Conflict

-the struggle between two opposing forces or characters in a story.
as you may have noticed this story takes place during the Vietnam war. This war was was fought between the communist North Vietnam, supported by its communist allies, and the government of South Vietnam, supported by the United States and other anti-communist nations between the years 1955-1975. Although most of the war was a"cold war" meaning there was no declared war untill later on mostly during the 60's. The purpose of this war was to restrain communism from infecting other countries. Many people questioned this war feeling it was unneccesary and many lives were being lost with no purpose. People became even more inferiated when young American men were being drafted to go over seas and fight this "unneccassary war". This historical conflict is the basis of the story. Tim O'Brien was one of the unfortunate men who were drafted to go over to Vietnam and fight. He made the decsion to except this draft and not flee to Canada and because of this we are able to hear his stories. Because of Tim those soldiers' stories that we read will live on forever "like an old Library book on a shelf"

Are they true stories or not?

when discussing this book with other students, I've found that almost everybody wants to know if these stories are true and they are confused about why they wouldn't be. However, I think the author did this for a very specific reason. He describes that a true war story can hardly ever be true because the person telling the story wants you to feel as they did at the time. Just as a the classic fisher man's story. the fish he caught was never as big as he described yet that may be true to him because he was so excited at the time, to him the fish was that big. This is explained most clearly in the chapter Good Form where Tim explains that although he did not ever kill a man he still felt responsible for his death. "I watched a man die on a trail near the village of MY Khe. I did not kill him. But I was present, you see, and my presence was guilt enough. I remember his face, which was not a pretty face because his jaw was in his throat and I remember feeling the burden of responsibility and grief. I blamed myself. and rightly so because I was present." "Kathleen can say," did you ever kill anybody?" and I can honestly say "OF course not." or I can say honestly, "yes"

Situational Irony

-Takes place when there is a discrepancy between what is expected to happen, or what would be appropriate to happen, and waht really does happen.
In the chapter Speaking of Courage, Norman Bowker discusses how his friend died in the Vietnam war. HE says they were camping in a filed and they had not realized that this field was the towns local sewer. They were attacked and his friend died and Norman could not save him. There are two Ironies that take place in this chapter the first is stated by Norman when he says his friend that died would have found it funny that he died in a "shit field" when they felt that Vietnam was a "shit field" to begin with, now it was just literal. The second Irony is that although Norman Bowker has seven medals he still does not feel good enough or brave enough. Although people may look at him and think that since he has seven medals so he must be brave; Norman believes he let his friend die and is thus a failure.

My opinion of the book

This book was by far my favorite of the two we read. Mostly I think it was because it was written in a way that we can relate. This is especially the case with the war that is being fought right now and how it is effecting our families and the youngmen and women who go off and fight and suffer for us now. THis book had quite a few timeless and universal themes in it that we can also relate to. Some of these themes include guilt, suffering, recovering from loss and hard memories, and learning to except the past and move on. I also found these stories to be interest especially since it is often unclear what really goes on when a war is being fought. The other book, The Sun Also Rises, also had many timeless and universal themes; however, relating personally to that book was a far stretch for most of us. The time era was drasticly different and the themes were harder to understand and apply to our own lives. This is why I liked the Things They Carried better.

Linda

This story definitely ties the rest together. Tim explains that telling his stories about the war is meant to help him coup with his memories and it keeps his friends and loved ones alive. "stories keep the dead alive" (page226 second paragraph) Linda was Tim's first experience with death or that is what he claims in the book. In fact I think Linda's story may not be a "true" one. Linda may be a symbol of what Tim does to remember those people he lost and how he keeps them alive. Linda is there to explain it to the reader. One conversation that takes place between Linda and Tim that I found especially moving was this; "Well right now I'm not dead. but when I am it's like...I don't know, I guess it's like being inside a book that no body's reading" " An old one. It's up on a library shelf so you're safe and everything but the book hasn't been checked out for a long long time. All you can do is wait. Just hope somebody'll pick it up and start reading."

Speaking of Courage

This was one of the more moving chapters in this book for me. The main character is Norman Bowker. He is traveling around a lake in his home town thinking about how everyone is going on with their lives yet he can't get over the fact that he wasn't couragouse enough to save his friends life in Vietnam. No one is there to listen to Norman and his troubles torment him. I think this kind of relates to the book The Sun Also Rises. Jake and his friends fought a war and are scard from it. It effects their choices in life and the way they view the world yet they hardly speak of it to those around them they avoid the problem as much as possible. the same goes for Norman he has suffered and is scard yet everyone moves on around him and avoids the problem. The sun also rises and life moves on even if you are tormented by what happened in the past.

Dialect

-a way of speaking that is characteristic of a certain social group or of inhabitants of a geographical area.
The characters in " The Things They Carried" are American soldiers. Many of them are young and naive. They often cuss profusely and because this is the Vietnam war they use terms related to that time era. This allows the reader to see how society was during this time and how the men behaved over seas in Vietnam. This adds more to details and scenery to the story and allows the reader to be more involve in the characters time era and thought process.I also thought it was interesting to see what was different from back then to how it is now. We definitely say things differently now, often more crude. Also I think the men were more respectful in a few cases like when Anne came and stayed in the camp with the men and when they camped out in a church and they felt it was sinful. I don't know if things like that would happen now a days.

