The Things They Carried by Tim OBrien - Book Report/Review Example

The works can most significantly be comprehended as an innovation in narrative form by the writer. It may be related here that the reviewers had great complexity in accounting for the genre of the short story cycle. Whereas the publisher calls it 'a work of fiction,' O'Brien regarded it "as 'sort of half novel, half group of stories,' suggesting that he was unaware of the tradition of the genre." (Nagel, 129) One of the binding questions that come up in an analysis of the work is related to the genre to which the work may be categorized.

Therefore, the most effective realization of the work may be that it is a collection of individual stories with a beginning, middle, and end, distributed in different chapters which can be successfully organized under the label of a novel, as the individual chapters form a united whole in the overall effect. Commenting on this specific nature of the work, Nagel points out, "the central issue for all short story cycle is one of unity, the continuing elements from story to story that create thematic resonance, character development, temporal succession, and inter-textual coherence among brief narratives" (Nagel, 129) and each narrative presents a conflict and resolution within its own realm.

Scope: Through this profound research, the thematic concerns, character development, temporal succession, inter-textual coherence of distinct stories will be analyzed in order to decide upon the essential literary elements which combine the stories in a unified entity which may be termed a novel. Research Questions: 1. What are the elements in every individual narrative of The Things They Carried that contribute to the unity of the stories 2. How are the thematic resonance, character development, temporal succession, and inter-textual coherence among brief narratives ensured by the author 3.

What has been the writer's innovative narrative strategy or form which is developed in the work The Things They Carried Conclusion: The research paper on O'Brien's The Things They Carried focuses on an analysis of the various components of its distinct stories or chapters, which together provides a central unity to the work. Therefore, the genre of the work may be comprehended as a collection of separate, self-sufficient, and individual stories connected together by some central unifying issues which provide the work the characteristics of a novel.

Some continuing elements from story to story contribute to the work's unity and the overall features which provide the work the qualities of a novel. To conclude, The Things They Carried is a short story collection, in which the distinct chapters possess every quality of individual stories, as well as a novel, which is distributed among several chapters unified by some common characteristics such as thematic resonance, character development, temporal succession, and inter-textual coherence.