What argument about masculinity might the author ultimately be making?

A) The Things They Carried Download The Things They Carried(1990), Tim O’Brien’s acclaimed composite novel about storytelling and the Vietnam War, contains countless insights on the heavy burden of traditional masculinity. In the novel’s first chapter, for instance, the narrator writes that “Men killed, and died, because they were embarrassed not to” (20). Your task is to choose and discuss three characters from the novel, explaining how their actions, attitudes, and beliefs reflect either the above insight or another of your own choosing. What argument about masculinity might the author ultimately be making?
B) The novel’s main characters are principally male, but throughout O’Brien’s The Things They Carried (1990) certain female characters fulfil purposes vital to the novel’s overall effect. Do women perform a single—or at least predominant—role in the novel? Do they, on the contrary, perform multiple roles? To what extent does the author challenge or observe traditional femininity? Choose and discuss three characters from the novel in defense of your position.
You will need at least four academic sources for either prompt. Feel free to peruse and employ the two related critical essays in our textbook (627-41).

Last Completed Projects