The Things They Carried is a collection of short stories written by Tim O'Brien. Released in 1990, all of the stories are linked together and are themed around the Vietnam War.
Stories within[]
- The Things They Carried
- Love
- Spin
- On the Rainy River
- Enemies and 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
Publisher's summary[]
A classic work of American literature that has not stopped changing minds and lives since it burst onto the literary scene, The Things They Carried is a ground-breaking meditation on war, memory, imagination, and the redemptive power of storytelling.
The Things They Carried depicts the men of Alpha Company: Jimmy Cross, Henry Dobbins, Rat Kiley, Mitchell Sanders, Norman Bowker, Kiowa, and the character Tim O'Brien, who has survived his tour in Vietnam to become a father and writer at the age of forty-three.
Taught everywhere—from high school classrooms to graduate seminars in creative writing—it has become required reading for any American and continues to challenge readers in their perceptions of fact and fiction, war and peace, courage and fear and longing.
The Things They Carried won France's prestigious Prix du Meilleur Livre Etranger and the Chicago Tribune Heartland Prize; it was also a finalist for the Pulitzer Prize and the National Book Critics Circle Award.
Summary[]
The Things They Carried[]
Lieutenant Jimmy Cross, the leader of a platoon of soldiers in Vietnam, carries physical reminders of Martha, the object of his unrequited love. Thoughts of Martha often distract Lieutenant Cross from his team's objectives. A death in the squad under his supervision causes Cross to reconsider his priorities; as he was heartbroken, he burns and throws away all reminders of Martha in order to focus on the mission and avoid distractions.
Love[]
Cross and O'Brien reminisce about the war and about Martha. O'Brien asks if he can write a story about Cross, expressing his memories and hopes for the future; Cross agrees, thinking that perhaps Martha will read it and come find him.
Spin[]
A series of unrelated memories from the war are narrated from O'Brien's point of view. It includes moments of camaraderie and beauty: a joke of a hate letter to the Draft Board; learning a rain dance between battles.
On the Rainy River[]
O'Brien gets drafted as soon as he graduates from college. He is reluctant to go to war and considers fleeing the draft; he begins to travel north to the Canada–US border on the Rainy River. Near the border, he encounters an elderly stranger who allows him to work through his internal struggle. O'Brien is given the opportunity to escape; however, the societal pressures are too much for him. He goes to war ashamed with his inability to face the consequences of leaving.
Enemies and Friends[]
Told in two sections, the developing relationship between soldiers Jensen and Strunk is shown. At first regularly antagonized by one another, the two are drawn toward respect and friendship by the stress and horrors of warfare. Ultimately, they agree that if one should be wounded, the other must deal a fatal blow as a form of mercy.
How to Tell a True War Story[]
O'Brien explores the telling of war stories by comrades, revealing that truth is delicate and malleable. Anything can be faked ... but generally, only the worst events can be proven real. He concludes that, in the end, the truth of a story doesn't matter so much as what the story is trying to say.
The Dentist[]
In order to mourn Curt Lemon, a man O'Brien did not know well, he shares a brief recollection about a bizarre interaction between Lemon and an army dentist. Lemon, who is afraid of dentists, faints before the dentist can examine him. Later that night, however, he complains of a phantom tooth ache so severe a tooth is pulled - even though it's perfectly healthy. Lemon has felt he needs to prove himself in front of his men and be the fearless man all soldiers are supposed to be.
Sweetheart of the Song Tra Bong[]
O'Brien recounts the legendary (and almost certainly exaggerated) tale of Rat Kiley's first assignment, near the Song Tra Bong river. The area is so isolated that one of the soldiers flies his hometown girlfriend in by helicopter. At first, she cooks, cleans, and tends to the soldiers' wounds, but she gradually assimilates into Vietnamese guerrilla culture, even wearing a necklace made of human tongues, and disappears into the jungle.
Stockings[]
O'Brien explains how Henry Dobbins wore the stockings of his girlfriend around his neck to bed, and sometimes to battle. Even when the girlfriend breaks things off, he keeps the stockings around his neck, as their powers have been demonstrated.
