The Things They Carried Questions

1. In The Things They Carried, Author Tim O’Brien tells of his horrifying and courageous war “stories” with a reflective and tragic view. His novel’s purpose is to convey the realities and emotions accompanying him and his unit throughout the prolonged stay in the jungles of Vietnam. O’Brian’s platoon is referred to as Alpha Company under the command of Lieutenant Cross. It consists of eight men, all of which carry with them physical and emotional baggage as they march through country’s mysterious terrain. Lt. Cross carried the guilt of Ted Lavender’s death as well as questionable feelings for Martha, a woman back home. O’Brian carries shame for doing what in his heart felt wrong – putting his life in danger for a war he doesn’t believe in. Rat Kiley carries grief for his best friend’s, Cart Lemon’s death. Each platoon member has problems to face and emotions to overcome; this book is a recount of their journeys.

2. There are several themes present in the novel The Things They Carried we have only encountered two and have yet to witness more. The chapters “The Things They Carried” and “Love” reveals to the readers the idea that the soldiers posses both emotional and physical burdens they must come to terms with. O’Brien tells his readers that his daughter often wonders why her Father doesn’t write “happy” stories about a girl who buys a pony. The author instead writes about his experiences as a young soldier in the war, in order to better come to terms with the grief, terror, and shame he, as well as the other soldiers, endured. Lt. Cross must also come to terms with his grief over Ted Lavender’s death and his unfulfilling “love” for Martha. In the novel, Lt. Cross burns his most prized and treasured possessions, Martha’s letter and photos, as a way of dealing with that overwhelming grief. He talks to O’Brien in hopes of coming to terms with the profound love he feels for Martha that is obviously not felt in return. In a way, the love Cross felt also acted as hope for a better future, a future for away from the ugliness and terror of Vietnam and closer to his dreams. Cross understood his memories were essential to his survival in the unfamiliar country; it kept his hope and sanity alive. Through this theme O’Brien explores the many difficult decisions that must be made by each soldier to move on with their lives; gaining only lessons and contentment from their life altering experiences in the Vietnam War.
The definition of a coward is also explored throughout O’Brien’s novel. Should one stand up for what they believed in or for what others believe in? In the Chapter “On the Rainy River”, O’Brien reveals to his readers his thoughts on the war and the draft that changed his life forever. Can shame or embarrassment be used as motivation? O’Brian is faced with the decision to run from the draft which is what he believes is right, or he must accept it and go to war, a “courageous” step that his family would be proud of. Throughout the chapter, O’Brien explores his options with a sense of confusion and shame. It may be wrong to kill, but would it be even worse to run away from his problems? He must make a decision to free himself from the draft or accept the endless shame others will have in return. This theme helps convey O’Brien’s emotional burdens, he now feels guilty for participating in a war he does not support or believe in. It better reveals the moral dilemma’s each platoon member encounters throughout their lives and their stay in Vietnam. Each soldier experiences shame and embarrassment, but they deal with their emotions differently. The troops are young and naïve, placed in a world new to them, full of uncertainty and mystery, thus only making the expression of their emotions even more unavoidable.

3. Throughout these chapters, O’Brien utilizes many rhetorical and stylistic devices to better convey the themes analyzed in his novel. The Things They Carried is packed full of imagery in order to paint a vivid and permanent picture in the minds of his inexperienced readers. O’Brien in the beginning of the novel writes about the things the soldiers carried through the terrifying jungles of Vietnam, to reveal to the audience the extent of their baggage. “They shared the weight of memory. They took up what others could no longer bear. Often, they carried each other, the wounded or weak. They carried infections… They carried diseases… They carried the land itself – Vietnam, the place, the soil – a powdery or ange-red dust that covered their boots and fatigues and faces… They carried their own lives. The pressures were enormous.” With his use of imagery, O’Brien is better able to put the audience in the soldier’s shoes, closer to ‘Nam, their tragic losses, many burdens, and overwhelming grief that accompanied their experiences.
O’Brien uses imagery in his chapter “On the Rainy River” to provide the reader a better interpretation of his thoughts on the war. With this stylistic device the author can express to his audience the confusion he endures upon reading the draft notice. Is it better run from his problems and to be ridiculed by the town? “I was riding on adrenaline. A giddy feeling, in a way, except there was the dreamy edge of impossibility to it – like running a dead-end maze – no way out – it couldn’t come to a happy conclusion and yet I was doing it anyway because it was all I could think of to do… I had no plan just hit the border at high speed and crash through and keep on running.” O’Brien effectively shares with the audience his confusion and sense of urgency. The readers can better identify themselves with the author and his “moral dilemma”. Imagery is also used to reveal the anger O’Brien has against the war and its supporters. He ultimately blames them for the war he is forced to participate in. He blames them for the shame and embarrassment he has for wanting to flee to Canada. “My home town was a conservative little spot on the prairie, a place where tradition counted, and it was easy to imagine people sitting around a table down at the old Gobbler Café on Main Street, coffee cups poised, the conversation slowly zeroing in on the young O’Brien kid, how [he] had taken of for Canada… I’d sometimes carry on fierce arguments with those people. I’d be screaming at them, telling them how much I detested their blind, thoughtless, automatic acquiescence to it all… how they were sending me off to a war they didn’t understand and didn’t want to understand.” This imagery helps the readers to understand the author, his thoughts and his actions. It gives O’Brien’s audience an overall deeper understanding of his circumstances, and helps them relate to his character as a whole.