Post character, plot, and thematic information for The Things They Carried by O'Brien.
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"He was a slim, dead, almost dainty young man of about twenty. He lay with one leg bent beneath him, his jaw in his throat, his face neither expressive nor inexpressive. One eye was shut. The other was a star-shaped hole." - Tim O'Brien was thinking about what it would have been like if he had killed that young man
"but after seven months in the bush I realized that those high, civilized trappings had somehow been crushed under the weight of the simple daily realities. I’d turned mean inside." Tim O'Brien is disappointed with himself that he had to take that much on the medic
"Sometimes I can even see Timmy skating with Linda under the yellow floodlights. I’m young and happy." He is reflecting on his childhood years and that his happier times with Linda who would later on go and die.
This book begins during the Vietnam War in Vietnam, as we the readers’ follower Lieutenant Jimmy Cross through his adventures through his eyes. Lieutenant Jimmy Cross, of the Alpha Company, carries various reminders of his love for Martha, from his college in New Jersey who has given no indication of returning his love. Cross carries her letters in his backpack and her good-luck pebble in his mouth. After a long day’s, he unwraps her letters and imagines the prospect of her returning his love someday. Martha is an English major who writes letters that quote lines of poetry and never mention the war. Though the letters are signed “Love, Martha” Cross understands that this gesture should not give him false hope. He wonders, uncontrollably, about whether or not Martha is a virgin. He carries her photographs, including one of her playing volleyball, but closer to his heart still are his memories. They went on a single date, to see the movie Bonnie and Clyde. When Cross touched Martha’s knee during the final scene, Martha looked at him and made him pull his hand back. Now, in Vietnam, Cross wishes that he had carried her up the stairs, tied her to the bed, and touched her knee all night long. He is haunted by the cutting knowledge that his affection will most likely never be returned.
Some things the men carry are universal, like a compress in case of fatal injuries and a two-pound poncho that can be used as a raincoat, groundsheet, or tent. Most of the men are common, low ranking soldiers and carry a standard M-16A4 assault rifle and several magazines of ammunition. Several men carry grenade launchers. All men carry the figurative weight of memory and the literal weight of one another. They carry Vietnam itself, in the heavy weather and the dusty soil. The things they carry are also determined by their rank or specialty. As leader, for example, Lieutenant Jimmy Cross carries the maps, the compasses, and the responsibility for his men’s lives. The medic, Rat Kiley, carries morphine, malaria tablets, and supplies for serious wounds.
One day, when the company outside the Than Khe area is on a mission to destroy tunnel complexes, Cross imagines the tunnels collapsing on him and Martha. He becomes distracted by wondering whether or not she is a virgin. On the way back from going to the bathroom, Lavender is shot, falling especially hard under the burden of his loaded backpack. Still, Cross can think of nothing but Martha. He thinks about her love of poetry and her smooth skin.
The soldiers wait for the helicopter to carry Lavender’s body away. Cross leads his men to the village of Than Khe—where the soldiers burn everything and shoot dogs and chickens—and then on a march through the late afternoon heat. When they stop for the evening, Cross digs a foxhole in the ground and sits at the bottom of it, crying. Meanwhile, Kiowa and Norman Bowker sit in the darkness discussing the short span between life and death in an attempt to make sense of the situation. He finds something unchristian about the lack of drama surrounding this type of death and wonders why he cannot openly tell it like Cross does.
The morning after Lavender’s death, in the steady rain, Cross crouches in his foxhole and burns Martha’s letters and two photographs. He plans the day’s march and concludes that he will never again have fantasies. He plans to call the men together and assume the blame for Lavender’s death. He reminds himself that, despite the men’s inevitable grumbling, his job is not to be loved but to lead. Works Cited: O'Brien, Tim. The Things They Carried. New York: Broadway Books, 1990. Print.
SparkNotes Editors. “SparkNote on The Things They Carried.” SparkNotes.com. SparkNotes LLC. 2002. Web. 7 Dec. 2009 CJW
Tim O'Brien: He narrates the book. He retells the stories of his comrades in Vietnam. He also explains the purpose of stories, the meaning of writing in his life.
Jimmy Cross: lieutenant of the Alpha Company. He is not a confident leader, although he tries his best. His mistake to camp on a sewage field led to Kiowa's death, which he never forgave himself for.
Norman Bowker: A member of the Alpha Company who lived for war and was lost upon returning home. He felt terrible after Kiowa's death because he wasn't able to save him. He writes to Tim O'Brien requesting a story about him and his life without a purpose. He commits suicide by hanging himself.
