Literary Analysis

The draft included here is based on the analysis of two articles namely “The Things They Carried” by Tim O’Brien (1990) and “A Worn Path” by Euroda Welty (1941). O’Brien’s work is a collection of short stories about a platoon of American soldiers in the Vietnam War. The argument in the book came about as a result of the author’s refrain from political debate and the discourse of the Vietnam War, jaded on the ignorance
of the denizens of her hometown towards the world. The article has employed different styles to explain its primary subject. The techniques include metaphor, use of verisimilitude, the author as the protagonist bridging the gaps between fiction and non-fiction. It is through the varied styles that the author is in a position to have her work differentiated from other books (O’Brien, 1998).
The article by Eudora Welty differs from the work of O’Brien as it is a single short story about an aged American-African woman taking a familiar journey on a road in the rural area to get medicine for her grandson. The story molds the woman in a manner that makes her connected to her surrounding as well as in short spoken monolog warning animals and expressing the pain in her weary bones. The story is a lesson to readers on undying love and the devotion that steers people towards a given goal. Euroda employs the use of symbolism; themes, metaphor and suspense helped in the development of the whole story. The two books use different styles to pass the desired information to the reader as well as make the books interesting to read (Welty, 1974).
The two books express their conflicts in various ways. O’Brien’s work has a conflict from the individual point of view while Euroda has her conflict from the societal perspective. Additionally, while O’Brien uses the author as the protagonist in the book of several short stories, reports: “O’Brien has invented a tone of voice suited for the war” (p. 15). Euroda has her single short story book with the protagonist being the American-African woman, Phoenix Jackson. She reports: “Phoenix Jackson makes her biannual visit to Natchez, walking for half a day in December to reach the medical clinic at which she receives, as charity, soothing medicine for her grandson” (p. 225). Additionally, there is a variation in the stylistic approach used to mold each story. While O’Brien uses several short stories to drive home her point, Euroda uses a single story to drive her point (Welty, 1974; O’Brien, 1998).
Despite the difference in the styles, and forms used to develop the stories, there are similarities. Both O’Brien and Euroda use themes, metaphors and symbolism to develop their stories. Additionally, the two articles are based on a short story format though employed differently. The work of O’Brien is effectively enhanced by several short stories to express fiction and non-fiction themes. On the other hand, Eudora’s work is well defined by the single story as the protagonist and the story as a whole is based on imagination to communicate an aspect in real life. The two articles have been observed to have a connection with the real life. While O’Brien has her work based on the Vietnam War that occurred years back, Eudora connects to the aspect of true love between a grandson and the grandmother (Welty, 1974; O’Brien, 1998).
Conclusion
The work of O’Brien and Eudora are developed on different foundations to communicate subjects relating to the real world. The variations between the two stories are valid as they bring out the meaning and structure of the story. Therefore, story development is always determined by the nature of the subject of communication.

References
O’Brien, T. (1998). The Things They Carried. New York: Broadway Book.
Welty, E. (1974). A worn path. Critical Inquiry, 1(1), 222-228.