20. Journal Entry - "The Dentist"

Bravery is something that all men should have as a characteristic and when one seems to be afraid of something they feel wimpy. The dentist is I guess scary, to a 7 year old not a soldier in Vietnam who everyday faces his biggest challenge. Fainting before the dentist even touches you is definitely going to bring your self esteem down and I don't blame him for wanting to go back and prove himself.  I'm not sure how getting the dentist to pull out his fake painful toothache is heroic in anyways but never the less his problem is confronted and overcome.
Most people have psychological issues like this alot, our brains are very powerfull and can alter anything into what you want it to be. For instance one time I pertended I was sick so I didnt have to go to school, a few hours later I was sick.
You can feel the way you want when your put you mind to it.

19. Journal Entry - "Enemies and Friends"

so shooting yourself in the foot is a bit extreme and if you did it in the valley you would more then likely end up in some ward pleading your sanity if you even had any. Since its a war story though anything can be true, no matter how far out the story is.
to tell you the truth Im almost positive that I read both these chapters with wide eyes. I just found it so out of the blue that they would first off fight over a jacknife...and then go the distance of shooting his own foot to feel like they were even. The weirdest part of all is them being the best of friends after? I found that so..highschool. One thing that was so typical was them agreeing to kill each other if one was every brutaly injured. Makes me wounder how much of that is true.

18. Journal Entry - "The Lives of the Dead"

This story was very touching and sad, it made me think of way to many things in my own life that brought tears to my eyes reading it. I have had a a loved one die from a tumor before and its not a very pretty sight, I watched my dogs head grow bigger and bigger and the vet continue to tell us that its just a sty and that everything will be okay. One thing that I have learned is that people can tell you it will all be okay but you should never stop cherishing the last moments you have with someone.

It was brave of the nine year old Timmy to go to his first Love's funeral and seeing Linda in her casket not looking like her usual self. Personally I haven't once been able to see my dogs after they have passed because I'm not emotionally strong enough to handle it. The memory of it would haunt my mind for the rest of my life, I'm glad that I only have happy memories of both dogs. Now Timmy on the other hand was strong and said his goodbyes to her and for that I am jealous of him.

17. Journal Entry - "Night Life"

Reading this chapter really put some pictures in my mind. For some reason I felt like I was picturing those pictures that he had in my own head, and feeling the way he felt.  I was so immersed in the reading that I was convinced I was there enduring the same thing they all had to. It was weird that they were going insane but at the same time it was almost normal. When he ended up shooting himself in the toe I was kind of distraught by his actions but then again its just one of those war stories right?

It was a relief that Jimmy Cross told him that he would "vouch that it was an accident" because then Rat could go home and just get away from all the histeria. The support he got from the rest of the soldiers was meaningful because they were not madd at him for taking himself out of the war but more they were kind of happy for him. Happy that he was free from his own mind.

16. Journal Entry - "The Ghost Soldiers"

I wouldn't know what being shot sounds like, but it seems like it wouldn't be the most painful and devastating thing ever that would most likely result in death. However When Tim O'Brien speaks of his first time being shot it makes it seem ugly and hurtful yet definitely survivable. The thought of actually being shot is far more worse then the literal feeling of it all. Its a mind set that everyone most likely has, I mean who would think that being shot is like no big deal, besides 50 cent. Its something that isn't on every ones top ten must experience list but I'm sure when it does happen, its entirely life altering.
    
The first time it happened everything was all well and their medic at the time, Rat Kiley did a great job with helping O'Brien. However the next time he was shot there was a new medic who didn't necessarily know what he was doing. This caused extreme damage to O'Brien who held a grudge against him for a very long time. I think the extent of his anger was a bit much, and the whole prank that was pulled on Jorgenson was completly un called for. In a way im glad that he started to feel guilty a little bit through the prank, and still after all of it the managed to call it even.

