The narrator of the story "The Ghost Soldiers" says, "When you're afraid, really afraid, you see things you never saw before, you pay attention to the world." What might he mean by this?
Discuss O'Brien's war injuries and want he wants revenge on Bobby Jorgenson.
Examine O'Brien's reaction to being reassigned away from the heat of battle and what happens when the men from Alpha Company return to base.
Discuss O'Brien's meeting with Jorgenson and O'Brien's and Azar's plan for revenge.
How has O'Brien changed throughout the war?
I think when the narrator talks about being afraid, he means that it opens your eyes to what could possibly happen to you. What you might not have noticed beforehand when your life wasn't threatened could easily become a hazard when you're more aware.
ReplyDeleteO'Brien was shot once through the side, but Rat Kiley patched him up quickly and knew how to handle it. He was also shot another time in his butt after Bobby Jorgenson became the new medic, Jorgenson didn't know how to properly treat O'Brien, especially not for shock. This is why O'Brien wants back at Jorgenson. He wanted Jorgenson to feel the embarrassment of being joked about and the pain of the bad medical job like he did.
After being reassigned away from the midst of the battle, O'Brien felt safer. He could relax and he knew he wasn't at as big of a risk to be killed anymore. After the men return from the Alpha Company, O'Brien feels more like a civilian, unaware of what really went on, not as brave or heroic as the men who had been deep in the combat.
When O'Brien meets with Jorgenson, he feels guilty and sorry for him. As much as he wants to hate him and get back at him, he knows that Jorgenson is genuinely sorry and isn't making excuses for how he messed up the wound even more. That made O'Brien dislike him even more.
O'Brien and Azar plan to spook Jorgenson at night as he's watching the camp. They pull ropes to mimick enemies hiding in the bushes and set off flares to startle him.
I think O'Brien has changed throughout the war because it helps him to learn to let go of things, whether they be people or internal conflicts. He learns to sympathize with people and learns to not hold on too long to people because they might not be there forever. His service in the war and losing so many other soldiers abruptly helped him let go of his feelings for Martha. Although he still felt for her, he realized his passion wasn't reciprocated.
I believe that the narrator is trying to say that when you are scared you focus on the little things because sometimes it's those small things that make the biggest differences. The small things that you've ignored most of your life could be the last thing that you see. I believe that O'Brien by saying this is trying to make us pay more attention to the world around us and to not take it for granted. Tim was shot in the butt and the new medic, Jorgenson, was too stunned to properly care for Tim. It wasn't the injury that caused Tim the most issues while he was lying on the field it was the shock of being shot. At first when Tim was sent back field, after recovering from his injury, he was relieved that he would be able to relax and take the easy path through the war. When the Alpha Company comes from the front lines to the base Tim feels like a civilian who isn't even a part of the war. He had lost the connection that he had worked so hard to get with the members of Alpha Company, and Tim blames Jorgenson for taking him away from his friends. When Jorgenson and O'Brien talk it shows Tim how truly sorry Jorgenson is for not taking care of Tim better than he could have. Tim O'Brien wants nothing to do with Jorgenson and his apology so he decides to scare Jorgenson so that he can understand how O'Brien felt. That's why O'Brien meets up with Azar and they plan to scare Jorgenson while he is on night watch. After the plans to scare Jorgenson fail I think it shows how O'Brien changed from being a kid who wanted to run away from all of his problems to a man who knows how to handle himself in an ever changing world.
ReplyDeleteI think that the narrator is trying to say that when you get scared you begin to focus on things you had ignored before. In other words when you are not aware of something you never really observe it, but when it is in question you begin to observe it more carefully. O'Brien does this to show the reader that you shouldn't take anything for granted and that you should be aware of your surroundings. The first time O'Brien had been shot he ended up on the lap of Rat Kiley, the medic, who knew how to handle situations like this. When O’Brien returns from his recovery, Kiley had been wounded and was replaced by a new medic named Bobby Jorgenson . O’Brien is shot for the second time (in the butt), Jorgenson is incapable of treating his shock, and O'Brien is faced with a painful experience. The feeling that he was close to death for without a good reason leaves O’Brien vowing revenge on Jorgenson. This is why he wanted to get back on Jorgonsen, it was to make him feel the same experience that he faced when Jorgenson didn't treat him. Later O'Brien is reassigned away from the battle, and is relieved that he is safe and was able to go through the feeling of getting killed by the enemy. The Alpha Company later returns to the base, O'Brien listens to stories from his friends. One story was about a soldier who got a disease after swimming and was treated by Jorgenson. O'Brien feels like he wasn't in the war anymore, as if he had become a regular person. O'Brien finally finds Jorgenson, who was trying to smile, which made O'Brien feel some sympathy from him. Jorgenson tells him that he was sorry and it was his fault for not treating O'Brien for the shock. Jorgenson explains that he got frozen up after hearing all the gun shots and screaming. O'Brien knew that he was sorry but it made him hate Jorgenson more for making him stop hating Jorgenson. Later, O'Brien wants to get revenge on Jorgenson, and he gets help from Azar. At that night when Jorgenson was watching Bunker Six, O'Brien and Azar begin to rattle their ropes to make some sound. They began to make the rattling louder. He and Azar then lighted some flares. Up to the point where he did a cry/bark, O'Brien said he had enough. O'Brien has changed from being a person who would sometimes consider running away from his problems to a man who will face his problems. It has also helped him forget about things that kept him from doing things
ReplyDeleteWith this quote, the author is most definitely trying to emphasize how much fear can change prospective. He is trying to explain the heightened sense of awareness that we experience when we are afraid, and how it can affect what we are seeing or feeling. I am sure there is some kind of chemical reaction that happens in the brain that causes all of us to feel fear, but the best way to explain that reaction to ordinary people is with that quote.
ReplyDeleteDuring his time in Vietnam, O'Brien sustains two injuries: a gunshot wound to his side and a gunshot wound to his butt. The wound in his side is no big deal, as Rat Kiley patches it up as soon as it occurs. However, his butt wound is a whole other story. Because of Rat Kiley's own injuries he is sent to Japan to receive medical attention, and Jorgenson is sent in as his replacement. During this time O'Brien is shot in the butt during a small fire fight in which Jorgenson is too scared to move. After mistreating the wound, it becomes infected and O'Brien has to be shipped out once again, this time with a vengeance following him. O'Brien wants revenge on Jorgenson for causing him so much pain and essentially out casting him from the platoon.
O'Brien has mixed emotions about being reassigned, but mostly he is sad and frustrated about the matter. Being away from all of the excitement and knowing he would probably never go back makes him feel like there is a barrier between him and his platoon. As soon as Alpha Company returns his worst fears are confirmed, and he is no longer considered a part of the platoon.
The meeting between Jorgenson and O'Brien is awkward, and the tension between them does not help. Although O'Brien feels much hatred for Jorgenson, he could not help but also feel a pang of understanding for him and he even admitts that he feels bad for him. However this does not stop him from continuing on with his plan to get revenge on him. His plan, which is aided by Azar, is to scare Jorgenson while he is on night watch, and scare him he does. The plan is a total success and O'Brien gets the revenge he is looking for.
O'Brien changes drastically throughout the war, which is caused by an array of things. From being a well educated college kid to a Vietnam soldier, O'Brien's life is altered in a way that he never sees coming. Some of the changes that are brought on are negative, such as the injuries he sustains, but others, like the valuable life skills he learns, will forever benefit him. I could write a five paragraph essay explaining all of the things that change about him, but the biggest is his prospective on life. Being nearly killed multiple times, he learned to appreciate the little things in life like the blades of grass and pebbles around him.