Church[]
The platoon discovers an abandoned building being used as a sort of church, inhabited by monks who bring them food and supplies. The men discuss their relationships with churches, and for the most part, appreciate the interaction with other people and the peace of the building. Henry Dobbins wants to become a priest, but decides otherwise.
The Man I Killed[]
O'Brien describes a man he killed in My Khe, and how he did it. He makes up a life story for the man, torturing himself with the idea that the victim had been a gentle soul.
Ambush[]
O'Brien's daughter asks if he killed anyone in the war; he lies to her that he did not. He then tells the story of an ambush outside My Khe, in which O'Brien kills a young man who may or may not have wanted to harm him.
Style[]
The platoon witnesses a young Vietnamese girl dancing through the burned remains of her village, and argue over whether it's a ritual or simply what she likes to do. Later, Azar mocks the girl, and Dobbins rebukes him.
Speaking of Courage[]
After his service, Norman Bowker is at a loss. His former girlfriend has married someone else, his closest friends are dead. He reflects on the medals he won in Vietnam, and imagines telling his father about both these and the medals he did not win. Ultimately, although he has no one to share these memories with, he finds catharsis in imagined conversations.
Notes[]
O'Brien says that Bowker asked him to write the previous story, and that he hanged himself three years later unable to regain his footing and find any meaning in life after the war. O'Brien muses over the suspicion that, without Harvard and writing, he too might have lost the will to live after returning from Vietnam.
In the Field[]
When Kiowa is killed on the banks of a river, during a mission led by Jimmy Cross, Cross takes responsibility for his death. He writes to Kiowa's father while the others search for the body - as usual, Azar jokes around at first. Another soldier also feels responsible for the death, as he did not save Kiowa; the story ends with the body being found in the mud, and both soldiers left to their guilt.
Good Form[]
O'Brien reiterates that the real truth does not have to be the same as the story truth, and that it is the emotions evoked by the story that matter. He says that his story about killing a man on the trail outside My Khe was fabricated, but he wanted to provoke the same feelings in the reader that he felt during the war.
Field Trip[]
After finishing the story, "In the Field," O'Brien says, he and his ten-year-old daughter visit the site of Kiowa's death with an interpreter. The field looks different from his memory of it, but he leaves a pair of Kiowa's moccasins in the spot where he believes Kiowa sank. In this way, he comes to terms with his friend's death.
The Ghost Soldiers[]
O'Brien recounts the two times he was wounded. The first time, he is treated by Rat Kiley, and is impressed with the man's courage and skill. The second time, he is treated by Kiley's replacement, Bobby Jorgenson; Jorgenson is incompetent, and nearly kills O'Brien. Furious, O'Brien promises revenge, but can recruit only Azar. They scare Jorgenson by pretending to be enemy soldiers, but the soldier proves that he is not a coward, so O'Brien lets go of his resentment.
Night Life[]
O'Brien tells the second-hand account of Rat Kiley's injury: warned of a possible attack, the platoon is on edge. Kiley reacts by distancing himself, the stress causing him first to be silent for days on end, and then to talk constantly. He has a breakdown from the pressure of being a medic, and shoots himself in the toe in order to get released from combat. No one questions his bravery.
The Lives of the Dead[]
O'Brien remembers his very first encounter with a dead body, that of his childhood sweetheart Linda. Suffering from a brain tumor, Linda died at the age of nine and O'Brien was deeply affected by her funeral. In Vietnam, O'Brien explains, the soldiers keep the dead alive by telling stories about them; in this way, he keeps Linda alive by telling her story. The thought and presence of death has shown to have a large effect on O'Brien.
See also[]
| Title | Author | Release date | Significance |
|---|---|---|---|
| Back in the World | Tobias Wolff | 1985 | A collection of short stories with similar themes of soldiers from the Vietnam War returning home |
| If I Die in a Combat Zone, Box Me Up and Ship Me Home | Tim O'Brien | 1973 | O'Brien's memoirs of his time in the Vietnam War |
| The Short-Timers | Gustav Hasford | 1979 | A semi-autobiographical work on the Vietnam War |
| Hearts in Atlantis | Stephen King | 1999 | A collection of short stories based on the Vietnam War |
Sources[]
- Wikipedia
- Library website