The Things They Carried: Writing Assignment

Assignment: In a brief narrative, write about the kinds of things you carry. Think and write about what these things say about you. You can use physical and non-physical things… but you have to be specific.

My Response:

            Everyone carries things with them through their day to day live. While some are common like cellphones, keys and wallets, others are more “out of the box” like the pair of pantyhose that Henry Dobbins carried in The Things They Carried by Tim O’Brien. There are also the burdens that people carry on their shoulders that you can’t actually see. For example, people may carry the death of a love one or their fears. The things that people carry are unique to that specific person. Which begs the question: What is it that I carry?

            One thing that I almost always have on me is a novel of some sort. At almost any given time, I have at least one, but normally two or three, books on my person. The genre doesn’t make a difference to me. I’ll happily devour anything from The Book Thief to the Harry Potter series to The Art of Racing in the Rain. I enjoy having a portable getaway into a different reality at my fingertips and books certainly fulfill that.

            Another thing I carry with me are my goals for the future and my determination to reach (and possibly exceed) them. For about four years now, I’ve had the outline of a plan for myself. I hope to graduate my high-school with as many accomplishments that I can possibly get my hands on and hope to land myself a ranking in the top ten of my class. This along with numerous other paddings to my college application (including being the statistics manager for three sports, holding a summer job working with children and my involvement in a number of clubs and societies) will hopefully get me accepted to a good university. I’m not looking to go Ivy League, of course, because that isn’t a practicality. However, I want to attend a nice, respectable college. From there, it’s my dream to study abroad in England, a place I’ve always had an urge to live in, even if it’s just for a semester. After I graduate with a major in English and possibly a minor in business, my dream career would be as a literary agent or editor. These goals and my determination to fulfill them are something I carry with me daily to motivate me.

             One more thing that I normally have on me is my opinions. While I can easily come off as quiet at first, that’s just a ruse. When I find something that I think is worth speaking up about, I quickly find my voice. However, I’ll always listen to other people and their differing opinions, but it’s normally just so I can inform them that they’re wrong afterwards. I can be quite stubborn with my opinions and a bit argumentative, but, in my defense, I’m normally right in the end. However, on the rare occasion that I’m wrong, I accept defeat gallantly.

            Finally, I always have jewelry on me in the form of my ring and my bracelets. The ring is something I’ve had for five or six years now. My mother and I have matching ones after an incident where I lost mine, bought a new one and then someone returned the original one. Since I wasn’t going to wear two identical rings, I gave one to my mum (which she paid me back for) and I wear the original one and haven’t taken it off since getting it back. It’s a beautiful silver ring with a blue stone. It’s important to me because I earned it with my own money from baby-sitting, it reminds me of my mother and I like what the color blue symbolizes (like trust, honesty, sincerity and many other things. I’m also almost always wearing an array of bracelets (and if I’m not wearing them then you can assume I woke up late). This includes a few Harry Potter ones and a Doctor Who one. I also have two Alex and Ani bracelets, one from my aunt and one from my boyfriend that he gave me for Valentine’s Day. Finally, I have a thick leather bracelet which is a part of a pair. My boyfriend has the other one. These are important to me because they symbolize many things that I value like my family, boyfriend and my longtime love for books and certain television shows.

            I don’t carry much, but the things I do carry are very precious and meaningful to me. I think it’s also safe to say that they’re unique to me and I won’t find someone else carrying the same load. In conclusion, the things that are always with me are books, my jewelry, my goals, determination and opinions. 

The Things They Carried: The Lives of the Dead

Question: What is the moral of the dead KIA’s? Consider Mitchell Sander’s view.

Answer:

            Mitchell Sanders, while viewing corpses, articulately says, “Death sucks.” (O’Brien, 243). While the thought is simple, it’s undoubtedly true. Once a person dies, they leave their life, including the people and things that they love within that life. While it’s still under speculation as to what actually happens after someone dies, the undisputable fact is that no matter what happens, you won’t be living the life that you worked so hard to create anymore. That, plus the fact that your body becomes a bloated, gassy corpse with a horrible stench, heavily supports Sanders interpretation. However, that doesn’t mean it’s the end. While your corpse is stuck, your spirit, the part that makes you be you (like your thoughts, passions and memories), goes on to whatever comes next. I think that the moral of this story is that yes, death sucks, but it’s not the end.

The Things They Carried: Night Life

Question: How did Rat Kiley get out of active duty? What is the author’s purpose in including this story so late in the novel and right after The Ghost Soldiers?

Answer:

            Rat Kiley gets out of active duty, technically, because he was ‘accidentally’ shot in the foot. However, the true story is that he went crazy and shot his own foot, very much on purpose. It seems that the dark (the men were traveling at night) plus the traumas of seeing men with gaping wounds or dead was too much for Rat and he lost his mind, seeing everyone (including himself) dead when they weren’t. The horrors of war finally push him over the edge.

            O’Brien put this in the end of the novel for a specific reason. He wanted the readers to get to know Rat Kiley as a good soldier and well trained medic before doing this to him. He wanted the readers to witness how the war can change a man so completely, bring a strong man like Rat to insanity. The fact that it follows right after “The Ghost Soldiers” is because that’s the chapter where Rat shows remarkable medic skills when treating Tim’s bullet wound and his leaving the platoon is first mentioned.