15.Journal Entry - "Field Trip"

I think its cool that Tim O'Brien takes his daughter back to the places that he fought even though she doesn't fully understand everything now I think she will come to appreciate it with time. Im actualy surprised that she even was that interested to go on the trip. If I was her I would have wanted nothing to do with it because growing up I was a very shy girl and often didn't want to particiapte in activites. However I wish that maybe I had been exposed to other things like that because its experiences like that that shape our personalities and who we are. Im more outgoing now and everything but its only because I was forced to do things and joined clubs and such to get myself here. Tim is doing the right thing by bringing his daughter to the memories of his past time and telling and showing her the experiences that he endured. Its not longer just a story for Kathleen, it's reality.

14.Journal Entry - "Good Form"

We learn that the story of Tim O'Brien killing a man is false and that he only told the story to allow the reader to get an understanding of how he felt. He tells us that sometimes stories can make things more present which is completely true in my mind because when we are told not to do things often we do it anyways however when there is a story with a meaning then the point is usualy more understood.
I love this line - Sometimes story truth is truer than happening truth - because there is so much meaning behind it. People get sucked into the story world so often and sometimes even seems more real than reality. Sometimes we use stories to get the point to stick in peoples heads like the boy who cried wolf. This teaches us not to lie or people wont beleive you when you really need them to. Its neat to see O'Brien toying with our minds by telling us hes lieing but knowing still that the feeling is still reached.

13.Journal Entry - "In the Field"

You can't help but notice that everyone thinks they are to blame for the death of Kiowa. Jimmy Cross thinks it was his fault because he stationed the soldiers in the field even though he had a gut feeling that it wasn't right. However a young soldier also thinks it was his fault because he was discussing a picture of a girl and he turned on a flashlight to show Kiowa, it was then that the field started to explode. Bowker also felt it was his fault he died too because he couldn't pull him from the mud due to the smell of the field. I think that everyone goes through life feeling some sort of blame for something that they probably didn't have a whole lot to do with. Everything happens for a reason and pointing fingers doesn't resolve anything.

12.Journal Entry -"Notes"

I really like this chapter alot because we are told the true story of which happened to Norman Bowker in the form of a letter. Tim O'Brien tried to incorporate it into a different book but ended up cutting it out because it never fit into the time frame. However three years after Bowker wrote the letter to O'Brien he hung himself which I think effected him alot. When Bowker tells us in his letter that he cant move on from the war, that he feels like he is stuck, and cant find a meaningfull use of his life I feel that O'Brien understands. I think that he really gets it, that he knows that people cant just move on from it because it honestly does effect the rest of their lives with all the experiences that they endure. Im glad that this got written and that the reader gets a feel of just how much trouble soldiers have after the war. It makes me want to start some program where soldiers can go and talk about everything that happened so they can move on, just like O'Brien with his stories.

11.Journal Entry - "Speaking of Courage"

This chapter is about after the war when Norman Bowker goes home, we learn about his town and the lake. I think that the lake is significant symbol in this chapter. He drives around and around the seven-mile loop ten times reminiscing on the medals that he won. It was a total of seven medals and he knew his dad would be very proud of these, but then he remembers what he didn't win - the silver star. As he drives around the lake he imagines the conversation that would happen between him and his father when he told the story of why he wasn't courageous enough to win this certain medal. Now when dark comes and the fireworks start Bowker wades into the water and watches them. I think that the lake is symbolizing the field of muck where Kiowa had died. Its almost like he wants to go back to that moment to change his actions and try and save Kiowa.

10.Journal Entry - "Style"

We learn about a small village where most of the houses had been burned to the ground and there was pretty much nothing left. You hear nothing because there "was no music" but still you see this young girl dancing "with her eyes half closed, her feet bare." We are told that her entire family had been burned and she was the only one left in the entire village. Throughout the story she doesn't stop dancing, she does "a graceful movement with her hips" and moves right and left, back and forth. When they were leaving they thought maybe it was some weird ritual, but Henry Dobbins explained that she "just liked to dance."
       This shows how humans can find happiness even in times of despair and when all hope has been lost. We have the ability to block out things we don't want to know, or choose to forget. Sometimes it works for the better but other times its just stalling from the brutal spiral to the ground.