The narrator wants to show how fear can run through your body and make things seem real that may not be. He says, "you see things you never saw before" in which he means all these silly ghost stories like "Charlie's magic" come to life in your brain. It is the things you cannot see that scare you the most. When you are truly afraid, all the possible ways something awful can happen run through your thoughts and they become real all at once no matter how many times you tell yourself it cannot possibly happen. You open up your eyes to the world when you are afraid. O'Brien was shot twice. Both times he felt real terror crawl through his veins. The first time he was lucky and fell straight into the lap of Rat Kiley -- the medic. The second time, he was not so lucky. He was shot on the battlefield and waited what felt like hours for the new medic, Bobby Jorgenson, to run over and help him. Jorgenson almost got O'Brien killed because he was treating the wound but not treating for shock, which made O'Brien upset when he found out. He wanted revenge on Jorgenson for almost killing him. He wanted Jorgenson to feel that same closeness to death as he felt on the battlefield that day. When O'Brien is transferred away from the battlefield, he feels alone and misses the heat of battle. He says it is hard to explain but there is something about the rush of the fighting that makes him miss it. When Alpha Company return to base, they have grown closer to Jorgenson and further away from O'Brien. He feels like he is no longer like a family member of his friends in his battalion. O'Brien's first meeting with Jorgenson makes O'Brien change his mind. Jorgenson is so sincere about his apology that O'Brien decides he does not hate the man anymore. However, he still wants his revenge. He works with Azar to scare the life out of Jorgenson while he is on night watch. O'Brien and Azar set up smoke grenades and flares to scare Jorgeson all night while he is scared out of his mind. O'Brien feels that if he can make Jorgenson fear that closeness to death -- the same way O'Brien felt that day on the battlefield where Jorgenson almost got him killed -- he would be even with the man. When they were finished with the little prank, he felt like he really did get his revenge. O'Brien is now a completely different man than he was when he first went off into the war. In the beginning, he was quiet and scared and did not want much to do with the war or Vietnam. Now he has realized the closeness he has with his fellow soldiers and what it means to have a true friend. He is also more outgoing than he used to be. He also learned to appreciate the little things in life, especially when your life feels like it is almost at an end.
ReplyDeleteThe quote describes the feeling of adrenaline surging through one's body. One's senses are heightened and they find themselves constantly on edge, ready for anything that may come. This must be how the soldiers felt in Vietnam, fearing any attacks, yet also ready to shoot or run from anything that may come at them.
ReplyDeleteO’Brien is first shot in the side, which is easily resolved by Rat Kiley, the medic. The wound is patched up immediately, allowing for a quick recovery for O’Brien. However, after returning back to war to be once again with his friends and fellow soldiers, O’Brien finds out Rat Kiley has been wounded, shipped off, and replaced by a new medic. O’Brien is later shot a second time on his backside. Rather than being patched up quickly again by Rat Kiley, O’Brien finds himself in more pain than before, as the new medic, Bobby Jorgensen, is too scared to move quickly enough to help O’Brien like Rat Kiley previously had. In fact, O’Brien describes the situation as Jorgensen taking “almost ten minutes to work up the nerve to crawl over to [O’Brien]” (181). O’Brien explains that he had felt no pain by then and had gone into shock and nearly died just from that, which Jorgensen failed to notice. And so O’Brien lays, withering in pain, and watches Jorgensen fumble and attempt to save him. O’Brien’s wound gets infected with gangrene due to Jorgenson’s bad patching up job and he gets shipped off once more, allowing him to have a long hospital stay with nothing to do, thus giving him much time to think about what had happened. He finds himself blaming Jorgensen for being incapable of a medic and swears revenge on the man for causing him so much pain and trouble.
O’Brien is glad to be away from danger, yet he admits that he finds himself missing the adventure of being at war. He says that he can’t complain about being safe, yet he does miss his friends and the rush of adrenaline that war gives a person. However, when his friends and former troop return to the base and visit O’Brien, he’s glad to have them back, and they celebrate about being back home. As soon as the celebration ends, O’Brien realizes just how much he has missed. He feels distant from them and even hears from Sanders that he’s not considered as being “with” them anymore.
When O’Brien speaks to Jorgenson for the first time after being shot in the behind, Jorgenson apologizes immediately and practically begs for O’Brien’s forgiveness and for them to move on. O’Brien simply stands his ground, although when Jorgenson begins tearing up, O’Brien admits that if Jorgenson had cried, he would’ve told him everything was okay and forgave him right there. O’Brien and Azar plan to scare Jorgenson as revenge. While Jorgenson is alone and on guard, O’Brien and Azar set off flares and noisemakers to scare Jorgenson, which works perfectly. O’Brien eventually feels bad for Jorgenson, and asks Azar to stop, but Azar continues and finishes the plan by releasing a large sandbag on a pulley system. Azar runs off to bed afterwards, while Jorgenson helps O’Brien clean up, and they both agree that they’re even.
O’Brien has changed in many significant ways throughout the war. The most important way was becoming brave and not the man who runs away from his problems. His former self is shown when O’Brien describes how he planned to run to Canada to avoid the draft. This illustrates how likely he is to run away from his problems, yet while he was in the war, he learned a lot about bravery and how he couldn’t run away from anything, as he had to stay with his troop. War changes people in unimaginable ways, some good and some bad.
O'Brien was shot twice, the first time was treated by Rat Kiley. But then Kiley was wounded and shipped off, the new medic was Bobby Jorgenson, who treated O'Brien the second time he got shot. When O'Brien was shot the second time, Jorgenson was unable to treat his shock and the result is a long painful experience. O'Brien was furious to find out he was transferred to the battalion supply section and vowed to get revenge on Jorgenson. O'Brien was also furious to find out Jorgenson was part of the company and that he was kicked out. O'Brien tagged up with Azar to get revenge on Jorgenson, but it fell through when Jorgenson caught them. O'Brien has changed dramatically since the beginning, his views and his looks on people have changed. Like deciding not to flee and to go to war. Also, giving Jorgenson a chance and not killing him.
ReplyDeleteI think that what he meant that when someone is scared and when they are alone, their hearing and attention to detail increases. The person starts to hallucinate or hear something. He wants revenge on Bobby Jorganson because when he was wounded for his second time, Jorganson was incapable of treating him completely. O'Brien wanted revenge because the pain never went away. He was also mad that because he was hurt, it took him away from the heat of the battle. He and Azar moved some rope to make it appear that the enemies were in the bushes. This was his way of getting even.
ReplyDeleteWhat I believe the narrator means is that when you're constantly surrounded by fear you think of the worst possible things that could happen to you. Like say you're walking alone, outside, at night then you will picture all the worst things that could happen to you and that is what I think the narrator tries to portray how everyone is feeling during this experience with Vietnam. O'Brien experiences two injuries. His first injury is on his side and their medic at the time is Rat Kiley who treats his injury quick and easily helps he recover soon. His second injury on the other hand was in his behind. Rat Kiley was no longer their medic because he was injured and shipped off, so Bobby Jorgenson replaces him. When O'Brien is shot the second time it takes what seems like forever for Jorgenson to reach him and therefore it takes him a lot longer to heal. With so much time on his hands from healing he begins thinking of what happened and blames Jorgenson for all his pain and declares to get revenge. Now when O'Brien is reassigned he's okay with being safe and away from danger, but at the same time he misses his friends and the rush of adrenaline in his veins from war. When his friends return he realizes he missed them and they missed him back. When he faces Jorgenson again, the medic apologizes right away. But still O'Brien plans on continuing with his plan of revenge with Azar. They set off flares and make noises in the bushes to frighten the medic, who is all alone. Once they're done, O'Brien and Jorgenson agree on being even for what has happened. The largest and most significant change O'Brien has had in his life would be his perspective on life. He appreciates the life he was given since he has almost died several times. He is now a different person in life.