Rat(Bob) Kiley: medic of the Alpha Company. He told stories by expanding the truth in order to make them more believable.He wounded himself in the toe and was taken to Japan.
Mitchell Sanders: A member of the Alpha Company who stands by his morals. When telling stories, he strives to get all the details right and accentuate feelings of the characters in the story. He says that a soldier's life is blurred, there isn't a definite right or wrong.
Kiowa: A member of the Alpha Company who was quite religious and was Tim O'Brien's good friend. He consoled Tim after he killed a man with a bomb. While camping in a sewage field, the company was ambushed and drowned in the sewage pool.
Henry Dobbins: A member of the Alpha company who is very sentimental. He wore his girlfriend's pantyhose around neck for comfort and good luck, even when she dumped him.
Ted Lavender: A member of the Alpha Company who was scared of war. He constantly took tranquilizers to calm himself and get him through the day. He was shot in the head, the first of the company to die at war.
Curt Lemon: the macho - man of the Alpha Company; pulling dangerous stunts and always acting tough. He passed out while the company was having a dentist check because he was scared of dentists. He died when he stepped on a bomb that blew his body to pieces.
Dave Jensen: A member of the Alpha Company who was the enemy of Lee Strunk. He punched Lee in the nose over a missing jackknife. He felt extremely bad about it, so he used a pistol to break his own nose. He made a pact with Lee Strunk for either one to kill the other if they were injured beyond repair.
Azar: A member of the Alpha Company who was apathetic and sadistic. He helped Tim O'Brien scare Bobby Jergenson while he was in his tent. While on the mission to find Kiowa's body, he takes back the jokes he made concerning Kiowa and other less important things.
Kathleen O'Brien: daughter of Tim O'Brien. She constantly asks her father about war (i.e. have you killed anyone?). She pushes her father to reexamine his actions and truths concerning the war.
Elroy Berdahl: owner of the Tip-Top Lodge who was willing to negotiate. He never asked intrusive questions, and knew Tim was going to go to war.
Lee Strunk: A member of the Alpha company who stole David Jensen's jackknife, and had his nose broken. He takes back the pact he made with Jensen about swift death because he didn't want to die.
Mark Fossie: The main character of a story Rat Kiley told about his previous company. He was a medic who had a girlfriend that came to visit him at war. Though they grew apart, he still loved her, and didn't want to let her go.
Mary Anne Bell: Mark's girlfriend, and thoroughly enjoyed Vietnam. She joined the special forces area, and tells Mark that he doesn't understand Vietnam because he stays in a fortress. She then abandoned the special - forces area and became part of Vietnam, with a chain of human tongues around her neck.
Bobby Jergensen: The medic who came to replace Rat Kiley. He was unable to treat the wound Tim O'Brien received in a small skirmish due to shock. Bobby ends up apologizing to Jim.
Linda: Tim O'Brien's childhood sweetheart who died of cancer. Tim kept her in his memory, even dreaming about her ghost. He dreams of her now, yet she has a different appearance.
Tim O'Brien and the rest of the things they carried characters are held under physical and emotional difficulties; from their stories they touch on to the deaths from the battle field that they encounter before their eyes it remains they are hurt on the inside emotionally. Physically each character caries something of sentimental value, ranging from drugs to a comic book, these items help to show the personality of the character.
Fear of shame as a motivation
A short insert of the sparknote's perspective on Tim's fear of shame "O’Brien’s personal experience shows that the fear of being shamed before one’s peers is a powerful motivating factor in war. His story “On the Rainy River” explains his moral quandary after receiving his draft notice—he does not want to fight in a war he believes is unjust, but he does not want to be thought a coward. " (sparknotes). I feel that the decision that Tim has made well taking some time to think about things, and his family he would be leaving behind. has helped him to make his choice at rainy lake.
The Subjection of Truth to Storytelling
the stories in which are being told in The things they carried cross roads between fact and fiction. It appears that Tim O'brien needs to let things out to cope with having to go to war, he tries to get his daughter to understand but struggles."O’Brien is attempting not to write a history of the Vietnam War through his stories but rather to explore the ways that speaking about war experience establishes or fails to establish bonds between a soldier and his audience. " (spaeknotes). In this small depiction from the the perspective of Sparknotes shows an example as to what Tim is trying to get to; comparing his stories soldiers to the perspectives of the people listening to them.
SparkNotes Editors. “SparkNote on The Things They Carried.” SparkNotes.com. SparkNotes LLC. 2002. Web. 7 Dec. 2009.
