Adam Nieto Ms. Cardi English, 11R 3 October 2013 Notebook Entry !

art 1 As the editor of The Things They Carried I strongly suggest that the chapter Enemies should be included in the book rather than the chapters Friends, and The Dentist. I strongly belie e this because the chapter all together really fits !ell into the book o erall. "ne of the repeated themes seen in the no el is the theme of innocence, and ho! it is destroyed from the !ar. #asically, ho! the !ar changed the beha ior of the soldiers and the soldiers as !hole by fighting in the !ar. This theme is seen in the chapter !hen Da e $ensen becomes ery iolent !hen he suspects that %ee &trunk stole his 'ack knife. In the chapter the anger Da e $ensen has to!ards %ee &trunk de elops into a full blo!n fistfight resulting in %ee &trunk(s nose becoming badly damaged. After this result Da e $ensen becomes really sad and depressed. Tim "(#rien describes Da e $ensen as a little cra)y or messed up after the incident. During the chapter Da e $ensen feels so much guilt that he ends up badly breaking his o!n nose. *e then tells %ee &trunk that they are e en. Through the chapter the o er!helming emotions of !ar are portrayed highly through the character Da e $ensen. After analy)ing the psyche of Da e $ensen it is seen ho! much the !ar has affected him. The funny part about the chapter is that near the end Tim "(#rien mentions that %ee &trunk actually emitted to stealing the 'ack knife and really had it coming to him. The cra)y part is that Da e $ensen still doesn(t kno! that &trunk actually stole his 'ack knife. *e probably still feels guilty about hurting him badly. This particular part at the end of the chapter is the main reason !hy I think this chapter should be added in the book. This part sho!s the irony and also really portrays ho! insane things can be !hen men are at !ar. The important part of this chapter is seeing ho! the !ar can cause soldiers, like Da e $ensen, to snap from minuscule scenario. I truly belie e most readers !ould find this chapter interesting because it really demonstrates ho! the mental health of the soldiers can be tremendously affected by !ar. 2

Nieto 2 !art 2 There are many morals that !ere seen in the chapters of The Things They Carried, specifically in the chapters Friends and The Dentist. The moral seen in the chapter Friends !as that in !ar things happen and people die. For e+ample, %ee &trunk died. The !ay he died !as 'ust by chance, he happened to 'ust step on a grenade. ,obody is safe in !ar. *e also !ants to portray that friendship is not the same as it is in normal society. Da e $ensen and %ee &trunk after there !hole incident !ith each other in Enemies agreed to protect each other and help each other in !ar. This !as there friendship. Although it is arguable to call this a friendship after the !ay e ents turn out in the chapter. -hen %ee &trunk steps on a grenade he loses his leg, he freaks out and $ensen is near him. -hen $ensen !as near him &trunk !as scared that $ensen might kill him. -ould you be afraid that your friend might kill you at home. &trunk ends up passing out t!ice and dying later in the chapter. After &trunk dies Tim "(#rien says ho! $ensen !as relie ed that &trunk died because it took some stress off his shoulders or relie ed him a little. This demonstrates that the term friendship is used loosely in !ar. In fact in this case scenario friendship is more of a pact not a true and sincere mutual caring for a group of people. For the other chapter The Dentist, Tim "(#rien tries to also portray a moral in this chapter. The moral of this chapter is to establish !hat true bra ery may be. For e+ample, /urt %emon is described by Tim "(#rien as a tough guy0 he is ery comical and a little cra)y. Although !hen the men are getting there teeth fi+ed /urt %emon freaks out and tries to act all though. *e ends up fainting in the dentist chair and is so embarrassed. To try to earn back his title of the bra est guy, he goes back to the dentist and complains that the dentist caused him ha e a tooth ache. *e made the dentist take out a perfectly fine tooth. -hat Tim "(#rien !as trying to sho! is that bra ery physically or the thought of bra ery is not really true bra ery. #ra ery is more mental and psychological. The physical type of bra ery is ridiculous compared to true bra ery that affects a person psychologically. -hen it is psychological it is like the person can not run a!ay from their problems or position that makes them feel uncomfortable. That is the reason !hy true bra ery triumphs physical bra ery, acting in spite of possible harm to oneself, because true bra ery affects the person !ho is acting psychologically. In the end, true courage !ill triumph physical bra ery.

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