ReplyDeleteWhen you are scared, your mind wanders off into a world where everything can go wrong. Every bad possible scenario runs through your mind and you become more scared. O'Brien's first injury was to his side, and Rat Kiley helps him recover quickly. His second injury was a bullet to the butt. Kiley was also at the time so Bobby Jorgenson tries to help him. O'Brien feels like it took longer to recover the second time and he blames Jorgenson for it. His plan for revenge on Jorgenson is to scare him while he's on duty. He gets Azar to join in on the plan, and afterwards Jorgenson and O'Brien feel that they are even after what all has happened. These experiences changed O'Brien and he is more appreciative of everything in his life.
ReplyDeleteWhen you are scared, your mind wanders off into a world where everything can go wrong. Every bad possible scenario runs through your mind and you become more scared. O'Brien's first injury was to his side, and Rat Kiley helps him recover quickly. His second injury was a bullet to the butt. Kiley was also at the time so Bobby Jorgenson tries to help him. O'Brien feels like it took longer to recover the second time and he blames Jorgenson for it. His plan for revenge on Jorgenson is to scare him while he's on duty. He gets Azar to join in on the plan, and afterwards Jorgenson and O'Brien feel that they are even after what all has happened. These experiences changed O'Brien and he is more appreciative of everything in his life.
ReplyDeleteDuring this section there is a story about a group of elite soldiers on a mission on a mountain that required for them to be silent and motionless for a long period of time. During this time the soldiers described that the forest would "sing" and "make music." This led to the army calling for a complete demolition of the forest. I think the soldiers reacted this way only out of natural human tendency. After watching a scary movie or going to a haunted house people are more jumpy and on edge. This type of logic applies to the soldiers who listened to every sound of the forest and let their imaginations wander. This is also how Azar and O'Brien get revenge on Bobby Jorgersen, who almost let O'Brien die during an injury. They play on Bobby's imagination with rattling cans, flares, and a potato sack dressed as a Vietnamese soldier. After the altercation O'Brien had decided that the two were even and no longer wanted any revenge. The thing that surprises me was that even in the heat of a deadly war in a foreign country, that men of the same unit would seek childish revenge on another man.
ReplyDeleteO'Brien was treated very differently after being injured and encountering the Alpha Company. The men of Alpha treated O'Brien as an outsider during their encounter. I think this was partly due to jealousy of the soldiers because Tim no longer had to fight and risk his life while the Alpha men still went on dangerous missions every day. After the war I feel that Tim has gained a new sense of admiration of the beauty and miracle of life. I think that among all the negative things of war, at least some soldiers come out with this positive aspect.
What he meant by that is the mind plays tricks on you when you begin to get scared, you see things that aren't there, you hear things that aren't there, and you're paranoid thinking someone is watching you or near you and knows exactly where you are. O'Brien's war injuries came from being shot in the side but that was fixed easily by Rat Kiley, and the other time he was shot in the butt, when Jorgersen was medic and that wasn't as easy cause Jorgersen wasn't as experienced and almost let O'Brien die from that injury.Back to the paranoid subject that is how O'Brien and Azar mess with Jorgersen, they make noises, shoot flares, and disguise a potato bag as a Viet Cong soldier. Finally after all this O'Brien decided he was done messing with him luckily. O'Brien changed throughout the war by simply becoming numb to what people said, what people think, and what people were like. In the beginning of the war he was probably youthful, and immature just like every other soldier but quickly grew up in the midst of war.
ReplyDeleteWhat I think O'Brien meant by that saying was when you are scared, your mind messes with you. For example, after you see a scary movie and are laying in the dark that night, you think you are seeing ghosts. In reality, you aren't. The first time O'Brien is shot in the side. Rat Kiley, the medic, knows exactly how to handle the situation. He checks on O'Brien multiple times and keeps joking with him to ease the situation. O'Brien gets shot a second time, but this time in the butt. Rat Kiley was not the medic anymore. Bobby Jorgenson was the medic now. Bobby was new and scared, and he didn't know how to handle the situation. O'Brien almost died from shock. O'Brien got made fun of for his injury and went through a lot of pain because Jorgenson didn't handle it right. After this, O'Brien hated Bobby so much and he wanted to see Bobby suffer like he did. When O'Briens friends get back, he asks Azar to help him get revenge on Bobby. They use multiple things like flares and ammo cans filled will rifle cartridges to make noises and scare Bobby. I wish O'Brien would've forgave Bobby when Bobby tried to say sorry. Bobby really tried his best when O'Brien got shot. He was just scared, but he didn't mean for O'Brien to suffer.
ReplyDelete"When you're afraid, really afraid, you see things you never saw before, you pay attention to the world." When someone is afraid their brain goes into danger prevention mode. You're heartbeat raises, your brain looks for subtle changes, prepares for fast actions, and runs through possible responses to things that haven't even happened yet. O'Brien is shot twice once in the side and once in the butt. Both times he recovered, but the second time the new medic had forgotten to treat him for shock. O'Brien only focusing on how he almost died wanted revenge; not even thinking about how he should be grateful to be alive. When Jorgenson finally got O'Brien alone he said he messed up and that he was sorry, but O'Brien was blinded by anger and didn't forgive Jorgenson. He wanted revenge. O'Brien asked Sanders to help him get revenge on Jorgenson. Sanders said no because he understood that Jorgenson messed up, but O'Brien should have been grateful for being alive. So O'Brien asked Azar to help get his revenge. Azar was all over it. The night they messed with Jorgenson, O'Brien felt better afterwards, but when he knew Jorgenson had enough he couldn't stop Azar. O'Brien and Jorgenson crossed paths, Jorgenson knew it had been him who terrorized him. They called it even. O'Brien said to Jorgenson "Let's kill Azar," because O'Brien knew he had gone too far. O'Brien changed from beginning to end I wouldn't say drastically, but it was pretty big. He went from being afraid of being labeled as the man who wimped out of war, too a man who needed to share his experiences. He started out really scared and nervous slowly he started to ease into the nature of the war, the way they played off the death and suffering.
ReplyDeleteThe Narrator of "Ghost Stories" means that when you are scared at night laying in bed, you begin to hear things that you normally would not, such as the floor creaking or the wind in the leaves outside. You begin to see things through the darkness, like movement in your closet or a mysterious face in the corner of the room. Fear can make even the most irrational things seem terrifying, making some people paralyzed with fear, such as Bobby Jorgenson, and making rise to the occasion. O'Brien used Bobby Jorgenson's fear to manipulate him for revenge. O'Brien was shot in war during one of Jorgenson's first days of combat. Jorgenson was just as cowardly as O'Brien was when he entered the war, but O'Brien failed to realize this and held it against him. Jorgenson froze when Tim O'Brien was shot and skipped procedure by not treating his symptoms of shock. Because of this mistake, O'Brien was taken out of combat and suffered a long, painful road of recovery. Even after Jorgenson's apology, O'Brien was still extremely mad for the mistake. His anger controlled his vengeance to get back at Jorgenson. O’Brien failed to realize that their fears were very similar,and that the same things made them both fearful. O’Brien realized that fear is a form of torture and can really mess someone up. He definitely regretted scaring Jorgenson as much as he and Azar did.
ReplyDeleteThe Narrator of "Ghost Stories" means that when you are scared at night laying in bed, you begin to hear things that you normally would not, such as the floor creaking or the wind in the leaves outside. You begin to see things through the darkness, like movement in your closet or a mysterious face in the corner of the room. Fear can make even the most irrational things seem terrifying, making some people paralyzed with fear, such as Bobby Jorgenson, and making rise to the occasion. O'Brien used Bobby Jorgenson's fear to manipulate him for revenge. O'Brien was shot in war during one of Jorgenson's first days of combat. Jorgenson was just as cowardly as O'Brien was when he entered the war, but O'Brien failed to realize this and held it against him. Jorgenson froze when Tim O'Brien was shot and skipped procedure by not treating his symptoms of shock. Because of this mistake, O'Brien was taken out of combat and suffered a long, painful road of recovery. Even after Jorgenson's apology, O'Brien was still extremely mad for the mistake. His anger controlled his vengeance to get back at Jorgenson. O’Brien failed to realize that their fears were very similar,and that the same things made them both fearful. O’Brien realized that fear is a form of torture and can really mess someone up. He definitely regretted scaring Jorgenson as much as he and Azar did.
