The Things They Carried Study Guide #1

Who were Jimmys letters from? Characterize the nature if these letters

They were from a college junior classmate named Martha, they were meant to help jimmy escape the brutal realities of the war and cling onto a sense of youth and home

What are they things they carried necessitated by?

P-38 can openers, pocket knifes, heat tabs, wrist watches, dog tags, mosquito repellent, etc

What is carried for easy access and why?

One large compress bandage, because you could die so quickly

What is a leg or a grunt?

To wrap one up in their poncho and lift them into the chopper

What does it mean to hump something?

To walk or to march or to carry

Characterize jimmy’s relationship with Martha. Include a page quote and number

His relationship with Martha is characterized by obsession and delusional love as she sees him as a friend. “He hated her. Love too, but it was a hard, hating kind of love”(23)

What does jimmy receive from Martha? What does it signify?

A good luck charm (a small pebble), it signifies hope and home

What does Lieutenant Jimmy Cross lead the men to do after the chopper takes lavender away?

The village of Than Khe, they destroyed everything

Why does jimmy feel shame?

Because he had loved Martha more than his men and lavender was dead because he was distracted by her

What does Kiowa do with his New Testament at bedtime?

He arranged it beneath his head as a pillow

What does jimmy cross to do Marthas letters at the end of the story?

He burns them

Describe the time jump that has happened at the beginning of LOVE?

Years after the war

Describe what has happened with Martha and Jimmy’s feelings about her in the LOVE chapter?

He still loved her, nothing changed

What POV is revealed in the LOVE chapter? Who is telling this story and why? What does jimmy ask of him?

First person central, Tim O’Brien is telling the story because they reunited years after the war (with Jimmy), Jimmy asks him not to mention Martha

Describe how the soldiers use humor to cope. Give two examples of this in paraphrase or PQ

They use humor to cope with the psychological trauma of the war

What is the narrator’s obsessions?

War stories

What is the average age of the platoon?

19 or 20

What is “story for?”

Joining the past tp the future and when there is nothing to remember besides the story.