the things they carried

How does the ambiguous nature of the term “carry” introduce the soldiers and the themes of the novel?

• Soldiers carry physical objects: weapons, photographs, etc

  • Establishes soldiers as physical beings who are vulnerable to exhaustion

• Objects the soldiers carry establish individuality

• Suggests that physical weight and emotional weight are inseparable

• Implies that the soldiers' heaviest burdens during the war are invisible

Jimmy Cross carries the picture of Martha with him.  What does this reveal about his character?

• Focuses on fantasizing about Martha rather than focusing on his duties as lieutenant

• Photograph helps him escape the realities of the war

• Eventually blames himself for Lavender’s death because he was too preoccupied with Martha

• Is emotionally vulnerable

What does the phrase “they search the villages without knowing what to look for” reveal about the soldiers’ attitudes toward the war?

• Soldiers don’t have any real objective or enemy

• Soldiers don’t know what they are fighting for and are simply following orders

• There is emotional detachment from the soldier’s actions

• There is a lot of uncertainty and ambiguity regarding the war

How does Kiowa react to Lavender’s death?

• Shocked at how sudden the moment was

• Seemed to emotionally detach

• Feels guilt for lacking grief, but is grateful to be alive

How does the phrase, “men killed, and died, because they were too embarrassed not to” explicate the theme of shame and guilt?

• Soldiers joined the war because they were too ashamed to appear cowardly or weak

• Felt societal pressure if they refused to fight in the war

• Establishes the idea that societal expectations and fear of judgment can influence a person’s actions

• Looks courageous on the outside, but is shame in disguise

How does O’Brien visually depict the liminal space?

• River itself physically represents a boundary between the US and Canada

• US represents the idea of war and going to war to fight for America

• Canada represents a sense of freedom, but at the same time, a life of guilt and shame

• Stuck between 2 lives and 2 choices

How does O’Brien describe Tim’s emotional liminal space?

• By going to Canada, Tim is placing himself into a life of isolation as well

• Emphasizes the importance of the river

• River represents the border between freedom and Tim’s family

• There is a sense of disillusionment with how Tim views his life and how he is unable to face reality

• Tim experiences the fear of shame and the fear of war

• Tim feels cowardly because he went to the war due to fear of embarrassment and shame

Find examples where Tim feels emasculated or fears feeling emasculated

• Tim comes from a conservative town and he is afraid of what his community will think of him if he doesn’t fight in the war

  • Afraid of the shame he will feel

• Tim is also afraid of the way his family will view him

• He believes that he will be seen as a coward for not being man enough to fight in the war

• Tim cries in front of Elroy

• Masculinity is tied to patriotism, so as a result, Tim is afraid of being judged by his community and family

• Is emasculated because he fears social humiliation

What does it “mean to be a man” in O’Brien’s hometown?

• Represents man with no fear, lots of courage, and someone who is not afraid to fight for their country

  • Represents a person who holds a large sense of patriotism

What are some of the rules O’Brien gives for telling a true war story?

• It’s never moral and if it is, it’s probably probably not true

• Doesn’t defend the war and create justification

• A true one can’t be believable and never seems to end

O’Brien presents the Vietnamese land as mysterious and haunting. What parts of these descriptions do you see as imagination? What is the role of imagination for these soldiers?

• O’Brien’s interpretations of Vietnam are altered due to his stress and young age or immaturity

• Imagination can negatively affect the soldiers’ experiences because of their trauma and other factors

• Imagination can also provide mental escape from the war

Carefully review the buffalo incident in the chapter, “How to Tell a True War Story,” starting with, “This one does it for me,” and ending “every sin’s real fresh and original.” Analyze how the story of the baby buffalo contributes to O’Brien’s explanation of “how to tell a true war story.” Consider the differentiation between truth and fiction and the fact that, according to O’Brien, the buffalo incident probably never happened.