ReplyDeleteWhat O'Brien means is that when you are scared everything around you feels like it will go wrong. Some people get that feeling at night when they are scared. They hear things you normally wouldn't during the day. Like when you lay in bed and hear the floor creak and the house seems to move around you. The things that you hear during the day, like the trees moving, seem like they are much louder and scarier. When you finally start to get over your fear and open your eyes to look around, but all you can imagine is someone standing in the corner of the room ready to attack. Fear makes people do things that they wouldn't normally do. Like how young children call out to their parents at night because they are to scared to move. O'Briens way of dealing with the fear of almost dying, was blaming it on Bobby Jorgenson. He came up with a plan to terrify Jorgenson just to get back at him. What O'Brien didn't realize though is that Bobby was just scared and messed up. Everyone was scared when they first went to war and I don't think O'Brien thought about that until after the pranks. He regretted what he did to Jorgenson after him and Azar were finished.
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ReplyDeleteThe Narrator of "Ghost Stories" means when you are scared during the night your body is on high alert. Your heart beat quickens, palms get sweaty, and your mind starts playing tricks on you. By this he means that your eyes start seeing objects in the darkness that are not there in real life. Your hearing becomes very aware; you start to hear creaking in the floor boards or the trees rustling outside your window. Everything just seems so much scarier and it's almost like you can't think of anything, but what if what you see in the corner is real and if so is it going to attack. All you can do is lay in your bed motionless. Fear takes over the body and mind makes people do what they would never usually do. There are different ways of dealing with fear some people just live with it, others overcome it. O'Briens idea of dealing with the fear of almost dying was to blame it on the person that messed up, Bobby Jorgenson. Jorgenson felt very bad for what he had done to Tim O'Brien but there was nothing he could do now. His apology to O'Brien didn't do anything. O'Brien was mad and no one could stop he wanted to get back at Jorgenson, even though the two men's fears were a lot alike. O'Brien only regretted what he did when he and Azar were done.
ReplyDeleteThe quote "When you're afraid, really afraid, you see things you never saw before, you pay attention to the world..." means that when you are very afraid your mind goes into a mode where everything you see is intensified in a horrifying way. You start paying attention to even the little things because your mind makes you feel that even those things can harm you in some way. Your hearing is amplified and you hear every twig snap, every bird chirp, every insect buzz. You pay much more attention than you should.
ReplyDeleteO'Brien's first shot in the war was in his side. He was able to quickly receive help and be patched up quickly. The next time he was shot was in his backside, but this time was worse than the first. O'Brien laid on the ground suffering in pain waiting for help, which was actually right in front of him the whole time. He had to plug his own wound and almost died of shock until Jorgenson finally came up to him to help, but because Jorgenson was so scared of the war he didn't do a very good job and almost lost O'Brien's life. O'Brien wanted Jorgenson to feel sorry for almost letting him die and wanted revenge.
When O'Brien was reassigned to a new location because of his injury he felt much safer. He felt that nothing could hurt him any more and was at ease. When the other men came back from Alpha Company, O'Brien soon began to feel like somebody just watching the war from the sidelines; a useless civilian that isn't much help. Once he healed up, he met up with Jorgenson. Jorgenson made O'Brien feel sorry for hating him when he talked to him which made O'Brien hate him even more. Afterwords, he met up with Azar and started making plans to get revenge on Jorgenson. He wanted to just scare Jorgenson, not hurt him, he just wanted him to mentally know how he felt. Once the plan was set into motion and O'Brien watched his scare unfold, he started feeling guilty again. O'Brien wanted to feel victorious and pleased that he finally got him back, but all he felt was guilt.
O'Brien changed through the war from being someone running away from their problems to a stringer minded man that is able to face issues a little better.
The narrator is saying that when it’s nighttime you may start to imagine things that really are not there. Noises that you hear make you scared but in the day time they don’t bother you at all. “You pay attention to the world” meaning all your seances are on high alert. O’Brien was shot twice which led to a long time in the hospital. When O’Brien was shot the second time Jorgenson was taken over by shock which made O’Brien’s injures last longer. He wanted to get revenge on Jorgenson for what he had done. Azar decides to help him. They decided to go spook Jorgenson as their revenge. After they finished spooking him O’Brien and Jorgenson laten shook on it and agreed they were equal.
ReplyDeleteThe first injury that Tim O'Brien sustained was just a graze by a bullet and the medic they had, Rat Kiley, was very good at what he did and had the wound properly bandaged and healing in no time. When Tim was shot in the rear with his second injury it just so happened that Rat had also been injured and sent off to Japan for treatment on his injuries so the new medic, Bobby Jorgenson, had to treat O'Brien's heavily bleeding gunshot wound. Jorgenson was a frightened man and it took him 10 minutes to even get the courage to treat Tim and in the end Tim almost died of shock but thankfully did not. After the poorly done treatment was given by Jorgenson, Tim's wound began to rot away and took a whole month to heal back to normal while causing O'Brien a lot of pain throughout the entire process. After healing completely O'Brien began to consider what he could do to exact his revenge on Bobby Jorgerson because not only did that happen but he got moved away from combat and into Headquarters Company because of the wound.
ReplyDeleteThe narrator is basically saying that when you are alone or when you are scared you pay closer attenion to detail. It's as if you notice things you may have never even thought about before. O'Brien wants to get revenge on Bobby Jorhgenson because he did not help ease his pain when he was shot for the second time. O'Brien felt like it was Jorgenson's job to help him more than he did. He starts to resent Jorgenson for this. O'Brien convinces Azar to help him on his plan for revenge. When they are acting on this plan Azar takes it further than planned. Eventually they talk to eachother about the problems and Jorgenson admits that he was at first scared to help O'Brien.
ReplyDeleteWhen O'Brien is reassigned, he is upset about many things. He is upset Jorgenson didn't treat for shock as soon as he is shot, he is upset he's away from the action and his friends, and he is upset he has to rub ointment on his wound every day because it got infected. I believe O'Brien felt it was right to try to scare Jorgenson and get revenge because he felt betrayed by him when he was just going out into the field for the first time and didn't know what to do during his first fight. During their meeting very little is said because O'Brien doesn't let Jorgenson say much, and O'Brien describes how he has changed by basically saying before the war he would have forgave someone like Jorgenson for something like this, but now he is much colder about these things and much more straight forward.
ReplyDeleteWhen the narrator states “When you’re afraid, really afraid, you see things you never saw before, you pay attention to the world,” he aims to convey that being afraid heightens one’s senses. Furthermore, when one cannot see what they are afraid of, their terrified mind begins to imagine all of the possible things that might be scaring them. The combination of heightened senses and a mind that is imagining things that terrify the individual, lead to that individual paying extremely close attention to their surroundings, taking in every detail possible. This close attention permits the individual to notice things about their surroundings that they had not noticed before.
ReplyDeleteDuring his time in the war, O’Brien suffered two injuries. O’Brien’s first injury occurred during a firefight outside of Tri Binh. Fortunately for O’Brien, the bullet knocked him down right next to the company’s medic, Rat Kiley. This injury, located in O’Brien’s side, put him out of the war for twenty-six days. O’Brien returned to find that the old medic, Rat Kiley, had been replaced by a new medic who had just joined the war called Bobby Jorgenson. The second time O’Brien was shot, this time in the butt, it took Jorgenson ten minutes to build up the courage to make the dash to get to him. Once Jorgenson finally got to O’Brien,not only had O’Brien almost died of shock, but he screwed up the patching job on O’Brien. This injury took O’Brien’s life away as it permanently removed him from the war and thus prevented him from staying in his friendbase. O’Brien blamed Jorgenson for the woes that had been brought upon him. O’Brien proceeded to plan his revenge on Jorgenson. When not planning his revenge, O’Brien was either angry or sad about being taken from his friends and the excitement of the war.
