THE THINGS THEY CARRIED RESPONSE

I do agree with Tim O' Brien that "human life is all one thing, like a blade tracing loops on ice..."(236).  I agree that while a person grows in maturation and reasoning skills and other qualities we do still hold certain qualities and characteristics that are stagnant and always present.  Often times these qualities come out in different scenarios as we grow older, but they stem from the same quality that is ever present throughout our lives.   In the case of Tim O' Brien he feels that he still has the same look in his eye that he has as a fourth grader, and this I believe to be true.  

One seminole point in the novel is the repeating theme of guilt for not standing up for what you think is right.  Tim O' Brien no matter if he was watching the girl he loved being bullied as a young boy or not objecting to fight a war he believed to be unjust, has this conscience quality of remorse.  This is just a piece of his personality that he would let certain things stay with him, and think and rethink them over and over again.  I do not think this is a type of quality everyone possesses, but it is an example of a piece of Tim O' Brien that is "absolute and unchanging" (236).  I think that as one grows older they still have a piece of them self that is the same as when they were young.  Although they become more mature and reasonable as an adult certain pieces of them will never differ, and they rear their heads in different scenarios that go along with the age and life of the person. 

O' Brien's nature is to rethink, revisit, and reevaluate events that have occurred in his life.  This can be seen through the fact that some chapters are written more then once, the fact that he is writing his story in a novel, that he does go back to Vietnam to visit where he lost one of his best friends and comrades, and that he still talks about his childhood girlfriend he lost to a brain tumor.  He is just one of those people that tend to swell on things, be it not bad or good, but it is an example that is true to the fact that people, though they look very different physically over the course of their life, they are still the same as they were when they we children.   

WHY I WRITE By Jon Krakauer

I write because I like to find the truth.  I like to dig deep into unexplainable events and try to get the truth out of them to enlighten my audience.  As a journalist I like to report on the truth, and sometimes I feel a short magazine article does not fulfill this instinct I have.  I must search for the answers when in some cases there are none to be found.  As a human being we are all curious in nature, but most people do not have the will to take their curiosity to the next level. Such ambition has always been instilled in me and clearly shows through all the challenges I endeavour to take.  In the case of Chris McCandless I felt I had to find the answers, because no one else would have.  His story would have compelled some to, but I had to take it to the next step, and I feel this determination is what makes me a good author.  I do not speculate, I do the research and find the facts.  By researching these unique people's stories I hope to learn about myself in some regards.  I often times see myself in people like Chris McCandless and by learning about them I can better understand my being.  In the same respect I hope for the reader to share in the experience, and find some of themselves in the truth of these real life stories.  I write because it is my job, for myself and my audience, to know the true accounts of these peoples lives, and by finding out their story I hope for us to better understand ourselves.