They arrive at the field where Kiowa died, and O’Brien notes how it looks like any farming field now. They walk to where the field meets the river. O’Brien unwraps a cloth bundle that holds Kiowa’s old moccasins. With the moccasins, he wades in, swimming out to where Kiowa’s rucksack […]
Read more Summary and Analysis Field TripSummary and Analysis Good Form
Analysis Author Tim O’Brien reminds his readers that the protagonist of the novel is a writer, an individual whose job it is to meld memory and imagination into a new product for others to derive meaning from. O’Brien has melded these elements and created an innovative form for the novel […]
Read more Summary and Analysis Good FormSummary and Analysis In the Field
Norman Bowker locates the corpse, and Mitchell Sanders warns Azar not to make any more jokes or crude comments. They finally dislodge the body from the muddy bottom of the field and are saddened and relieved, but they also felt a secret joy because they are alive. Azar feels some […]
Read more Summary and Analysis In the FieldSummary and Analysis Notes
O’Brien comments on the letter and himself and how it seemed to him that he had a remarkably easy time adjusting to life after the war. He realizes that he has in fact been talking about the war through his writing, and comments that the act of telling stories allows […]
Read more Summary and Analysis NotesSummary and Analysis Speaking of Courage
Norman wants to talk about Vietnam, and he imagines how he would tell his father about almost earning a Silver Star, but his father is too busy to listen. Norman wants to talk about nearly saving Kiowa’s life and about how he feels he failed in not doing so. He […]
Read more Summary and Analysis Speaking of CourageSummary and Analysis Style
Analysis The central symbol in this vignette is the dance of the young girl. The characters understand dancing as deliberate, purposeful, graceful, and meaningful: everything that the war in Vietnam is not. The repeating theme is that the characters labor to understand why the girl is dancing and the meaning […]
Read more Summary and Analysis StyleSummary and Analysis The Man I Killed and Ambush
Analysis The central theme of this vignette is time. “O’Brien” the soldier is frozen in a moment in time, recalling the entire history of the dead Vietnamese man while the American troop of soldiers are all moving forward, preparing for another day at war. The one word that best describes […]
Read more Summary and Analysis The Man I Killed and AmbushSummary and Analysis Church
Dobbins tells Kiowa that he might join up with these monks after the war. He explains that he is not interested in the scholarly aspects of religion, but that he would enjoy being nice to people. Kiowa says that he would not want to be a minister but that he […]
Read more Summary and Analysis ChurchSummary and Analysis Stockings
Analysis The vignette is essentially a character sketch of Henry Dobbins. O’Brien devotes several of his chapters in The Things They Carried to such character sketches not only to create a vivid story but also to author a portrait of Vietnam that is more personal than political, more realistic than […]
Read more Summary and Analysis StockingsSummary and Analysis Sweetheart of Song Tra Bong
Young and naive, Mary Anne insists on learning about Vietnamese culture and the Vietnam War up close. She assists when the medical unit receives casualties. Eventually she stops wearing make-up, and her attention is consumed by learning how to use an M-16 assault rifle. Fossie suggests that she return home, […]
Read more Summary and Analysis Sweetheart of Song Tra Bong