4 comments:
"He was a slim, dead, almost dainty young man of about twenty. He lay with one leg bent beneath him, his jaw in his throat, his face neither expressive nor inexpressive. One eye was shut. The other was a star-shaped hole." - Tim O'Brien was thinking about what it would have been like if he had killed that young man
"but after seven months in the bush I realized that those high, civilized trappings had somehow been crushed under the weight of the simple daily realities. I’d turned mean inside." Tim O'Brien is disappointed with himself that he had to take that much on the medic
"Sometimes I can even see Timmy skating with Linda under the yellow floodlights. I’m young and happy." He is reflecting on his childhood years and that his happier times with Linda who would later on go and die.
Austin
This book begins during the Vietnam War in Vietnam, as we the readers’ follower Lieutenant Jimmy Cross through his adventures through his eyes. Lieutenant Jimmy Cross, of the Alpha Company, carries various reminders of his love for Martha, from his college in New Jersey who has given no indication of returning his love. Cross carries her letters in his backpack and her good-luck pebble in his mouth. After a long day’s, he unwraps her letters and imagines the prospect of her returning his love someday. Martha is an English major who writes letters that quote lines of poetry and never mention the war. Though the letters are signed “Love, Martha” Cross understands that this gesture should not give him false hope. He wonders, uncontrollably, about whether or not Martha is a virgin. He carries her photographs, including one of her playing volleyball, but closer to his heart still are his memories. They went on a single date, to see the movie Bonnie and Clyde. When Cross touched Martha’s knee during the final scene, Martha looked at him and made him pull his hand back. Now, in Vietnam, Cross wishes that he had carried her up the stairs, tied her to the bed, and touched her knee all night long. He is haunted by the cutting knowledge that his affection will most likely never be returned.
Some things the men carry are universal, like a compress in case of fatal injuries and a two-pound poncho that can be used as a raincoat, groundsheet, or tent. Most of the men are common, low ranking soldiers and carry a standard M-16A4 assault rifle and several magazines of ammunition. Several men carry grenade launchers. All men carry the figurative weight of memory and the literal weight of one another. They carry Vietnam itself, in the heavy weather and the dusty soil. The things they carry are also determined by their rank or specialty. As leader, for example, Lieutenant Jimmy Cross carries the maps, the compasses, and the responsibility for his men’s lives. The medic, Rat Kiley, carries morphine, malaria tablets, and supplies for serious wounds.
One day, when the company outside the Than Khe area is on a mission to destroy tunnel complexes, Cross imagines the tunnels collapsing on him and Martha. He becomes distracted by wondering whether or not she is a virgin. On the way back from going to the bathroom, Lavender is shot, falling especially hard under the burden of his loaded backpack. Still, Cross can think of nothing but Martha. He thinks about her love of poetry and her smooth skin.
The soldiers wait for the helicopter to carry Lavender’s body away. Cross leads his men to the village of Than Khe—where the soldiers burn everything and shoot dogs and chickens—and then on a march through the late afternoon heat. When they stop for the evening, Cross digs a foxhole in the ground and sits at the bottom of it, crying. Meanwhile, Kiowa and Norman Bowker sit in the darkness discussing the short span between life and death in an attempt to make sense of the situation. He finds something unchristian about the lack of drama surrounding this type of death and wonders why he cannot openly tell it like Cross does.
The morning after Lavender’s death, in the steady rain, Cross crouches in his foxhole and burns Martha’s letters and two photographs. He plans the day’s march and concludes that he will never again have fantasies. He plans to call the men together and assume the blame for Lavender’s death. He reminds himself that, despite the men’s inevitable grumbling, his job is not to be loved but to lead.
Works Cited:
O'Brien, Tim. The Things They Carried. New York: Broadway Books, 1990. Print.
SparkNotes Editors. “SparkNote on The Things They Carried.” SparkNotes.com. SparkNotes LLC. 2002. Web. 7 Dec. 2009
CJW
Characters:
Tim O'Brien: He narrates the book. He retells the stories of his comrades in Vietnam. He also explains the purpose of stories, the meaning of writing in his life.
Jimmy Cross: lieutenant of the Alpha Company. He is not a confident leader, although he tries his best. His mistake to camp on a sewage field led to Kiowa's death, which he never forgave himself for.
Norman Bowker: A member of the Alpha Company who lived for war and was lost upon returning home. He felt terrible after Kiowa's death because he wasn't able to save him. He writes to Tim O'Brien requesting a story about him and his life without a purpose. He commits suicide by hanging himself.