• Demonstrates the blurring between truth and fiction

  • O’Brien admits that he may have made the story up

• Reflects how humans tend to dehumanize during war

• Challenges the reader to see that truth in war stories is not factual but felt

• Shows the absurdity of war

• It could portray how Rat expresses his grief (could be metaphorical)

• Shows how war can change human morality, Kiley shoots the buffalo with the intention of hurting it

• War forces soldiers to put their emotions aside, therefore, killing the buffalo was a way to release all of his emotions

• Buffalo could also represent the loss of innocence and vulnerability placed onto soldiers with how they are forced to serve in the war

• The story could be exaggerated to represent the suffering soldiers felt (Maybe Rat wanted to transfer the suffering of Lemon, his best friend)

Discuss the stories of Dave Jensen, Lee Strunk and Curt Lemon. What makes these stories unique? What do they add to Tim O’Brien’s war stories?

• The story between Jensen and Strunk starting out as enemies, but then turning into friends shows the connections that could be made during a time of serious stress and danger.

• Having a close friend and someone to rely on during difficult times relieves you of pressure

• Lee stealing the knife reveals how “every man was for themselves” and Jensen’s paranoia represents the uncertainty around being in a war where anyone could be the enemy

Discuss the language that O’Brien uses to describe (1) the Green Berets (2) the Vietnam landscape.

• Green Berets: They are called the “Greenies”, they go on their own secretive missions and disappear then reappear after some weeks, “Grungry weirded-out” (97)

  • Appeared to be a bit anti-social and very focused on the work that they were assigned

  • “were not social animals” (88)

• Vietnam landscape: Described as being eerie and mysterious throughout the chapter

  • Imagery depicts a dark and spooky setting

  • Landscape is given the ability to lure Mary Anne’s attention and captivate her

How does Mary Anne’s gender impact the reader’s expectations about her reactions to the war?

• Females and feminism are often associated with submissiveness and weakness during this time period.

• The readers expect Mary Anne to be frightened and scared by the war, however, she is the total opposite.

• Due to female submissiveness, the readers assume that she will not fight for herself during the war.

How does Mary Anne defy societal expectations?

• As Mary Anne continues to undergo her transformation, various factors contribute to her defiance of gender expectations.

  • Appearance: Mary Anne cuts her hair, stops using makeup, doesn’t file her fingernails

  • Power and involvement in the war: She begins to get involved in the war and enjoys it

  • Personality: The soldiers begin to recognize a change in Mary Anne’s personality as she becomes further involved with the war

What might the tongue necklaces symbolize?

• The idea that Mary Anne is eager to consume Vietnamese culture and desperate to explore the unknown

• The necklaces could also symbolize Mary Anne’s complete transformation and demonstrates how a person won’t be the same after being involved in the war

How does Tim O’Brien use Magical Realism in the “Sweetheart of the Song Tra Bong? What is his purpose?

• O’Brien uses magical realism through Mary Anne’s transformation as she goes from an innocent girlfriend to a mysterious figure who embodies the jungle and the war.

• The surreal change limits boundaries between the recurring theme of reality versus imagination.

  • Purpose is to show how the war has the power to psychologically transform people and make the war experience feel otherworldly

Does the narrator’s opinion of courage change throughout the course of the text?

• Soldiers display a lot of courage. They are forced to go to war and fight in unknown territory; to fight in a war that they do not believe in.

• The narrator at first thinks that doing something in war is courageous whereas later on the narrator believes that facing your fears due to war is courage

Consider how “Notes” expands on the way we read “Speaking of Courage.” How does the last paragraph of “Notes” demonstrate O’Brien’s struggle to find the “truth” about the Vietnam War?

• O’Brien explains that he mixes both truth and fiction while telling the story about Norman Bowker

• He struggles to accurately find ways to describe the emotional impacts of the war, as a result

• Mixes facts with storytelling

• “Notes” is written in first person, which emphasizes O’Brien’s own struggles with survivor’s guilt

Discuss the struggle of fitting back in after the war

• Regular citizens and soldiers often cannot relate to each other due to the immense trauma of the war

• Soldiers feel disconnected from society and have trouble dealing with the guilt that comes with the war, specifically survivor’s guilt

• The war changes people’s morals and belief systems

Why are some people able to fit back into society more easily than others? Compare/contrast Norman Bowker and Tim O’Brien. Why does Tim find it easy to adjust after the war?