When Alpha company returns to the base where O’Brien is now stationed, O’Brien feels as if he is not part of the group anymore but is instead an outsider. Furthermore, O’Brien finally plans on springing his revenge on Jorgenson. O’Brien manages to convince Azar, the rambunctious jokester of the group, to join in on his plan. O’Brien’s plan, designed to scare the daylight out of Jorgenson, involved using a series of simple methods to build fear in Jorgenson during his turn of nightwatch at the base. The plan went flawlessly until the last step, a ball raised up in front of Jorgenson with a white cloth draped over it, which failed to do its part of terrifying Jorgenson. Before the plan ever began, Jorgenson and O’Brien had a conversation in which Jorgenson apologized again for his cowardice many times. During this conversation, O’Brien came to hate Jorgenson as Jorgenson had almost come close to making O’Brien stop hating him.
Throughout the course of the war, O’Brien matured from a young man, who did not understand why he was fighting a war and could barely stand blood, to one who could handle death and gore well. Furthermore, O’Brien gained a sense of humility as he experience realized he had taken his calm life back in the United States.
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ReplyDeleteWhen the narrator states "When you're afraid, really afraid, you see things you never saw before, you pay attention to the world", it means that when you're afraid, your mind goes into a different world. Being afraid, usually you would think about the negative things in life instead of the positive. When O'Brien is thinking about the world, he is thinking of how horrible the war is and the impact it is having on him. When O'Brien has his first injury, he is fortunate to land in Rat Kiley's lap. However, when he had his second injury in his rear end, the medic Bobby Jorgenson did not come to the rescue right away. In fact, he waited almost ten minutes before he even came up to O'Brien. O'Brien wanted revenge on Jorgenson because he could have died instantly and Jorgenson would not have done anything until ten minutes later. O'Brien could of been lying on the ground dead and Jorgenson still would have been in shock and wouldn't have a chance to save O'Brien's life because he still would be in shock. Also, O'Brien had to suffer through the painful healing process, which could have been less painful if Jorgenson would have done his job as a medic faster than what he did. When he is reassigned away from the heat of the battle, he feels like a civilian because he is away from Vietnam family. "I felt close to them yes, but I also felt a new sense of separation" (184). O'Brien feels lonely and separated, and he wants to get back at Jorgenson for making him feel this way because the healing process might have gone better if he would have given O'Brien quicker attention than what he did. When O'Brien ran into Jorgenson, Jorgenson admitted that he was wrong and that he could not handle what was going on when O'Brien got shot. O'Brien wanted to spook Jorgenson, and Azar was in on the plan. After they both tugged on the ropes and fired the flares, O'Brien felt guilty when Azar wanted to spook him more. O'Brien just wanted to get the point of scaring Jorgenson like how O'Brien's injuries scared him. O'Brien has changed when he knows how it feels to be separated from war colleagues, and how much impact a bullet can have on your life.
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ReplyDeleteThe nighttime has a way of making people more afraid, therefor making them more alert to sounds and sights around them. However, it also has a way of throwing illusions, and fear has a way of making people see and hear things that aren't really there.
ReplyDeleteDuring his time in the war, O'Brien is shot twice. Once with a medic named Rat Kiley, who immediately took action., as well as constantly coming back to check on him. However, when a new medic came, and O'Brien was shot again, The new medic, Bob Jorgenson, did not respond quickly or correctly patch the wound, as well as not treating for shock in any way. These mistakes almost cost O'Brien his life.
O'Brien didn't like being separated from the action in the war. When he gets back to base, he's upset to find his old friends have grown away from him. He especially notices when he mentions Jorgenson's mistake, and Jorgenson is defended by an old friend of Tim's, saying he was new and scared back then. Furthermore, Jorgenson tries to apologize to Tim. O'Brien plots his revenge with Azar, using these "Ghost Soldiers" to scare Jorgenson.
I believe throughout the war, O'Brien matured and began to understand who the real enemy was. He becomes stronger and more connected to others throughout the novel.
This quote means that whenever you're alone and especially in the dark, people can become very afraid. When you're scared. you're more aware of everything around you in order to be cautious and keep yourself safe. However, some people can become so frightened and paranoid that they're brain will create illusions and see/hear things that didn't really happen.
ReplyDeleteAfter O'Brien was shot the first time he was treated by Rat Kiley who took great care of him and immediately thought to do the right thing and knew how to take care of O'Brien. O'Brien was shot a second time and went into shock again along with a gunshot wound; only this time he didn't have Kiley to help him, there was a new medic Bobby Jorgenson who got scared and didn't know how to help O'Brien. Because of this, O'Brien wants revenge on Jorgenson for putting him in such a dangerous situation and not doing his job.
O'Brien is upset to not be in the action of the war. He realizes that most of his friends have grown apart from him and when Jorgenson tries to apologize to O'Brien it only infuriates him more. Therefore, O'Brien and Azar plan to get revenge on Jorgenson using imaginary soldiers.
Throughout the war, O'Brien had learned to let go of things and not hold grudges because people you love won't be here forever. Also, He learned to sympathize with others because he knew how it felt.
I believe what the narrator meant when he said this was that when people are afraid their senses are heightened and they tend to create events in their head with the worst case scenario. They begin to see things in a different way and see how they need to protect and take care of themselves. O'Brien was shot twice during the Vietnam War and taken care of by two different paramedics. The first time he was shot he got the care he needed for his side wound from his friend Rat Kiley. Then when he was shot the second time in the butt, there was a new paramedic named Bobby Jorgenson who replaced Rat Kiley. After O'Brien was shot in battle he went into shock and the new paramedic took a long time to get over to O'Brien and take care of him. O'Brien couldn't walk or sleep and had to be transferred to a hospital for more intensive care and because of this he wanted revenge on Bobby Jorgenson. When O'Brien was released from the hospital he came back to the Alpha Company the men had formed new bonds and had new inside jokes and began to like Bobby. So O'Brien who had once felt like they were his brothers, now felt like an outsider to the group which only created more hatred towards Bobby Jorgenson. Then O'Brien talks to Jorgenson and finds out that he is really sorry for what happened to O'Brien and that he didn't take good care of him sooner. So with him finding out Bobby is a good person makes O'Brien crave revenge even more. O'Brien wants to scare Bobby and make him look like a fool while he is on watch and grabs Azar to help him with this revenge task. So I feel throughout the war O'Brien has learned not to hold grudges against people because you never know when the time will come that they won't be around anymore.
ReplyDeleteNoticing small details is perfectly normal during times of fight-or-flight responses - it’s just part of the reaction to ensure survival. Over a prolonged period of time this could mess with a person’s head, much like how O’Brien turns into a man out for revenge after Jorgenson botches his patch-up and failing to treat for shock. During a firefight, O’Brien is injured in the posterior and it takes a long period of time for the new medic, Bobby Jorgenson, to reach O’Brien out of fear and not knowing what to do. O’Brien was injured prior to this incident and was treated very quickly by Rat Kiley, knowing exactly what to do. O’Brien develops a hateful need for revenge after Jorgenson causes him to be off the front lines and out of his circle of friends at the forefront. O’Brien, when sent to rear-guard, has many thoughts of Jorgenson in spite, and when trying to rejoin with his friends in Alpha company, is simply shrugged off and treated as a civilian.
