacherous. While it is in reality isolated and vulnerable with virtually no security there is according to Rat a sense of safety there. Symbolically this characterizes the guerilla aspect of the Vietnam war, its uncertainties and dangers. The impression that the war seemed to be somewhere far away is definitely the reason for this comfortable situation which sets the scene for Mark Fossies decision to import his girlfriend. In this island of apparent normality it doesnt seem too farfetched to complete the picture of a normal life. Mark and Mary, a typical young American couple, high school sweethearts, want, what is considered the norm - a fine gingerbread house near Lake Erie, and have three healthy yellow-haired children. Gingerbread connotates sweetness, but also contains an association to fairy tales, which is ironic, considering the seriousness of Marks plans. The yellow-haired children remind us that the picture of the American dream family was and is tainted with racial prejudice. Mary Ann, the cute blond with the cosmetic bag and pink sexy sweater portrays the perfect picture of a high school sweetheart of the seventies. She is being imported with the daily resupply shipment and presented as an object of the mens enjoyment. The men genuinely liked her means they liked what they saw, her body. But this image of Mary