Inception!!

In the chapter The Lives of The Dead, Tim O'Brien reflects on a childhood friend of his who passed away. He tells us how when his Friend, Linda, died he would dream about her and it would be like she was still alive. I just recently saw the movie Inception and it reminded me of this book. In the movie Leodardo di Caprio's wife commits suicide and he always wants to go to sleep so he can live with her in his dreams. It always amazes me the way people react to dramatic situations. As a child Tim couldn't deal with loosing his friend so he imagined she was still alive in his dreams and that is how he kept her alive. Later in life Tim has many more experiences with loosing friends and loved ones and he learns that he can keep them alive through stories. Their memories are preserved forever in print. "we keep the dead alive through stories." (page 226 second paragraph)

Dynamic Character

- A character who changes in some important way as a resolt of the story's action.
In the begining of the book Tim O'bien is a young and niaieve. He has little sense of what loss and suffering is. This is especially clear in the chapter, On The Rainy River, because he discribes how simple his plan for life had been up to the point of recieving the draft notice. He has trouble making this huge decsion because he is scared of what might happen. Tim changes drasticly through out the war though. This is especially clear in the chapters Feild Trip and The Ghost Soldiers. In these chapters we see how the war has made O'brien hard and mean. He Seeks revenge on Bobby Jergans for not helping him with his shot womb properly. In the chapter Feild Trip O'brien goes back to Vietnam to the feild where his friend died. He is still effected by his loss years later and he comes back to find some closer. The choices we make early in life effect the entirety of our lives.

Antihero

-Central character who lacks the qualities traditionally associated with heroes. My lack courage, grace, intelligence or moral scruples.
In the chapter titles Speaking Of Courage, a veteran named Norman Bowker travels around a lake in his home town reflecting on the death of his close friend in Vietnam. He talks about how he almost one a metal for bravery but he says he wasn't quite brave enough. This type of hero is different from we normally except as heroes because he is not successful in his attempt to save his friend. However I still think this man would be considered a hero simple because of all the suffering he endured to defend his country. The story goes on to talk about the common beliefs of what courage is and how Norman does not feel that he qualifies as a hero because he let his friend die. Even though he has many metals he does not feel good enough. I think this goes to show how society views heroes and courage is not always correct. There's something deeper to every story.

Symbolisim

- A person, place, thing, or event that has meaning in itself and that also stands for something more than itself.
This book is full of symbolic images and actions. A few that I found especially predominate were The people O'Brien sees on the side of the river in the chapter, Th Rainy River, the tongue necklace Anne wears in the chapter, Sweetheart of the Song Tra Bong, and the man O'Brien claims to kill. Each of these people or objects had symbolic meanings. For example, the people on the side of the river symbolized the turn out of O'Brien's life. This decision would change the entire way his life played out and effect the people he would or would not meet in the future. The necklace of tongues that Anne wears shows that she is now more tribal and part of Vietnam more than she is a fellow American. It's never quite clear if O'Brien did ever kill a man but from what I understood he did not but his guilt made him feel as responsible for the man's life as if he had killed him. The dead man is a symbol of the guilt O'Brien feels as well as the guilt all soldiers feel after killing another human being.

Sweetheart of the Song Tra Bong

"It was as if she had come up on the edge of something, as if she were caught in that no-man"s-land between Cleveland Heights and deep jungle. Seventeen years old. Just a child, blond and innocent, but then weren't they all?" (page 100second paragraph)This was one of my favorite chapters. I really wonder if this story has any truth to it, like if a girl really did fly over and stay in the army camp for a period of time and what truly happened. I also thought it was interesting that this girl was about the same age as me. She must have had alot of guts to travel over seas to a country were people were being killed brutally. and the same goes for all the Young men that were forced to go over seas. as the quote above says weren't they all Young and innocent and they have that innocents brutally taken when they kill and make war etc. I'm not sure if I could do something like that. This book is about the closest I ever want to get to war.

A True War Story

The chapter entitled, How to tell a true war story, really explains alot in this book. As I wrote in a previous post I've found it challenging to understand what is true, symbolic, or simply exaggeration. However after reading this chapter I think the author explains that those types of questions are beside the point. The details make the story come to life, they add emotion and scenery for the reader. that's what the author wants. He wants the reader to understand how these men felt and what the real motivation for certain actions were and how the soldiers felt after doing these things. "a true war story is never about war. It's about sunlight. It's about the special way the dawn spreads out on a river when you know you must cross the river and march into the mountains and do the things you are afraid to do. It's about love and memory. Its about sorrow" (page81 last paragraph) This paragraph really puts what he is saying into perspective. these stories are memories, not just facts, so they have the emotions and exaggerations that the men felt at that time.