5
1Essay #1 – Compare and Contrast – TTTC and SH5 In the novels The Things They Carried and Slaughterhouse-Five, courage and cowardice are portrayed differently. In The Things They Carried, author Tim O’Brien has an unconventional view of heroism. In contrast, Slaughterhouse-Five author Kurt Vonnegut portrays his idea of a hero through foil and static characters. Both authors ignore the traditional view of heroism. They do this by their characters, perception of death, and view of cowardice. Tim O’Brien uses different types of characters to portray the idea of a hero. Character Lieutenant Jimmy Cross defies the stereotypic hero. A stereotypic hero tries hi/her hardest to save the life of a fellow friend. Lieutenant Jimmy Cross experiences an internal conflict when a member, Ted Lavender, of his troop dies. He feels extreme guilt for the situation. “He pictured Martha’s smooth young face, thinking he loved her more than anything, more than his men, and now Ted Lavender was dead because he loved her so much and could not stop thinking about her” (TTTC pg. 6). Lieutenant Jimmy Cross, unlike a hero, could not save Ted Lavender from dying. He feels that he was too distracted and cannot forgive himself. The hero portrayed here is a lonely man who tried to, but could not save his fellow friend’s life. Tim O’Brien also portrays an unconventional hero through the character, Mary Anne Bell. He describes Mary Anne as someone who, “made you think about the girls back home” (TTTC pg. 113). Stereotypically, a hero is a man who saves innocent lives. In this case, Mary Anne Bell becomes a hero to the men. “She had a bubbly personality, and a happy smile” (TTTC pg. 95). During the war, the men were depressed and they did not have social interaction with many women. Mary Anne Bell brought her bubbly personality to the men and lifted their spirits. She was a hero to the men through the ways that she saved them from the depressions of war.