Ted Lavender In Tim O Brien's The Things They Carried

The Things They Carried, written by Tim O’Brien, is an assortment of war stories set before, during, and after the Vietnam War. The stories are not written in chronological order, but rather a scattered remembering of events that occurred during O’Brien’s time during the war. When recalling certain memories, they tend to lead to other memories that develop into a story of their own. O’Brien will describe to the reader a death that occurs in the squadron and later will give more detail about that particular character. Ted Lavender’s character is an example of how O’Brien will tell his story. In the first story, the reader is informed of a death in the patrol, Ted Lavender, and later O’Brien describes him as a laid back person who took tranquilizers

O’Brien begins The Things They Carried with a story of the same title, and in this memory O’Brien lists all of the things that the members of the squadron carry. In the description of what each person carries, the reader can get some image of what each character is like in appearance and personality. Also in this story, O’Brien describes one instance of destroying enemy tunnels which ends with one of their company, Ted Lavender, dying. “Love,” the second story is about Lieutenant Cross visiting O’Brien after the war has ended and discussing his love Martha. The next story, “Spin,” is a bit more relaxed and less violent in remembering fragmented memories of days when no battles are fought. O’Brien received his draft notice in “On the Rainy River,” and with this new information he runs away to Canada, but not before stopping at Tip Top Lodge to think about his decision; he decides to go and fight in the war. “Enemies,” and “Friends,” are the next two stories that tell the story of how Lee Strunk and Dave Jensen were foes that became friends. O’Brien prefaces “How to Tell a True War Story” saying that it is true. This story is the only one that has this proclamation. This story is more of a love story than a war story because after Curt Lemon dies, Rat Kiley writes his sister including in the letter all the great stuff that Lemon did. In “Dentist,” Curt Lemon’s story and fears are expanded. O’Brien tells a story Rat Kiley told him about the Song Tra