The Things They Carried and Apocalypse Now are both brilliant depictions of the Vietnam War. Each medium attempts to display a similar view of the war, and each succeeds exceptionally. Both stories show the horrors of war, and have anti war undertones which are easily detected. Movies and books can both bring a across a different kind of imagery, but their effectiveness depends on the individual who is being communicated with. If the person is very creative and imaginative, reading a book would create a sort of motion picture inside their heads, but for those who need some help to produce characters, and scenes, movies would be a better tool for communicating a story.

The Things They Carried is an enchanting war story that is told by Tim O’Brien, who claims that all of the tales in his book are true. After meeting Tim O’Brien at a seminar in Anaheim California in 2000, it was made clear that all of these stories are actually fictional, and Mr. O’Brien was actually a journalist during Vietnam, and saw no real action. But the visions of horror that O’Brien provides in The Things They Carried is very real. Not

Apocalypse Now is a vivid account of Vietnam, and the damaging effects of the war. The film takes the view down the Mekong River into Cambodia, where the darkness is discovered and civilized war ends. A separation is formed in this film, between the soldiers and society and likewise morality and confusion. Throughout the movie the viewer is witness to the changed man. Although we see definite discrepancies to the degree of this change, it is apparent in all of the soldiers. From the young characters of Clean and Lance, to Willard, who ultimately becomes the individual who comes to understand the darkness and the “horror” that average person can never imagine. Many of the leaders we encounter in the film are on the brink of sanity. The first leader we meet in combat is a general who cares more about the surf than the accomplishment of the mission. Perhaps it is only these men, on the brink of insanity, which can be successful in leading missions of such brutality. The journey into the jungle takes the viewer into the heart of the darkness, providing the viewer with the indications that we are getting deeper into the evil as we progress down the river. The themes of horror are evident in this movie just as sharply as they are in The Things They Carried. The main theme in Apocalypse Now is the concept that in order to survive and function as a ‘good’ soldier one must disconnect themselves from their rational views and all of their morals must be disregarded. Colonel Kurtz, the rogue military cult leader who Willard is hunting, eventually realized that he could never return to a society, especially one that would accuse him of being a murderer. His only option before death, (which he eventually chooses) is to embellish himself

Some topics in this essay:
Colonel Kurtz, Lance Willard, Tim O’Brien, Anaheim California, Vietnam War, Kurtz Willard, Jimmy Cross, Norman Bowker, River Cambodia, Tim O’Brien’s, tim o’brien, horrors war, carried apocalypse, returns home, pain tim, return society,