• Some people can fit back into society more easily than others because of the support systems that they have and the different ways that people cope

• With Norman Bowker, he is unable to talk to anyone about his war experiences, leading to isolation

  • Ends up killing himself

• With O’Brien, he finds comfort in writing, which provides him with an outlet to process his emotions and experiences

How does Tim O’Brien visually depict Bowker’s struggle to fit back into society upon returning home from war?

• In “Speaking of Courage”, O’Brien depicts Bowker has driving in circles around a lake

• This represents Bowker’s cycle of being stuck and unable to fit back into society

• His empty hometown symbolizes Bowker’s isolation from society

How does the opening paragraph of “The Lives of the Dead” (last chapter) frame the story that comes after?

• By telling their stories, he continues their “lost” legacy

• Preserves the memories of the dead

• He is able to somewhat revive the dead

• Explains who he is today and how the lives of the dead shaped him

• Represents the beginning of a flashback as O’Brien states how stories are important

Why is O'Brien unable to joke around with the other soldiers? Why does the old man remind him of Linda?

• Weight of death weighing in on him

• He used to see death as something permanent fate while the other soldiers used stories and other methods to cope with the true tragedy of the war

• Refuses to forget

• Both the old man and Linda demonstrate O’Brien’s inability to cope and accept death

What is the function of the Linda plot in “The Lives of the Dead”? Consider in particular what it teaches him about death, memory, storytelling.

• Linda helps represent O’Brien’s loss of innocence

  • Learns death is permanent

• Teaches O’Brien how to cope with death from an early age

• She represents the whole concept of “story-truth”, where O’Brien is able to preserve the memory of loved ones by somewhat maintaining their spirits/souls through his writing

What is the “moral” of the dead KIAs? Consider Mitchell Sanders' view.

• There is no moral or ethical aspect in KIA (killed in action)

  • Reinforces the fact that the war was cruel and unnecessary

    • The dead KIAs were killed for no reason, as many soldiers viewed the war as unjust

• On page 230 he states “Death Sucks” = Mitchell Sanders’ view

  • A simplistic statement reinforces that there is no positive aspect.

According to O’Brien, what do stories accomplish? Why does he continue to tell stories about the Vietnam War, about Linda?

• Allow the memories of the people to share their story

• Story helps him process his traumatic experiences as it saved his life in some way (compared to tragic stories like Norman)

• By continuing to write stories, O’Brien is essentially keeping them “alive”

• Telling stories “saves” Timmy, a symbol for the restoration of Tim’s youth

Consider what the young Tim O’Brien learns about storytelling from his experience with Linda. How does this knowledge prepare him not only for the war, but also to become a writer? Within the parameters of this story, how would you characterize Tim O’Brien’s understanding of the purpose of fiction?

• He is somehow able to revive all the lost people in his life, even though they are technically gone

• Might believe that it is his duty to become a writer so that someone keeps deceased people’s stories alive

• He is honoring all parts of his life and all the other people who were in his life

• His experience with Linda taught O’Brien that death is inevitable

• O’Brien’s understanding of the purpose of fictional storytelling revolves around the idea that the reader’s purpose is to feel everything he describes, even if that means stretching the truth, adding details, etc.

The writer, Tim O’Brien, created a fictional main character, also called Tim O’Brien, to inhabit this novel. Why does the real Tim O’Brien do that? What does that accomplish in this novel? How does that strengthen a book about “truth”?

• He does this to symbolically represent how he felt during the war, since his actual experiences would have had as much meaning and depth

• He is able to truly express himself

• Helps O’Brien to create a persona for himself

• Is more emotionally impactful

If O’Brien is trying to relate some essential details about emotional life – as opposed to historical life – is he successful in doing that? Is he justified in tinkering with the facts to get at, what he would term, some larger, story-truth?

• He is successful because he is able to better connect with his audience

• He is justified because he “tinkers” with the facts to give them more value or impact, he is able to appeal to the audience through story-truth because he able to show he felt through all his experiences

• Creates ethos and pathos

• By using personal experiences, O’Brien is able to an emotional aspect to the war and connect with audience better

• If he only used historical life, the audience would not be as engaged in the story