9.Journal Entry - "Ambush"

Tim O'Brien writes about his younger daughter in the chapter Ambush, along with a few other chapters, her name is Kathleen and she is nine years old. O'Brien tells us of the questions that she asks him, like why he writes these war stories? However the one that is truly significant is when she asks if he had ever "killed somebody." He tells us "it was a difficult moment, but [he] did what seemed right" which in this case was to tell her "of course not." I think that this was a good idea to lie to her because she is so young to fully understand the war and why so many deaths occured. Also he continues to say that he "hope['s] she'll ask again" so he can tell her "exactly what happened."
            Even though she is just a little girl, she still see's right through her dads cover, with reference to why he keeps writing all these war stories. She knows that there is a reason behind it and I hope that she never gives up on him.

8.Journal Entry - "The Man I Killed"

Tim O'Brien didnt seem like the type of character to kill a man, and we notice how his actions towards the dead man reveals this. He constantly goes over what the man looked like, giving us grusome description of the death and how it was after. He continues to imagine the life of his victim and tell the readers who he could of been, and what sort of life he should have grown up to have. You can tell its a hard time for O'Brien because he gives the silent treatment to Kiowa who is trying to get him up and out of his mind set. O'Briens guilt lays on his shoulders and haunts him, he cant seem to get over the life of this "dainty young man" with a "star shaped hole" in one of his eyes. Time passes, and still Tim ignores Kiowa's attempt to talk about the killing, he is torturing himself by not letting going, and continuing to over look the situation and add a story about the "lightly freackled" man.

7.Journal Entry - "Church"

When the soldiers found an almost abondoned pagonda they set up camp and stayed there for a while. They made friends with the monks, well for the most part because they didnt necesarily speak english. None of the soldiers really seemed to care a whole lot about the monks except Kiowa, he was the one soldier that carried a New Testiment. However it was Dobbins who said he might "join up with" the monks after the war, which was weird because he wasnt "all that religious." We find out that as a boy he grew up in the church, and "in highschool [he] started to think how [he'd] like to be a minister." He goes on to tell us he wouldnt be smart enough, because you needed to be sharp and have brains. Although he doesnt want to be a minister in the end, he still wants to be nice and just be a decent person to those who deserve it.

6.Journal Entry "Sweetheart of the Song Tra Bong"

This chapter is my favourite, I love that Tim O'Brien brought a girl into the war, even if the story is not true I feel that he has touched on something that the world still has not gotten over. Should women be in war? Still today men think that they can do everything better then woman can, and maybe its true but each gender excels in different ways.
Mary Anne came into the war as a preppy little girl "barely out of high school" she was polished and perfect. However she began to go through stages that corrupter her, it started by visiting the village and not being afraid of anything around her, she stopped wearing all the jewelery and stopped pampering herself. She helped the men clean their guns, she learned how to dissemble a gun and put it back together again. She was out late, and one night she didn't even come home, turns out she was out on an ambush with the Greenies. She was fearless, they said she would prance along the trails without any weapons no sense of worry across her face. Once again she disappeared for three weeks, and when Mark Fossie found out she was back he was worried about her she was changing she wasn't the girl he wanted to marry and grow old with anymore. Fossie told her she was in a place where she didn't belong, and with that he told her how she wanted to eat Vietnam how she felt closer to herself here then anywhere else. She was gone, lost in the war literally. A few days after she had took off into the mountains, never to be found again.

