my favorite/least favorite..

My favorite short story from the novel is "The lives of the dead". This story seemed to be the most sincere of them all. This story was not set in the war but in Tim O'brien's childhood. I really like the fact that the story used Linda to relate the theme of war instead of the actual fighting that went on in Vietnam. Linda represents a loss of innocence, and her death shows the affects it has on others in real life.


My least favorite short story from the novel has to be "The Things They Carried". This story seemed to drag on forever, and did not catch my attention. I did not think that it should have been the first story of the novel because it made me lose interest in reading. The only thing i remember is the constant listing of the things the soldiers carried, whether it have been physical or mental. It also took me awhile to comprehend the whole purpose of the story.


I sympathize with Jimmy Cross and Tim O'brien the most. They had their lives on track, and they both knew what they wanted to do, but that was all stripped away from them because of the war. Its like they lost the meaning of their lives. Jimmy Cross didn't ask to be the leader of his troop, but thats what he was given, which isolated and put even more pressure on him in the war. So naturally when a mistake is made he blames himself and so does everyone else. O'brien doesn't even agree with the war, nor does he know what he is fighting for. He struggles with wanting to run away or accepting the draft. If he were to run he would have had to leave his family, friends, and everything else he knew, and he would have been seen as a coward or traitor. But if he goes to the war he's basically giving up control of his life. So either way he can't win.


My least favorite character has to be Azar. Most people don't like him because he killed a puppy, but that didn't really bother me. It's the fact that he made fun of Kiowa's death and he enjoys scaring Bobby Jorgenson way too much. He simply takes war to a whole different level. Its almost as if he lost his sense of humanity.