The Things They Carried

The Things They Carried is a collection of related vignettes by Tim O'Brien, about a squad of American soldiers in the Vietnam War, originally published in hardcover by Houghton Mifflin, 1990. While apparently based on some of O'Brien's own experiences, the title page refers to the book as "a work of fiction." The story "Sweetheart of the Song Tra Bong" was made into a film in 1998, entitled A Soldier's Sweetheart and starring Kiefer Sutherland.

Before publication in 1990, five of the stories, including "The Things They Carried," "Sweetheart of the Song Tra Bong," "The Ghost Soldiers," and "The Lives of the Dead," had been published in Esquire Magazine. "On The Rainy River" first appeared in Playboy Magazine.

Although the plots of the individual stories center on the various main characters (Kiowa, Rat Kiley, Ted Lavender, Lieutenant Jimmy Cross) including a protagonist with the same name as the author, some of the so-called facts of the stories contradict each other, making it rather difficult to determine an objective and fixed plotline that connects all of stories together into a single narrative.

In the short story, "Good Form," the narrator makes a distinction between "story truth" and "happening truth." O'Brien feels that the idea of creating a story that is technically false yet truthfully portrays war, as opposed to just stating the facts and creating no emotion in the reader, is the correct way to clear his conscience and tell the story of thousands of soldiers who were forever silenced by society. Critics often cite this distinction when commenting on O'Brien's artistic aims in The Things They Carried and, in general, all of his fiction about Vietnam, claiming that O'Brien feels that the realities of the Vietnam War are best explored in fictional form rather than the presentation of so-called facts. O' Brien's fluid and eliptical negotiation of truth in this context finds echoes in works labelled as 'non-fiction novels.' Two works similar in their use of fractured narrative and meditative qualities to explore autobiography are The Tao of Muhammad Ali by Davis Miller and Zen and the Art of Motorcycle Maintenance by Robert Pirsig.

Characters

The Alpha Company

• Tim O'Brien - The protagonist in a handful of chapters, Tim O'Brien the soldier should not be confused with the author, Tim O'Brien, and near the end of the novel, Timmy. Although Tim is part of the Alpha Company, he chooses to leave himself out of the novel except in a few choice locations.
• Kiowa - Native American Baptist devoted to Christianity who often listens to and provides advice to Tim and refers to the decency that religion has taught him. Carries a feathered hatchet and mocassins. He later drowns in a field of excrement as a result of an ambush on a rainy day.
• Lieutenant Jimmy Cross - Protagonist of the title story, The Things They Carried. Cross is the leader of the squad. He is obsessed with his love at home, Martha, and later believes that his obsession led to the death of Ted Lavender. He also decides to camp the team one day on a sewage field in Speaking of Courage, and this move leads to the death of Kiowa.
• Bob "Rat" Kiley - A young medic whose exaggerations are complemented by his occasional cruelty. He enjoys comic books. He is brave and takes good care of Tim when he is shot. Eventually sees too much gore and begins to go insane as he imagines "the bugs are out to get [him]". Finally goes over the top and shoots himself in the foot. Assumingly recovers once relocated to Japan.
• Norman Bowker - The horror described in the chapter In the Field continues to haunt Norman at home as he realizes that the world has moved on past the war and wants nothing to do with the ugly stories of tragic battles in Vietnam. Unable to reassimilate in Speaking of Courage, he hangs himself with a jump rope in an Iowa YMCA.
• Henry Dobbins - Machine gunner. A man who, despite having a rather large frame, is gentle and kind. He is very superstitious, and as a result, wears his girlfriend's stockings around his neck as a protective charm even after she dumps him.
• Mitchell Sanders - He is a relatively kind soldier who is contemptuous of Cross's decision to camp in a sewage field, which caused Kiowa's death. Sanders is also a playboy, or at least tries to make himself out to be one. This is shown when he tells O'Brien about his stories with a Red-Cross nurse and also because he carries around pressed tiger fatigues.
• Ted Lavender - Grenadier. He dies in the very first chapter from a gunshot wound to the face. He is notorious for using tranquilizers to cope with the pain of the war, and for carrying a stash of marijuana with him.
• Curt Lemon - A good friend of Rat Kiley who dies when he steps on a booby-trapped 105 (artillery) round. In one of the book's more disturbing scenes, Tim and Azar help to clear the trees of Curt's scattered remains, during which Azar sings "Lemon Tree."
• Azar - a young, rather unstable soldier who engages in needless and frequent acts of brutality, such as strapping a dog that Ted Lavender had adopted to a claymore mine and then activating the detonator.
• Dave Jensen - a minor soldier. He and Lee Strunk are the main characters of the chapters "Enemies" and "Friends". Fought with Lee Strunk over a stolen jackknife, but became uneasy friends afterwards. He signed a pact with Strunk to kill the other if ever faced with a "wheelchair wound". He did not kill Strunk when he had his legs blown off as asked, but seemed to have an enormous weight relieved when he learned "Strunk died somewhere over in Chu Lai"
• Lee Strunk - a minor soldier. Carries a slingshot. He and Dave Jensen are the main characters of the chapters "Enemies" and "Friends". Fought with Dave Jensen over a stolen jackknife, but became uneasy friends afterwards. He signed a pact with Jensen to kill the other if either ever faced with a "wheelchair wound". After he stepped on a rigged mortar round and lost his legs, he begged Jensen not to kill him, and Jensen obliged. Strunk died in a dustoff helicopter after being evacuated.
• Bobby Jorgenson - the replacement medic for Rat Kiley when he shoots himself in the foot. Green and terrified, he is slow to aid O'Brien after he is wounded. Filled with rage after his recovery, O'Brien and Azar conspire to punish Jorgenson with a night of terrifying pranks.

Other Characters

• Linda - Tim's childhood friend. Nine years old, she dies of a brain tumor caused by cancer. She first gives Tim a reason to write stories, to keep her alive in his memory.
• Kathleen - Tim's daughter, who serves as an observer to O'Brien's stories

Contents of The Things They Carried

• "The Things They Carried"
• "Love"
• "Spin"
• "On the Rainy River"
• "Enemies"
• "Friends"
• "How to Tell a True War Story"
• "The Dentist"
• "Sweetheart of the Song Tra Bong"
• "Stockings"
• "Church"
• "The Man I Killed"
• "Ambush"
• "Style"
• "Speaking of Courage"
• "Notes"
• "In the Field"
• "Good Form"
• "Field Trip"
• "The Ghost Soldiers"
• "Night Life"
• "The Lives of the Dead"

Template:Spolier America loses the war in Vietnam.

External links

• A Soldier's Sweetheart at IMDb