The Things They Carried: America

"In many ways he was like America itself, big and strong, full of good intentions, a roll of fat jiggling at his belly, slow of foot but always plodding along, always there when you needed him, a believer in the virtues of simplicity and directness and hard labor." -pg. 111

This passage is the oppostie of personification. It was interesting to find that a big fat man is a lot like America. By comparing a solier to his homeland, he shows how similar they are. O'Briend mentions many of the things we hold dear, such as hard labor, and by doing so helps us to relate to the soldier who is so similar to the rest of us. We as Americanstake pride in our endurance through difficult times, even though we are only a couple of hundred years old. Through this comparison we come to see how the author views his companions, and how they represent everything worth fighting for. By using reverse personification, O'Brien utilizes a wider array of literary tools. By using these tools wisely, he can pull the reader in.