Do you really know who people are on the inside? Well that question has been brought up throughout the short stories that we have read. People who are placed in impossible and hopeless situations often have a side brought out in them that have never been seen before. In the two short stories, “Little Things” by Raymond Carver and “The Things They Carried” by Tim O’Brien show how certain situations reveal the true character of people. The situations that we see these characters go through are a recurring theme that we see in each of the two stories. In the short story of “Little Things,” we see the predicament that a young couple on the verge of a split up has to face and how they react to their situation. In the story “The Things They Carried,” we see the tough battles and struggles that young men in Vietnam have to face as they fight the war in order to stop communism. Placing characters in impossible situations, helps reveal their true character, because we are able to see a side of them that most have never seen before. A side that only comes out when a situation seem hopeless.

In the short story “Little Things,” by Tim O’Brien we find a couple that are constantly arguing and about to split up encounter a situation which became useless in resolving it. The two were arguing whether who should be able to keep the child. As the man wanted to take the child with him, the mother, as any other mother would do, refused to hand the young boy over to him. The two continued to argue when the argument became physical and they actually were fighting for the baby. The mother was desperately trying to hold on to the young boy, when the father came over a told her to let go, pulling the baby as they were fighting. “He crowded her into the wall then, trying to break her grip. He held on to the baby and pushed with all his weight. Let go of him, he said. Don’t she said. You’re hurting the baby, she said.” Here we see the mother describing how she wanted to keep the baby, yet was also concerned when the father started to pull on the baby. Here we also see the two parents in a describe situation where they both want their child to be with them. We learn that the mother was the one more worried with the bay’s well being instead of the father, who felt that he wasn’t hurting the child when he really was. People do certain things in situations and their impulses take over. The true character of the mother and the father were revealed, because the mother was afraid for the baby’s life, while the father was only concerned with taking the baby with him. “But he would not let go. He felt the baby slipping out of his hands and he pulled back very hard. In this manner, the issue was decided.” Here we discover that the baby was torn in half by his two parents, and died a horrible death. When placed in this impossible situation the parents revealed their true nature as their instincts took over. The mother meant for only good and the father only brought more problems to the already hopeless situation. In this story, we learn that human spirit is different in every single person. Some of them mean for the best and others are selfish and are only concerned for their benefit. Therefore, this impossible situation revealed the true character of the mother and the father.

Another time when we people encounter an impossible situation is in the story “The Things They Carried,” by Tim O’Brien. This short story deals with the several predicaments that the young men in the Vietnam War have to deal with everyday. One passage from this story where we see characters placed in an impossible situation that helped reveal their true nature was: “They carried the soldier’s greatest fear, which was the fear of blushing. Men killed, and died, because they were embarrassed not to.” We also see the mental things that these men carried with them during the long struggle in Vietnam. They each carried grief, fear, love and more with them. Grief of their men dying, fear of being killed and the love of their families back home of some of the things they faced and carried. When confronted with these dilemmas, the soldiers showed and revealed their true nature. Sure, they were strong, tough soldiers, but fighting in Vietnam also brought the emotions that overtook most of them. When faced with these impossible situations, the true character of us comes out. We get scared, frightened and anxious. However, we also are strong willed, determined, and brave. The things that they carried with them helped reveal their true nature. Human spirit is accustomed to several emotions and battles within oneself.

Another situation in which the soldiers were faced with an impossible situation was “They carried all the emotional baggage of men who might die. Grief, terror, love, longing- these were intangibles, but the intangibles had their own mass and specific gravity, they had tangible weight…They were afraid of dying, but they were even more afraid to show it.” Here we see that these men involved in the Vietnam War were faced with the situation of killing human people. However, they were trained and taught to kill, when they really thought about it brought up problems for the soldiers. They only killed because they wanted to be like the rest. They didn’t want to be the weak one or the one who didn’t want to kill. If they didn’t choose to kill, they would be considered an embarrassment in the minds of others. The men were also sacred to show that they fought to the death. Though they vowed to their country that they would do anything to fight for America in the line of battle, fear of death overcame the joy of pride. They may have felt pride, stiff soldierly discipline and macho zeal, but deep down we see that these men we scared out of their pants of dying. They wanted to live and go on with their lives. Here we see when faced with the impossible situation of killing and dying, arrogance is overcome by the terror of death. Human spirit is also often overcome by sensation of killing and dying inside of trying to block it out of your head. However, you cant because these things are inevitable and will always happen.

People who are placed in impossible and hopeless situations often have a side brought out in them that have never been seen before. In the two short stories, “Little Things” by Raymond Carver and “The Things They Carried” by Tim O’Brien show how certain situations reveal the real character of people. The situations that we see these characters go through are a recurring theme that we see. In the short story of “Little Things,” we see the mess that a couple on the brink of a separation has to face and how they react to their situation. In the story “The Things They Carried,” we see the tough combats and fights that young men in Vietnam have to face as they fight the war. Placing characters in impossible situations, helps reveal their right character, because we are able to see a surface of them that most have never seen before. A side that only comes out when a situation seem bleak.