5.Journal Entry "How to Tell a True War Story"

Rat Kiley lost one of his best friends during the war, they both were only 19 and having a good time play a game they made up to waste time. They were just throwing back and forth a smoke grenade to see who could hold onto it longer, there was absolutely no harm in this because it simply would just blow up and a you would be covered in smoke. However Curt Lemon stepped on a trap and it killed him. When Tim O'Brien tells us how he dies, he explains it to be almost beautiful, as if his brown skin was shinning in the sun lite. I think that it is very odd to be describing a death as "beautiful" because no death in war should be especially when you are blown to pieces and your remains are scattered amongst a tree. The fact that the death is talked about in such a pretty way makes me wounder how much of it is true, it makes me think that maybe its more of a memory that they wanted to believe and not actually what they saw. The mind plays tricks on us in order to protect us from the evil in the world, we choose to see what we can handle and what we think is right. In this case I feel that O'Brien wants to see a young kids death to be beautiful and not ugly and disgusting the way it might of been. "If at the end of a war story you feel uplifted, or if you feel that some small bit of rectitude as been salvaged from the larger waste, then you have been made the victim of a very old and terrible lie." This is true, even though Lemon had died, the way the story was told, made it seem like it was okay because of how beautiful it was.

4. Journal Entry "Rainy River"

The soldiers feel cowardly when they go to war, because to them running away is much more heroic. For Tim O’ Brien going to war would be giving into the government and the pressure from the town’s people. O’Brien wants to run, flee to Canada, but he feels he would be disgracing his family and his community. When O’Brien stays with an old man near the border of Canada they go out fishing on the river. Elroy Berdahl, the old man, was creating an opportunity for Tim to flee, but he “couldn’t make [him] self be brave.” He was embarrassed, and that was it. Tim O’Brien couldn’t run away, he couldn’t shame his family and so O’Brien “would go to the war- [he] would kill and maybe die because [he] was embarrassed not to.”

3.Journal Entry "Spin"

In the last paragraph in the chapter Spin Tim O’Brien discuss’ what a story is, and why we write them. You see we need to remember and feel in order to get over it and making it forever. “Stories are for joining the past to the future” to hopefully never forget the lessons and values that we have learned throughout or life. He tells us that “stories are for those late hours in the night when you can’t remember” how exactly you got there, and why you got there. They are for “eternity, when memory is erased” and to be used as a memory when all you can remember is nothing. Stories are for your memory box in your mind, to never forget what happened in your life.

2.Journal Entry "Love"

You writer types," he said, "you've got long memories." Should we trust Tim O' Brien, the protaganist, to tell the stories truthfully? Why?

Tim O’ Brien who is the protagonist in the story is also the author, throughout the story he discusses personal experiences about his time in the Vietnam War but what can we believe? As humans we can’t always listen to everything we hear, and so when we read fictional novels we have to think what he is basing the facts on. In this instance Tim O’Brien bases the story on experiences; however he does tell us not to believe some war stories because to tell a good one you must change some factors in it. I feel like we should only trust what we want to believe, if we want to believe all the deaths that occurred during the war, then we can choose to trust his stories about death. Nevertheless we may choose not to believe the stories O’Brien tells us of since everyone has a right to their own belief.

1. Journal Entry "The Things They Carried

The items that Tim O' Brien’s characters carry are both symbolic and literal. They carry personal items with them on their journey through Vietnam as well as heavy machinery and ammunition. The things they carry bring a sense of who they were at home, and who they are at war. Both Jimmy Cross and Henry Dobbins carried with them their lovers from home, Dobbins with his girlfriend’s pantyhose that he “wrapped around his neck as a comforter.” While Cross “humped” around letters and pictures from a girl named Martha from New Jersey, a girl he would always love. These items that these two men carry reveal a feeling of love and longing comfort that they search for during the war. With love comes fear and Ted Lavender carries tranquilizers which resembled his terror for the war. However some men in my mind, carried random things that of coarse didn’t make much sense to me, but to them they meant the world, such as dental floss, soap, and toothbrush’s that Dave Jensen carried along with him. He also took with him “three pairs of socks and a can of Dr. Scholl’s foot powder” to prevent trench foot. These items I think signify a sense of home and cleanliness which of course is unavoidable at war. Other things the men carried where condoms, a diary, and comic books all of which at first seem to have no meaning but truly do have a deep meaning only the soldiers know. With the weight of fear on their shoulders they also carry the load of their reputations, each and every one of them need to hide their vulnerability and distress from the enemies and fellow soldiers. Their security has been diminished and the only things they have are the few items they tag alongside them.