The sense of panic when you are alone in an unknown place is described in a way that makes the reader feel like they are there.
In all these novels O"Brien sticks with one story and tells that one story, but in the novel "The Things They Carried" that is a different story. This novel is a collection of stories about soldiers and how they cope with the Vietnam War. It also provides the fullest and most graphic account of the atrocities of war. In this novel, O"Brien usually writes through his own experience. "O"Brien's compulsion to revisit his war experience through fiction is not unique"(Tina Chen, Contemporary Literature V39 no.1). Many war writers write their stories based on personal experience and in "The Things They Carried" as well as the other novels that O"Brien wrote, he does just this. War writers write from experience because they want the reader to know just how brutal and difficult war is on your mind and your body.
In this novel, O"Brien also uses different tones to describe the different things that the soldiers carry with them on their journey. "O"Brien gives only straight forward descriptions in these segments and the writing is void of any feeling or sentiment. When describing the intangible things, however, the writing is a lot more in tune with the emotions of the characters"(Jason Voegele, Thoughts on the Things they Carried). This is a very intelligent way to describe the items because it shows what kind of person each soldier is and what he values in life. This also makes the reader more sentimental towards the soldiers and helps the reader to connect better with each character. .
Tim O"Brien also pours the pain in his heart and soul from his tragic Vietnam War experience into "The Things They Carried". "For O"Brien, the lingering hurts of the war are intimately linked to his stories""(Tina Chen, Contemporary Literature V39 no.1). In "The Things They Carried" along with some of his other works, O"Brien talks about how one of the soldiers that was the best friend of the main character gets killed.
