Tuesday, October 1, 2013


“Late that night he crept down to the dental tent. (...) The dentist couldn’t find any problem, but Lemon kept insisting, so the man finally shrugged and shot in the Novocain and yanked out a perfectly good tooth” (O'Brien 84).

            In Tim O’Brien’s The Things They Carried and Disney’s Finding Nemo, the writers both express their disapproval towards feeling the need to prove oneself in front of others through the use of imagery, word choice, and tone. In the book, Curt Lemon has a fear of dentists and faints while getting his teeth inspected; he is so embarrassed of his actions that in the middle of the night he goes to the dentist and forces him to pull a tooth out just to show the other troops. Likewise in Finding Nemo, Nemo is trapped in a fish tank and the fish are desperate to escape. He tries to prove his braveness to the others by clogging the filter but does not succeed until his second attempt. The author and director draw many similarities between Nemo and Curt by using different literary devices.
            Both in Finding Nemo and The Things They Carried word choice helps contribute to the similarity between Curt and Nemo.  In Finding Nemo, the writer choses to call the clown fish “sharkbait”. This name was given to Nemo from the other fish and is demeaning to the insecure fish. However, the name Curt Lemon is short and has a sharp, strong sound. In The Things They Carried, before Curt Lemon enters the dentist’s tent he says “Nobody messes with these teeth” (O'Brien 83).  The word “these” is italicized putting emphasis on that specific word.  By doing so Curt is trying to hide his fear by pretending that he is protecting himself instead of the dentist attacking him.  The author shows how defensive Curt is by italicizing the word “these”. While in Nemo, the writer shows Nemo’s fear through his silence. 
            In Finding Nemo and The Things They Carried the actions of the characters and imagery can be used to draw many similarities.  On Nemo’s first attempt to clog the filter he fails almost killing himself, and the other fish have to save him just to keep him alive. Further worsening the situation, Nemo lets his guard down by trembling and crying. After Curt faints in The Things They Carried, four troops have to “hoist him up and lay him on a cot” (O'Brien 83).  Once he awakes, he secludes himself from the other men and is heard “cussing, bawling himself out” (O'Brien 84).  Both Nemo and Curt were helped during a time of weakness without a choice making them feel weak.  Many of Curt’s actions have a theme of being down: “fainted”, “lay down”, “crept down”, “look down”, “under”, and “staring down” (O'Brien 82-84).  This pessimistic theme is used to explain the character’s insecurity and low self esteem, justifying his behavior.  Although he is insecure, his fellow servicemen do not see him that way; they describe him as “the tough solider” (O'Brien 82).  This is ironic because on the exterior Curt looks strong and tough but on the inside is insecure.  The only time he's confident on the inside and out is right after he’s proved himself: “he was all smiles” (O'Brien 84).  Likewise, Nemo’s laughter and smile after successfully clogging the drain shows his confidence after achieving a hard task.  The commonality of having a tough exterior but a soft inside ties the two characters together.
            The author and writer make the insecure characteristics in Curt and Nemo prominent in order to send a clear message to the readers; pretending to be confident and tough isn’t worth what you give.  When someone acts like this it is no secret, and people can see right through it.  Both of the writers do not approve of this pathetic behavior.
            Curt Lemon and Nemo feel like impressing their peers is most important, and they are willing to sacrifice their comfort in order to achieve social approval.  The reason they are so willing to do this is because they are both young, insecure, and naïve.  The author of The Things They Carried and the writer of Finding Nemo use effective literary devices such as imagery, dialogue, and word choice to convey this message.
        



13 comments:

  1. The comparison between Nemo and this story was really smart! I never would have thought of it. The number of things that corollate between the two stories is really interesting. This was a great way to do your blog post. Also, the videos were really helpful. Great Job Lexie!

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  2. I really like how you presented this, but I interpreted this in a different way. I think Curt Lemon was not trying to show others he was strong, but instead to show himself he was strong. Curt is afraid of war, and that's why he puts on such an air of strength, to prove to himself he is strong enough. Through this path he was able to overcome his fear of combat. Now, he "actually enjoyed combat" (Tim O'Brien 83). It's similar with the dentist, it's a childhood fear he hasn't overcome. He faints and is unable to face the dentist. He is in such fear of the dentist that he ends up bawling. If he felt bad about not seeming tough, he would not have actually cried. He needed to feel better than the dentist. He decides to confront his fear. He goes to the dentist to get the tooth removed not because he wanted others to admire him, but he wanted to admire himself. The fear of the unknown is never solved, it just gets bigger. He has to overcome his fear of the dentist so he is able to face the war again. He makes up an excuse, and even tells it to his fellow soldiers in order to get his tooth removed. If he wanted to seem strong, he wouldn't have tolled others his jaw was hurting before. That is why Curt Lemons was "all smiles" (81). Anyways, I'm not saying your point of view is wrong, but I think mine is just another way to interpret it.

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  3. I really liked how you set up each paragraph, each a different literary device. Your comparison between the book and Finding Nemo was well thought out and very clever. I completely agree with the message you are sending through your blog post.

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  4. I like how there so many are underlying similarities between Nemo and Lemon. I think it was quite astute of you to choose an event in both the characters' lives that revolved around a dentist. Your analysis of each of the literary devices was also very good. However, I do think that there is a slightly different context to each of the events. Nemo did what he did because he knew he could do it, and for him, it was a matter of life and death. In contrast, Lemon only did it just to show himself and the others, that he was a "man." All in all, this was a great post!

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  5. I really liked how you recognized small subtleties between the two stories like the fact that they both occur in a dentists office and the important use of "sharkbait" as a character device for Nemo compared to Curt Lemon's name, which has a stronger connotation to it. This is even more interesting because all of these subtleties have important roles in comparing the two characters and their need to be in control of their social image.

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  6. Good job, Lexie. I thought your point about the "down" vocabulary in the book was excellent. I did not notice the effort of the author to create a sullen mood with unhappily themed words when I read through at first. However, I'm not sure I was on the same page as you regarding the opinion of Lemon as "the tough soldier" (84). Immediately prior to this line, O'Brien states "what [he] did not know [about Curt Lemon] was not impressive." (84). I believe this quote speaks to the truer opinion of Curt Lemon in the unit. While his fellow soldiers regard him as audacious in his actions, they see through his attempts to bolster his appearance as the tough guy.

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  7. great comparison between finding Nemo and this chapter. I liked how they were two totally opposite situations yet they had so much in common. You analyzed the chapter very well and the Finding Nemo comparison was very creative. Great job Lexie!

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  8. Your comparison between the two very different stories was very interesting, and I would never have made the connection, but the stories are actually very similar. I liked how you compared Curt Lemon to Nemo, and said that they both wanted to prove themselves, even though no one was forcing them to. Great job!

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  9. It is very interesting how you linked a movie that we have all seen many times to this assignment. I related to it completely. You truly made a great comparison.

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  10. You are totally right there are so many similarities between the two situations, including the fact that both of these situations involve the dentist. I think you did a good job recognizing and elaborating on all of the similarities. Overall, I was impressed with the parallel you drew between the chapter and Finding Nemo, and on how much you had to say and analyze in just two pages!

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  11. You linked these two together sooooo well! Great job!!

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  12. This was a really good connection to use. We have all seen Finding Nemo so it's really easy to understand the connection you are trying to make. Great work Lexi!

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  13. Nice Lexie! Again as most people have said, the connection was great. I honestly would have never thought of Finding Nemo to take part in this activity, nor would I think the stories would connect in any manner. But you made it clear and fun to read. Good job Lexie.

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