Tim Obrien Rhetorical Strategies in the Things They Carried

Everyone experiences something that’s effects their life in some way; In the novel The Things They Carried Tim O’Brien uses flashbacks as well as imagery to help the readers understand what he went through and the impact it had on his life. While in The Secret Life of Bees Sue Monk Kidd uses symbolism and some imagery to let the reader know how the experiences the main character had experienced impacted her life.

In The Things They Carried Tim O’Brien flashes back to his experiences in the war giving us a visual picture of what he went through, making the reader feel as if they were right there with him. Trying to let the reader know how his life today is based upon past experiences he encountered while at war. There were various clues throughout the novel, for instance, they huddled together under their ponchos, the rain cold and steady, the water rising up to their knees, giving the reader a feel for what he went threw on a day to day basis for a few years. As well as putting a visual picture in our head of what he went through his use of expression and words lets the reader know how he lived the Vietnam War talking from his own personal experiences and now as an award winning author produces stories about his life. As well as giving us information on his past he lets us know the big picture of how this changed his life today.

In The Secret Life of Bees the main character, Lily, spends a lot oh her life trying to find out information about her mother whose death she was blamed for. A lot of the decisions she makes throughout her life are based on the environment she grew up in as a child. She was raised by her father who didn’t do anything but yell at her and give her harsh punishments along with her colored nanny, Rosaleen who she cares for and loves very much. Symbolism is a big part of this book and really starts to come in affect around the time where Roseleen and Lily go into town and three men start yelling racial comments. Roseleen shows she doesn’t care that she is an African American and will stick up for herself no matter what the consequences are by going over and spitting on their shoes. A few