The Things They Carried: The Ghost Soldiers

Question: This is one of the only stories where the reader does not know the ending in advance. Why might O’Brien want this story to be particularly suspenseful?

Answer:

            O’Brien didn’t tell the reader the ending to “The Ghost Soldiers” in advance, because he wanted the reader to doubt Tim. Tim becomes malicious and cruel during this chapter as he seeks revenge against Jorgenson, a medic who almost cost Tim his life due to a mistake and accidentally lost him his spot as a soldier in their platoon. Although the whole situation was accidental and the medic apologizes, Tim cannot let it go and becomes obsessive. The reader begins to worry about what kind of man Tim is becoming as he recruits Azar, a soldier who has been rude and awful throughout the entire novel, to assist him and messes with Jorgenson with horrible, psychological mind games that makes Jorgenson think he is under attack. In the end, Tim tries to stop Azar once he sees the effect it has on Jorgenson and he apologizes. However, for a good part of the chapter, the reader witnesses Tim’s behavior and has doubts about what kind of man he is.

The Things They Carried: Stockings

Question: Consider the comparison the author makes between Dobbins and America. Does the author like America? Does he respect it?

Answer:

            Based off of O’Brien’s description of Henry Dobbins, he seems like a good guy, but not somebody you would look to as a leader or to make decisions. Tim says, “Henry Dobbins was a good man, and a superb soldier, but sophistication was not his strong suit.” (O’Brien, 117). This shows that O’Brien likes America, but does not respect it. While America may have good intentions and nice beliefs, it’s not the kind of country that he trusts to make decisions or to lead people. This shows that while he likes America for its good qualities, he can’t respect it if he can’t trust its leadership abilities. 

The Things They Carried: Sweetheart of the Song Tra Bong

Question: What transforms Mary Ann Bell into a predatory killer? Does it matter that Mary Ann is a woman? How so? What does this chapter tell the reader about the nature of the Vietnam War?

Answer:

            Mary Ann Bell comes to Vietnam in the middle of the Vietnam War as a young, innocent and naïve girl. Slowly, she begins to expose herself to the harsh realities of war and seems to accept them very well. She’s surrounded by injured soldiers who have missing limbs and bleeding profusely and visits a village where the children were unclothed and people were probably underfed. It’s not surprising that these events could easily begin her descent into insanity since they are far from anything she has ever seen before. Also, as she feels the rush from adrenaline while assisting the medics, she might start to crave that feeling and do more and more things to get it. Between her adrenaline hunger and the shocking events she recently saw, she decided to go with the Greenies, which probably encouraged both preexisting problems and maybe made her desire the wilderness as well. As she continues to spend more time with the Greenies, she changes. By the time Mark tries to stop it, she’s already changed and his efforts just push her away. She leaves with the Greenies and gets sunk in deeper and deeper until she’s gone forever. In short, it seems that Mary Ann couldn’t handle the horror of wars or resist the addicting feelings of adrenaline and the wilderness.

            It is important that Mary Ann is a woman. At the time, women are viewed as simply sweet and gentle. When Mary Ann arrives, they assume that she won’t turn dangerous because she is a woman and that’s not how they are. However, just like some men do, the war quickly changes her and she loses her mind. The Vietnam War changes people. Sometimes is just makes boys into men or it brings the courage and leadership out in people. However, other times it breaks people. It gives them the taste of blood or shows them things that they can’t handle seeing and they go crazy. Either way when someone goes into this war, they come out as a changed person.

The Things They Carried: The Dentist

Question: Characterize Curt Lemon and why he behaves the way he does. How does this affect your reading of the previous chapter? What is the purpose of placing this chapter directly after How to Tell a True War Story?

Answer:

            Curt Lemon was a soldier who wanted to be seen as tough. He boasted and did crazy dangerous things so that he could talk them up. It seems that he had a low self-esteem issue and was worried that other people would begin to view him as he viewed himself. He did dangerous things and wouldn’t stop talking about it because he wanted people to think of him as a dangerous, crazy, tough guy and he didn’t want them to forget it. He worried when he showed the smallest sign of weakness and rectified it as quickly as possible.

            After learning this, it affects my initial view of him and therefore my interpretation in the chapter previous. I still think that he was wrong to be reckless and dangerous, but I’m more sympathetic of him now. All he was trying to do was appear tough, probably so that the other guys would like him or at least respect him. While it doesn’t excuse his actions, it makes it more understandable. After all, Tim described him and Rat as “kids” (which presumes that they’re probably 18 or 19, if Tim, a 21 year old, views them as kids). He was probably just a boy who either joined the war or was drafted and wanted the older guys to think he was just as strong as them and whatnot. After knowing this information, the last chapter is sadder to me now that I feel that I know Curt Lemon better and his actions are more understandable and forgivable. The author put this chapter after “How to Tell a True War Story” to show that you shouldn’t judge people because you never know the reasons or stories behind the way they behave.