The Things They Carried...JV

The Things They Carried is a novel based on stories about an individual's experiences at war in Vietnam . Tim O’Brien is able to bring the reader into the life of a soldier, before, during, and after the war. The first chapter titled the same as the book, “The Things They Carried,” is a summarization of the things a particular squad of men brought along with them in Vietnam. The author writes about the things that were issued to each soldier and even the weight of the items. These items included survival gear like ammunition, guns, grenades, and ponchos. Along with what was issued, the soldiers also carried their own personal items. Soldiers carried things with emotional value as well as practicality in Vietnam. Some had their own tools like Kiowa’s grandfathers hatchet. Others had good luck charms like Henry Dobbins and his girlfriend’s pantyhose which he would tie around his neck. Most of the men “humped” photographs. The photographs were a way for the soldiers to separate themselves from the war and think about the people that they had left behind. The chapter is a way for O’Brien to introduce the characters at a more personal level by allowing the reader to get insight on what they were like not only at war but also at home.

In a way each of the soldiers in the book acts as some kind of hero. Some could argue that just being able to go to war makes them a hero. My idea of a hero is someone who is not scared to back down from something and is willing to put their life on line. In the chapter “How to Tell a True War Story”, Kiley writes to a fallen soldier’s sister explaining what a hero her brother was. O’Brien seems to question several things about the story and how a true story shouldn’t be about the people or heroes but of the way the story makes you feel. A true story should have the audience asking if it really happened. The story should be able to just flow and the details make it tie together in order to be recognized as truthful. O’Brien’s sense of real is not of actual facts but of a more emotional approach into how the audience is able to be transported into the story.

O’Brien further proves his idea of truth by making up a story of how he killed a man. The reader is able to feel being at the killing and every detail is able to be experienced. The details seem to draw a vivid picture as if they are happening, like the sound of the pin of the grenade going off and the Vietnamese man beginning to run for his life. The ability of the story to sound so true is what makes it true. A couple chapters later O’Brien reveals that he in fact did not kill that man but it was just a story that he had come up with. As a reader you believe the story to be true when in fact it is just true because of the way it was told.

The final chapter involves a story about O’Brien’s girlfriend when he was in grade school. He talks about her death due to cancer and witnessing her corpse. O’Brien explains that her dying did not mean that she was dead. She still lived through him in his dreams and thoughts. This chapter is a culmination of the other stories in the book. It represents the reason O’Brien wrote the book which is to keep the dead alive. By remembering those who have died and writing about them O’Brien helps them continue a life, as well as his own. His ability to deal with the death of Linda in such a way is also what helped O’Brien in Vietnam and with the losses of those around him. Instead of looking at the dead, O’Brien is able to remember the people that they were when they were alive.