Organic and Kinesthetic Imagery In The Things They

Organic and Kinesthetic Imagery In The Things They Carried and The Vow Stephanie Byrnie English 10(1) Comparative Imagery November 13 th, 2013

The Things They Carried was written by Tim O’Brien and published in 1973. The novel reveals his untold war stories that occurred during the middle of his journey in Vietnam. He also wrote about the supplies him and the other soldiers would carry with them throughout their time in the war. Lastly O’Brien reveals all the hardships he had to overcome before, during, and after the war such as the loss of loved ones and living with horrifying memories.

The Vow, released in February of 2012, was directed by Michael Sucsy. The film is based on the true story of Kim and Krickitt Carpenter. Throughout the film Leo attempts to make his wife Paige fall in love with him after she had a traumatic brain injury from a car accident. The injury left her with all memories of their marriage erased. This left her to believe she made a mistake marrying him. In the end Paige learns why she had left the life she had before and began dating Leo after seeing that he’s her “better half”.

Organic Imagery • • Organic imagery is an image that is representing an internal sensation (English. uga). In both The Things They carried and the film The Vow, organic imagery is revealed by the protagonist’s overwhelming feeling of love for another person that will never be mutual.

Organic Imagery In The Things They Carried • • In the text Tim O’Brien states, “ They were signed Love, Martha, but Lieutenant Cross understood that love was only a way of signing and did not mean what he sometimes pretended it meant”(O’Brien 2). The feeling of disappointment goes along with the heartache felt my Lieutenant Cross because he knew that the way the cards were “signed Love” never meant what he had always hoped for.

Wilted Flower; Heartache • • This picture shows how disappointment and heartache affected Lieutenant Jim Cross internally. Just as if someone was to receive flowers and then discover that they are droopy and have little to no life left in them.

Wilted flower; Heartache (Continued)

Organic Imagery In The Vow • • After Leo appears at Paige’s sisters wedding reception, he gets into an argument with Jeremy, Paige’s ex-fiance, resulting in Leo hitting Jeremy and being thrown out of the building. Paige goes to find Leo to tell him that she thinks that her love for him will never return or ever be as strong as his lover for her is(Sucsy).

Organic Imagery in The Vow (Continued) • • The pain from Leo hearing his wife say those few words to him left him in desolation. He felt as if he would never be able to love a woman as much as he loved Paige leaving him heart broken with the thought of the love never being mutual again.

Leo’s Desolation • • This photograph shows how strong Leo’s feeling of emptiness was when Paige told him she did not love him. Him losing the love of his life was unbearably painful in the sense that he feels as if he can never love someone the same again.

A Common Theme Revealed in Both The Novel and Film Based on the example of organic imagery both the author of The Things They Carried, Tim O’Brien, and the director of The Vow, Michael Sucsy, want their audience to realize: The drive to achieve all desires comes from the strong and faithful people who are willing to give up their greatest necessities in order to succeed. •

Kinesthetic Imagery • • Kinesthetic imagery is an image that represents physical movement like tension in muscles or joints (English. uga). In both The Things They carried and the film The Vow, kinesthetic imagery is portrayed by the protagonist's ability to sense the brilliance of an idea or person.

Kinesthetic Imagery In The Things They Carried O’Brien enhances the novel by writing, “I could’ve jumped and started swimming for my life. Inside me, my chest, I felt a terrible squeezing pressure”(O’Brien 56). O’Brien feeling the squeezing pressure in his chest caused him to think twice about what he wanted to do and ended up leading him in the right path. The Kinesthetic imagery revealed through the pressure on his chest is guidance. • •

O’Brien’s Guidance • This image reveals how it was difficult for O’Brien to decide what he wanted to do but the feeling in his chest helped make the right decision and guide him down a sturdy path.

Kinesthetic Imagery In The Vow • • While at a party Paige’s sister’s fiance told Leo how the thought of getting married gave him the feeling of: shaky legs, rapid heartbeat, and tingling sequences that went through his hands (Sucsy). The feelings that were experienced revealed kinesthetic imagery of brilliance. This is because the different sequences running through his body meant that he may soon discover something ingenious.

The Start of Something Genius • • The snapshot taken from the film resembles the feeling that a couple will have just after marriage. They feel as if they’re now complete and filled with euphoria.

Common Theme Revealed In Both The Novel and Film Based on the examples of kinesthetic imagery both the author of The Things They Carried, Tim O’Brien, and director of The Vow, Michael Sucsy, want their audience to realize: Not all decisions are given time to be thought out; only ones personal instinct reveals what is best for their consistent well being. •

Works Cited "Channing Tatum as Leo in The Vow. " People. theiapolis. com. Theiapolis. com, Dec. 2012. Web. 13 Nov. 2013. <http: //people. theiapolis. com/actor-0 END/ channing-tatum/news/photos-of-channing-tatum-from-the-vow-a-film-1000849. html>. "Get Rachel Mc. Adams’ Exact Leaf Wedding Ring From Her Upcoming Film ‘The Vow’. " Shefinds. com. Shefinds Media, 30 Jan. 2012. Web. 13 Nov. 2013. <http: //www. shefinds. com/2012/get-rachel-mcadamsexact-leaf-wedding-ring-from-her-upcoming-film-the-vow/>. "Important Vocabulary for Imagery and Figurative Language English 3000. " English. uga. edu. N. p. , n. d. Web. 11 Nov. 20<http: //www. english. uga. edu/~eberle/2006083 K/materials/

Works Cited (Continued) O'Brien, Tim. The Things They Carried. Boston, MA: Houghton Mifflin, 1990. Print. Pederk. "Which Way? " Darkroseofsorrow. blogspot. com. Pederk, 10 June 2012. Web. 13 Nov. 2013. <http: //darkroseofsorrow. blogspot. com/2012/06/which-way. html>. "Rememorandom. " Logankstewart. blogspot. com. Blogger, 29 Aug. 2013. Web. 10 Nov. 2013. <http: //logankstewart. blogspot. com/2013/08/ the-things-they-carried-review. html>. "The Things They Carried. " Amazon. com Inc. , n. d. Web. 13 Nov. 2013. <http: //www. amazon. com/The-Things-They-Carried-OBrien/dp/0618706410>.

Works Cited (Continued) "Women's RBX Comp Jersey. " Sunsetpdx. wordpress. com. Sunset Cycles' Blog, 7 May 2013. Web. 13 Nov. 2013. <http: //sunsetpdx. wordpress. com/2013/05/07/ chainrings-sunset-cycles-monthly-newsletter-18/>.