Vietnam War Short Stories Essay -- Literary Analysis

The Vietnam war was the first war in annals to be broadcast on national television set. Due to the increasing popularity of television ownership and the introduction of the nightly news programs such as CBS and NBC, the horrors of war found a place in living rooms crosswise the country. Between 1965 and 1975, nine million people served in the Vietnam War, and of those nine million, 58,156 were killed or declared missing in action (Vietnam War Statistics.). Of the 58,156 soldiers killed, 11,465 of them were under the age of twenty (Statistics about the Vietnam War). After surviving the war, Tim OBrien and Susan ONeill wrote short stories and novels including Tim OBriens The Things They Carried, and Susan ONeills The male child from t. By putting audiences in the shoes of the grunts led by surrogate Jimmy mystify and the surgical gloves of Agnes Reedy, Tim OBrien and Susan ONeill immortalized the struggles experienced by their compatriots and themselves.The subjects they carri ed is a short story about Lieutenant Jimmy Cross leading his work force through Vietnam. OBrien describes all of the things carried by the men as a way to symbolize all of the burdens they had. One thing that Lieutenant Jimmy Cross carries is a pack of letters from Martha, a girl he was in love with (OBrien). One night Ted Lavender, ace of the men in Lieutenant Crosss squad, left to use the bathroom and on his return, is shot and killed (OBrien).This causes Cross to realize that his main anteriority is to lead his men, not swoon over a woman (OBrien). The Boy from Montana is a short story about Agnes Reedys account of watching a boy die in the cranial orbit hospital she worked at in Vietnam. She says that she thought that all death was the same, further one day s... ...Short Stories of Vietnam. New York Ballantine, 2001. 3-11. Print. Roush, Gary. Statistics about the Vietnam War. Vietnam Helicopter Flight cluster Network (VHFCN). 2 June 2008. Web. 18 Mar. 2012. . Taormina, Ag atha. Author Profile Tim OBrien. Northern Virginia friendship College. Www.nvcc.edu, 10 Mar. 2011. Web. 16 Mar. 2012. . Tim OBrien Interview The Things He Carried. Interview by David L. Edelman. Wordpress, 19 Oct. 1994. Web. 17 Mar. 2012. . Vietnam Veterans Terminology and Slang. VIETNAM VETERANS HOME PAGE. 22 Mar. 2000. Web. 15 Mar. 2012. .Vietnam War Statistics. The Mobile Riverine Force Association. Web. 18 Mar. 2012. .