Rat(Bob) Kiley: medic of the Alpha Company. He told stories by expanding the truth in order to make them more believable.He wounded himself in the toe and was taken to Japan.
Mitchell Sanders: A member of the Alpha Company who stands by his morals. When telling stories, he strives to get all the details right and accentuate feelings of the characters in the story. He says that a soldier's life is blurred, there isn't a definite right or wrong.
Kiowa: A member of the Alpha Company who was quite religious and was Tim O'Brien's good friend. He consoled Tim after he killed a man with a bomb. While camping in a sewage field, the company was ambushed and drowned in the sewage pool.
Henry Dobbins: A member of the Alpha company who is very sentimental. He wore his girlfriend's pantyhose around neck for comfort and good luck, even when she dumped him.
Ted Lavender: A member of the Alpha Company who was scared of war. He constantly took tranquilizers to calm himself and get him through the day. He was shot in the head, the first of the company to die at war.
Curt Lemon: the macho - man of the Alpha Company; pulling dangerous stunts and always acting tough. He passed out while the company was having a dentist check because he was scared of dentists. He died when he stepped on a bomb that blew his body to pieces.
Dave Jensen: A member of the Alpha Company who was the enemy of Lee Strunk. He punched Lee in the nose over a missing jackknife. He felt extremely bad about it, so he used a pistol to break his own nose. He made a pact with Lee Strunk for either one to kill the other if they were injured beyond repair.
Azar: A member of the Alpha Company who was apathetic and sadistic. He helped Tim O'Brien scare Bobby Jergenson while he was in his tent. While on the mission to find Kiowa's body, he takes back the jokes he made concerning Kiowa and other less important things.
Kathleen O'Brien: daughter of Tim O'Brien. She constantly asks her father about war (i.e. have you killed anyone?). She pushes her father to reexamine his actions and truths concerning the war.
Elroy Berdahl: owner of the Tip-Top Lodge who was willing to negotiate. He never asked intrusive questions, and knew Tim was going to go to war.
Lee Strunk: A member of the Alpha company who stole David Jensen's jackknife, and had his nose broken. He takes back the pact he made with Jensen about swift death because he didn't want to die.
Mark Fossie: The main character of a story Rat Kiley told about his previous company. He was a medic who had a girlfriend that came to visit him at war. Though they grew apart, he still loved her, and didn't want to let her go.
Mary Anne Bell: Mark's girlfriend, and thoroughly enjoyed Vietnam. She joined the special forces area, and tells Mark that he doesn't understand Vietnam because he stays in a fortress. She then abandoned the special - forces area and became part of Vietnam, with a chain of human tongues around her neck.
Bobby Jergensen: The medic who came to replace Rat Kiley. He was unable to treat the wound Tim O'Brien received in a small skirmish due to shock. Bobby ends up apologizing to Jim.
Linda: Tim O'Brien's childhood sweetheart who died of cancer. Tim kept her in his memory, even dreaming about her ghost. He dreams of her now, yet she has a different appearance.
sorry, i have really sick, and still am.
Grant whitaker
Themes
Physical and Emotional
Tim O'Brien and the rest of the things they carried characters are held under physical and emotional difficulties; from their stories they touch on to the deaths from the battle field that they encounter before their eyes it remains they are hurt on the inside emotionally. Physically each character caries something of sentimental value, ranging from drugs to a comic book, these items help to show the personality of the character.
Fear of shame as a motivation
A short insert of the sparknote's perspective on Tim's fear of shame "O’Brien’s personal experience shows that the fear of being shamed before one’s peers is a powerful motivating factor in war. His story “On the Rainy River” explains his moral quandary after receiving his draft notice—he does not want to fight in a war he believes is unjust, but he does not want to be thought a coward. " (sparknotes). I feel that the decision that Tim has made well taking some time to think about things, and his family he would be leaving behind. has helped him to make his choice at rainy lake.
The Subjection of Truth to Storytelling
the stories in which are being told in The things they carried cross roads between fact and fiction. It appears that Tim O'brien needs to let things out to cope with having to go to war, he tries to get his daughter to understand but struggles."O’Brien is attempting not to write a history of the Vietnam War through his stories but rather to explore the ways that speaking about war experience establishes or fails to establish bonds between a soldier and his audience. " (spaeknotes). In this small depiction from the the perspective of Sparknotes shows an example as to what Tim is trying to get to; comparing his stories soldiers to the perspectives of the people listening to them.
SparkNotes Editors. “SparkNote on The Things They Carried.” SparkNotes.com. SparkNotes LLC. 2002. Web. 7 Dec. 2009.
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