ReplyDeleteO’Brien meets Jorgenson again after loading helicopters returning to war. Jorgenson attempts to apologize, but O’Brien does not accept his apology and leaves him standing at the helipads. Later, O’Brien meets with Azar to plan revenge - psychological warfare - on Jorgenson to get “even” with him. O’Brien would not have considered anything like this in the beginning of the war, as he had just come out of college, failed to escape to Canada due to his own weakness, and was completely immobilized after killing an enemy, but the experiences of Vietnam and Jorgenson’s mishap has changed him into a more remorseless and cold person.
What the narrator's quote means is that when you are scared, you become more careful. You become more aware because you feel you are in danger, but you don't know what of. O'Brien was shot in the butt and was in a lot of pain. Bobby Jorgenson was in his first firefight and was so scared to go help O'Brien that he got to him ten minutes after he got shot. Bobby does not treat O'Brien for the shock and does a poor job of wrapping his wound. Because of this, O'Brien almost dies. O'Brien was fine with being reassigned away from combat. He was in a safer place and got to relax but he still missed combat a little. When his company returns to base they are still friends with O'Brien but are not as close to him as they used to be. O'Brien now feels excluded from the group. When O'Brien meets Jorgenson and Jorgenson apologizes to him, O'Brien gets even more mad at him because he is now part of the group just like O'Brien used to be. O'Brien and Azar plan to scare Jorgenson at night time to get back at him for what he did to O'Brien.
ReplyDeleteWhat the narrator's quote means is that when you are scared, you become more careful. You become more aware because you feel you are in danger, but you don't know what of. O'Brien was shot in the butt and was in a lot of pain. Bobby Jorgenson was in his first firefight and was so scared to go help O'Brien that he got to him ten minutes after he got shot. Bobby does not treat O'Brien for the shock and does a poor job of wrapping his wound. Because of this, O'Brien almost dies. O'Brien was fine with being reassigned away from combat. He was in a safer place and got to relax but he still missed combat a little. When his company returns to base they are still friends with O'Brien but are not as close to him as they used to be. O'Brien now feels excluded from the group. When O'Brien meets Jorgenson and Jorgenson apologizes to him, O'Brien gets even more mad at him because he is now part of the group just like O'Brien used to be. O'Brien and Azar plan to scare Jorgenson at night time to get back at him for what he did to O'Brien.
ReplyDeleteI think the narrator means is when you are afraid you you pay attention to every little detail because you think at any time what you fear is going to happen will happen. O'Brien wants revenge on Bobby Jorgenson because when he got shot Jorgenson was nowhere around and he almost died. He had an injury that didn't allow him to do very much and because of that he was reassigned. When the men return to base where O'Brien is, he feels left out. He said that before he left they were like a family but now they aren't anymore. They're all friends with Jorgenson now and that annoys O'Brien. O'Brien even finds out that Jorgenson isn't a bad guy and he was sorry for what happened to him, but that makes him dislike him more. He and Azar plan to scare him for revenge.
ReplyDeleteThe quote the narrator makes about fear describes it spot on. Fear is mainly all in the brain and your own brain is very persuasive. Once you become truly afraid your brain takes over, suddenly everything is looked upon as a threat and it's then that you really start looking at things to try and convince yourself that it's not actually a threat. Since everything becomes a possible harm you really look at it and all it's details and it's then you see things you never have seen before. Even after things are looked at and deemed safe your brain still leaves the thought of a threat in the back of your mind so that for a long time you're put on high alert and that's when you pay attention to the world. Fear makes a persons brain go crazy which then makes the person go crazy but it does lead to great awareness.
ReplyDeleteThe narrator during the story "The Ghost Soldiers" states that "When you're afraid, really afraid, you see things you never saw before, you pay attention to the world." The narrator means that when someone is afraid their senses are heightened and they notice things that they wouldn't have noticed before. O'Brien was shot in the butt and wants revenge on Jorgenson due to his poor medical job.When O'Brien was reassigned away from the front-lines he felt much safer and slot more relaxed. O'Brien gets his revenge by scaring Jorgenson in the night. Thought the war O'Brien has becomes much more hardened and focuses less on his feelings.
ReplyDeleteThe narrator during the story "The Ghost Soldiers" states that "When you're afraid, really afraid, you see things you never saw before, you pay attention to the world." The narrator means that when someone is afraid their senses are heightened and they notice things that they wouldn't have noticed before. O'Brien was shot in the butt and wants revenge on Jorgenson due to his poor medical job.When O'Brien was reassigned away from the front-lines he felt much safer and slot more relaxed. O'Brien gets his revenge by scaring Jorgenson in the night. Thought the war O'Brien has becomes much more hardened and focuses less on his feelings.
ReplyDeleteWhat the narrator means by "When you're afraid, really afraid, you see things you never saw before, you pay attention to the world." is that you see the world in a whole new way when you're scared. You may pay more attention to detail and take things with more caution than you normally would. O'Brien wants revenge on Jorgenson for being unhelpful with his recovering from being shot the second time. He feels that he suffered for no reason and should have been helped. Though when they meet after O'Brien recovers Jorgenson apologizes and wishes he had done more, this make O'Brien feel guilty for plotting against him. You see that towards the end of the novel O'Brien has become soft and somewhat forgiving.
ReplyDeleteThe narrator means that you get so scared you kinda hallucinate and your mind takes over scaring you, telling you there's something in the dark when there's not. O'Brien was shot and the medic froze and did not treat him for shock this putting so much pain and struggle on him and almost to the point of death. He is not allowed to fight due to his injury and when his friend return the medic known as Jorgenson has taken his place and replaced O'Brien. When he speaks to Jorgenson, the froze medic apologizes but O'Brien does not accept and wants revenge. He gets Azar to help him with this. When Jorgenson is at watch alone in the dark one night O'Brien and Azar use flares and ropes tied to sand bags to scare the crap out of the medic. O'Brien changes and they both agree that they are even and shake hands and this really changes O'Brien in this war by giving forgiveness.
ReplyDeleteI believe that what it means is that when you are afraid you are a lot more on edge and careful. You are very cautious and observant. You want to pay attention to every little things in case something starts to go wrong so that you can react quickly. Bobby was too scared to get help when O'Brien was shot and he almost died. O'Brien wants to get revenge for what Bobby did and Azar's plan is to use flares and ropes to do so. Throughout the war O'Brien becomes a lot more kind and forgives a lot easier.
ReplyDeleteFear is an unnatural and mysterious thing that has many effects on the body and mind. Fear also has the power to drive a man completely insane. This was shown in the novel throughout the revenge on Jorgenson. After O'Brien gets shot and sees Jorgensen, the new medic, Jorgensen does a poor job with treating O'Brien for shock and wrapping his wounds. This led O'Brien to seek revenge on Jorgensen to make him pay for his near-death experience. Using ropes to move bushes around Jorgensen's post, O'Brien inflicts fear on the poor medic, making him think enemies were behind the bushes. This displays the power of fear on a man and shows how paranoia takes over for one in fear.
ReplyDeleteWhen the narrator talks about fear, I think he means that fear opens your eyes, in a metaphorical sense. The mind works differently when we're afraid. It's more active than normal. We notice everything in an effort to stay safe. The only problem is that the brain works a little too quickly. We start to imagine what could be happening, and the line between fantasy and reality starts to fade.
ReplyDeleteThe first time O'Brien got shot, in the side, Rat Kiley was serving as the medic. He was experienced, so he immediately came over and helped. However, the next time he is shot, Jorgenson, who was far less experienced, is serving as medic, and he froze and didn't treat O'Brien for shock. O'Brien, who eventually ended up healing, held a grudge against Jorgenson for freezing up. That's one of the human race's biggest problems: instead of being thankful that something didn't end up worse than it did, we usually end up thinking about all the things that did go wrong, and all we want to do is place the blame on someone. In this case, the blame was placed on Jorgenson. O'Brien's vision was so clouded with the negative thoughts that he failed to see things from Jorgenson's point of view. He didn't stop to think that Jorgenson had been just as scared as he was. He wants revenge for a mistake.
