Literary devises used in the things they carried?

Answer 1

There are many many different types of literary techniques used in The Things They Carried by Tim O'Brien.

Of course, there are the obvious ones used in almost all novels: diction, parallel sentence structure, characterization through dialogue, syntax, rhythm/rhyme, repetition first person point of view, imagery, etc, etc.

Then there's certain devices O'Brien wants you to focus on:
black humor (ridicules with death)
juxtaposition (of courage and fear, of physical and emotional consequences of war, of reality and of imagination, of killing and kindness...)
satire (criticizing American beliefs of war, though this one falls a bit as the story progresses - it's very evident in the beginning though )

and though I did mention parallel sentence structure previously O'Brien really does emphasize emotions via this technique.

e.g. "...just humping, one step and then the next and then another, but no volition, no will, because it was automatic, it was anatomy, an the war was entirely a matter of posture and marriage, the hump was everything, a kind of inertia, a king of emptiness, a dullness of desire and intellect and conscience and hope and human sensibility."

Answer 2

Some literary devices used in "The Things They Carried" include symbolism (the weight of physical and emotional burdens carried by the soldiers), imagery (vivid descriptions that evoke sensory details and emotions), and metafiction (blurring the line between fiction and reality through O'Brien's narrative choices). Irony and repetition also play significant roles in conveying the themes of war and storytelling.