When O'Brien is taken away from battle, he is in a far less dangerous environment, which just gives him more time to think, and therefore more time to become angry at Jorgenson. When the men from Alpha Company return to base, O'Brien realizes that being away from battle is insulting to his masculinity. This just gets him angrier at Jorgenson. Not only did O'Brien nearly die, but now he felt like an outcast, and it was all - at least, in O'Brien's opinion - Jorgenson's fault.
O'Brien and Jorgenson eventually end up talking, and Jorgenson apologizes, but O'Brien is so blinded by his anger that he doesn't accept the apology and wants revenge for what had been done. O'Brien and Azar end up plotting to scare Jorgenson. At night, when you're afraid, your mind starts to cross that line that separates fantasy and reality, and things that normally you would push away and doubt the existence of start to creep closer, slowly sneaking up on you until you are practically suffocating in them.
After Azar and O'Brien scare Jorgenson, O'Brien and Jorgenson end up deciding that they were even. This ends up changing O'Brien in the war by teaching him how to forgive, which is far more important than the other thing that he developed in the war: cruelty. He used to be a thoughtful sort of person, but the war turned him mean inside. The war had changed him, had given him the ability to do evil. Something had gone wrong, and if he hadn't learned how to forgive, the darkness would have consumed him.
When O'Brien uses that quote, I believe he is stating that while you are consumed by the feeling of terror, the emotion allows you to see life from a new perspective, a perspective one was carelessly ignorant to before. Although, people may have the assumption that fear can make one rather brash in regards to how they act, O'Brien seems to believe that fear: the heightened sense, the increased blood pressure, and the immense amount of anxiety actually clears up one's view upon life in a general sense. The feeling of paranoia as one's life is threatened by an individual, object, etc. brings a sense of appreciation, a sense of gratitude to have been granted a life, and to still be alive. Throughout his time spent in a war zone, O'Brien is shot twice, once in the side, and once more in the buttocks.The first wound is a side wound, this wound is treated by Rat Kiley, the medic. The gunshot is treated quickly and efficiently as Kiley treats O'Brien with the utmost amount of care. The buttocks wound, however, is treated by a new medic, Bobby Jorgenson. Jorgenson does not manage to treat O'Brien's wound nearly as well as Kiley had, and with an improperly treated wound, O'Brien is taken off the battlefield. Jorgenson's insufficient job in treating O'Brien's wound creates hostility from the narrator towards the new medic, along with a thirst for revenge. As O'Brien is no longer allowed out on the battlefield, he is taken to the 91st Evac Hospital, where he is then transferred to the Headquarters Company. In contrast to the constant danger of being in a warzone, headquarters is relatively safe and comfortable. O'Brien, however, claims to miss the adventure, the danger, and the perpetual presence of death.When the men of the Alpha Company return to headquarters O'Brien is of course, happy to see his friends once again. However, he feels as if he is an outsider, as if leaving the war zone meant leaving the fraternity of brotherhood he had one joined on the battlefields of Vietnam. O'Brien states how he envies the closeness of the group, the new experiences they went through--without him. Not to mention, the fact that Jorgenson seems to be more "with" the group than he currently was, made O'Brien feel slightly betrayed.
ReplyDeleteAt Headquarters, O'Brien receives the chance to see Bobby Jorgenson once more. Jorgenson is more than willing to admit to his own faults on the battlefield, and to apologize while O'Brien seems to be rather stubborn. Although the narrator becomes less hatred-filled after his confrontation with Jorgenson, his plan for revenge is still put to action. O'Brien's plan is based upon a scare tactic, a method of basic psychology to mess with Jorgenson's head. The only person who agrees to join in on the plan is Azar, who is more than happy to contribute in. The plan is to wait until nightfall, until Jorgenson's paranoia kicks in, and to use this emotion to their own advantage. O'Brien and Azar, while using their homemade noisemakers hooked to string, were making noises outside Jorgenson's bunker, provoking his fear. The rest of the plan consisted of a series of flares being shot, tear-gas grenades being thrown, and pulley systems being used. Halfway through the plan, O'Brien wants to back out, a guilty conscious, perhaps, Azar, however, ignores O'Brien's pleas and continues making havoc.
Tim O'Brien seems to have changed considerably throughout the war. From the beginning of the book, O'Brien dreads the idea of a battlefield, to the point of considering Canada as a reasonable option in avoiding the war at all costs. Towards the end of the book, O'Brien misses the battlefield, his friends, the adventure, and the danger. He realizes that the things that were once so important to him before the war, such as studies, holds no relevance during times of battle. O'Brien learns to appreciate the simplicity of life, and to appreciate life in general.
The author by saying this is trying to say that fear causes the world around us to change, it causes us to see things that aren’t really there, and causes us to be more aware of things around us. O’Brien’s war injuries almost caused him to die, well the second one at least. He was shot in the butt and the medic; Jorgenson didn’t come over for a while after he got shot, then proceed to not treat O’Brien for shock which almost killed him. When O’Brien came back he came back filled with anger towards Jorgenson, he wanted revenge. O’Brien gets Azar to help him get his revenge on Jorgenson. Jorgenson is on watch duty all alone in the dark. Azar and O’Brien start messing with him by making strange sounds, then the shoot around him, launch flares off. Finally O’Brien feels avenged and he’s ready to be done. Azar however feels the need to continue. Later Jorgenson and O’Brien meet face to face and talk about what happened, and they call it even.
ReplyDeleteI think that he means that when something truly scares you it makes you open your eyes to the world around you and maybe see things you haven't seen before. For instance lots of people who have near death experiences begin to love life more, they start finding al the positives in life instead of being unhappy with everything.
ReplyDeleteWhile O'Brien was out at war he was injured two times. His first injury was a shot to the side, luckily right after being shot he fell into Rat Kiley's lap, who happened to be the medic. O'Brien's second injury was a shot in the butt. Unfortunately Kiley had been injured and shipped off, so there was a new medic, Bobby Jorgenson. O'Brien wants to get back at Jorgenson because he botched the patch job on O'Brien's butt, causing O'Brien to not only lay on his stomach for a whole month with out being able to stand but half of O'Brien's butt rotted away.
When O'Brien is reassigned to a supply section he misses the action. He did not miss all the near death experiences, but he did miss the adventures and all the close friends he had made. When the men from the Alpha Company return to base O'Brien feels like he's on the outside looking in, the guys are still his friends but he's no longer part pf their adventures.
When O'Brien meets back up with Jorgenson he is still mad about the whole being shot in the butt thing. Jorgenson tried to apologize and did sincerely feel sorry for what happened to O'Brien, but O'Brien did not care because he was determined to get his revenge. Azar gets in on O'Brien's plan for revenge, they aren't going to physically harm him just screw with him a little. Jorgenson was on bunker assignment for the night, so he was going to be in one spot all night. O'Brien carefully scouted out Jorgensons post and waited for just the right moment. Then O'Brien started his plan, first he set off flares, next was cans full of ammo attached to ropes, then finally flares to scare the crap out of Jorgenson.
O'Brien has changed a lo during the war, in the beginning he was just a scared young man. Slowly as war became familiar he was not as scared but instead welcomed the excitement and adventure. He formed a tight bond with the men in his group. Then he was taken out of war, he was still over seas but he was no longer in the line of fire. This changed O'Brien a little bit, he lost the bond with the guys and he began to see the world a little bit different then before.
When the narrator says “When you’re afraid, really afraid, you see things you never saw before, you pay attention to the world.” I believe he means you pay more attention to little things and appreciate them more. Like maybe just a letter from your family could be so much. When O’Brian was pulled from the heat of the battle and his company returned I think he felt like he wasn’t one of them anymore and he didn’t like it. He had a fresh haircut and was clean while everyone that returned had longer hair and looked rough. O’Brian envied this about them, he was no longer one of them. O’Brian made a change in Vietnam, he lost a little bit of himself and wasn’t that whole person that came over.
ReplyDeleteWhat the narrator means when he says that is how people are more alert and aware of their surroundings when there is a true sense of danger. They had adapted the instinctive ability to use their heightened senses and abilities to help them survive in the truly perilous conditions of Vietnam.
ReplyDeleteO'Brien hated Jorgenson after he got injured for many reasons. He associated him with the pain that came along with the gangrene from the botched patch job that Jorgenson did. However, he mostly hated him because he deprived him of that sense of being able to be a soldier, with Alpha Company and having that sense of being alive out in the field. He felt bad when they came back because he felt like a wolf separated from its pack, not being truly able to return because Alpha company was off in the field while he was just sitting around in the base as a civilian. This sense of separation and pain caused O'Brien to hate Jorgensen and want to get revenge on him.
O'Brien changed the most in the fact the he realized that he was capable of evil. He was compassionate and nice as a young man but all of that goes down the drain when you are presented with danger and evil. This sense of evil caused his outlook to change and him to view the world differently.
I think that the narrator means that when you are afraid your senses are on overdrive. You have so much adrenaline coursing through you that the world is sharper.
ReplyDeleteO'Brien's war injuries was that he was shot twice. Once in the side of the stomach and then in the butt. The first time he was shot Rat bandaged him up right away. The second time he was shot Bobby Jorgenson was the medic and he did not come to O'Brien's aid right away causing him to bleed to the point of passing out. When Jorgenson finally came over, his bandaging was bad causing O'Brien to have future problems.
O'Brien hated the fact that he was taken off battle duty. He blamed it all on Jorgenson and him taking forever to help him when he was shot. When the men from Alpha Company return to base, they treated O'Brien like he wasn't a solider anymore. He felt like he was no longer in the brotherhood with them. With this reunion and the feeling of being left out caused O'Brien to hate Jorgenson even more for what he did to him.
Jorgenson and O'Brien did meet when the soldiers came to base. Jorgenson tried to apologize but O'Brien was having none of that. Instead he sought out Azar and asked him to help in the revenge against Jorgenson. Their plan involved setting off flares strung on a rope next to cans full of ammo when Jorgenson was on bunker duty.
O'Brien did in fact change throughout the war. I think that he grasped the fact that he was capable of doing things he never thought of doing before he entered the war. I also think coming out of the war he started to see the world with open eyes than the closed ones he entered the war in.
What the narrator means is that when you are afraid, your mind tends to play tricks on you and you start to think of the worst case scenario that could happen. Bobby Jorgenson experiences that when O'Brien and Azar scare him to get revenge. When O'Brien was shot the first time, Rat Kiley did a good job taking care of him. After being shot a second time, Jorgenson did a poor job on O'Biren. Because of Jorgenson, he came closer to death than he should have. To get back at him, O'Brien and Azar made it seem like enemies were in the bushes when Jorgenson was out on all-night duty. When Alpha Company returned to the base, O'Brien felt like he wasn't one of them anymore. This only made him more angry at Jorgenson because Alpha Company was beginning to like Bobby, while his own bond with them was not as strong anymore.
ReplyDeleteI believe that the narrator means that your fear can wake you up and make you aware of something that you might have been missing before.When you're afraid you see whats going on around you, even if you're not interpreting it correctly. The adrenaline rush makes you more capable of understanding, or more likely to ignore the obvious and see it in an unexpected way. When he's afraid, it helps him to adapt and to survive in Vietnam.
ReplyDeleteO'Brien wants revenge on Bobby Jorgenson because he was not able to treat his injuries properly, which led to gangrene. He gets revenge by scaring him while he's on night-guard duty.
Well, it is not every day that a soldier gets shot in the buttocks and can't sit or walk for weeks on end. Unfortunately, Tim O' Brien had to live with such an injury that could've been less of an issue if only Jorgenson kept his head together, and actually come to O' Brien's aid sooner. On top of that, Jorgenson did a really awful job of actually treating him(he even forgot to treat for shock out of all things!) and as a result, he had to be re-assigned away from the boonies, which was not preferable to O' Brien. When all these things are taken into consideration, it's understandable why Tim O' Brien wants revenge on Jorgenson, even when Jorgenson sincerely apologizes for performing such a poor treatment.
ReplyDeleteTim's reassignment away from the Boonies really hit him hard. He missed the adrenaline of the battlefield. Every time Tim was in a firefight, or some equally dangerous situation, it made him feel more alive, and it made him appreciate his life more. The battlefield was almost like a drug to Tim, so when he got reassigned, he was naturally distraught. The reassignment also hit Tim hard because when Alpha Company came for a visit, the reassignment made him less of a soldier, and more of a civilian; just a simple stranger in the eyes of Alpha Company. Therefore, it made him more distraught, and it made him hate Jorgenson just a little bit more as it seemed he was closer to Alpha Company than O' Brien was.
On a final note, O' Brien and Azar's plan for revenge involved using the night to their advantage when it comes to scaring Jorgenson. The night time brings a natural fear, and with fear comes the anxiety, the nervousness, the attentiveness. When fear starts to be a factor, one pays attention to every little detail around him/her, such as that fly buzzing in the air, the trees rustling around as if they're animate, the frogs croaking in the dead of night, and even the voices of his/her allies who were once alive, but are now just simply ghosts. The fear makes one pay attention to the dreadful liveliness of the world around him/her, and that's exactly what I think the quote "When you're afraid, really afraid, you see things you never saw before, you pay attention to the world." means, and that's exactly how Azar and O' Brien capitalized on their revenge on Jorgenson.
The narrator means that when you're scared yooy tend to overreact and dramatize everything and see the world in a different way. O'Brien wants revenege on Jorgenson because he did not care for him correctly when he was shot, and caused him lots of pain and suffering. O'Brien finds his reassignment boring and actionless, but at the same time a nice rest after being shot twice. When his friends return, they shun O'Brien and do not treat him like their brother as they did in the past. O'Brien wants to forgive Jorgenson, but just can't seem to do it. He wants revenge, but after him and Azar's prank, he realizes that he has been changed and maybe Jorgenson isn't so bad after all. The war has caused O'Brien to act with less emotion and empathy, probably due tot the significant amount of death in Vietnam.
ReplyDeleteIn "The Things They Carried" the narrator illustrates how fear can cloud one's judgement. When O'Brien is shot and Jorgenson does not help him, O'Brien allows his fear to effect him and makes him angry toward Jorgenson. This anger leads him and Azar to begin plotting revenge on Jorgenson, but Azar takes thing too far changing O'Brien's mind. When fear is removed from the equation O'Brien realizes that Jorgenson is a good guy and that he judged Jorgenson too soon.
ReplyDelete“When you’re afraid, really afraid, you see things you never saw before, you pay attention to the world.” This quote is saying that when one is truly afraid they see things differently than they originally sought to be the truth. O’Brien’s injuries have forced him to withdraw from the tasks he was once held responsible for. When O’Brien is first reassigned he felt like he was on vacation. Then when his company returns he feels cornered because he is no longer involved with them. Bobby Jorgenson, the man held responsible for O'Brien's injuries, almost left O’Brien for dead out in battle, and he replaced O’Brien in his own group of friends. In seeking revenge against Jorgenson, O’Brien sought to scare him and make him experience some of the pain that was forced upon him. When aiming for revenge, O'Brien felt regret and realized that there was nothing he could do to change past events. O’Brien was the typical little kid who always feared war and the consequences that came with it, but during the war he grew up into someone who realized how important it was to become someone greater than oneself, that everything cannot be altered and that revenge was not always the answer to ones’ problems.
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