In the book, “The Things They Carried” we see many questionable things take place, Rat Kiley shoots himself in the foot, Norman Bowker commits suicide due to his struggles with reintegration into society, Azar blows up a puppy, and many more. immersed in so much blood, gore, and a lack of moral compass, we see one character shine from the rest in this book. In “The Things They Carried”, author Tim O’Brien uses the character of Kiowa to be the moral compass of the story while exploring themes like spirituality and cultural identity. In the platoon, Kiowa is seen as the person who determines what is right and wrong because he makes sure to take care of the platoon. He is seen as the benchmark for the people and a guide. This is especially shown …show more content…
His morality is centered on his religion, and Christian principles of honesty alongside integrity are evident in Kiowa’s interactions. He is straightforward and truthful, providing a reliable and moral presence in the platoon. In the first chapter, “he opened his New Testament and arranged it beneath his head as a pillow.” Kiowa finds comfort in his relationship with God, especially as a Christian. As the story continues, Kiowa is known as the religious person of the platoon. His spirituality stops him from becoming like the rest of the platoon members who had been immersed in the bloodshed and became insensitive to the horrors of war. Many soldiers and platoon members are mentioned, but they are all considered white. There is no other platoon member who is seen as ethnic or anything as such. While he identifies with his Native American identity, some instances are almost impolite. There are many instances where Kiowa is seen as an outsider or called names. Like “That's a smart Indian”. Shut up” and “No, man, go on”. One thing I hate, is being a silent Indian.” The cultural exchange shows the prejudice of the average …show more content…
The hatchet Kiowa carries is a powerful symbol of his heritage. It connects him to the traditions, history, and values of his Native American ancestors. This cultural artifact embodies the spirit and legacy of his people, serving as a constant reminder of where he comes from. Such as “When Tim comes back to Vietnam with his daughter, he buries Kiowa's moccasins. It serves as a poignant act of cultural remembrance and closure. Just as the hatchet represents Kiowa’s cultural identity and heritage, the burial signifies a respectful acknowledgment of his life and legacy. Kiowa illustrates something important in The Things They Carried: How in the middle of a war culture one person’s morals still have relevance. He shows respect for life when others might show disrespect without even noticing it due to their dehumanizing experience of war; thus serving major morale within platoon unit during wars. Due to his being Native American, his a reflection of his Native American ancestors and the connection between them and their honor as something very important. Another reason for his grasp on morality is his Christian practices, which are evident in honesty and
A man once said, “Truth must come before reconciliation,” and in Tim O’Brien’s fictional novel The Things They Carried, that quote definitely holds weight as many men in the war had to deal with the true fear that they experienced during their time in Vietnam. Many characters throughout this novel are thoroughly connected to that quote, but none more strongly connected that medic Rat Kiley. In the novel, Rat goes through two pivotal transitions on his way to reconciliation as he gives strength as a medic to those in need in one half of the novel and allows himself to realize reconciliation in the other.
One of the main points in The Things They Carry, by Tim O’Brien, is that war changes people. This is evident in the behavior of Norman Bowker, Bob “Rat” Kiley, and the character Tim O’Brien. They each started out as kind young men but near the end had become very distraught. These men each shared many experiences but these experiences affected each one differently.
In The Things They Carried, an engaging novel of war, author Tim O’Brien shares the unique warfare experience of the Alpha Company, an assembly of American military men that set off to fight for their country in the gruesome Vietnam War. Within the novel, the author O’Brien uses the character Tim O’Brien to narrate and remark on his own experience as well as the experiences of his fellow soldiers in the Alpha Company. Throughout the story, O’Brien gives the reader a raw perspective of the Alpha Company’s military life in Vietnam. He sheds light on both the tangible and intangible things a soldier must bear as he trudges along the battlefield in hope for freedom from war and bloodshed. As the narrator, O’Brien displayed a broad imagination, retentive memory, and detailed descriptions of his past as well as present situations. 5. The author successfully uses rhetoric devices such as imagery, personification, and repetition of O’Brien to provoke deep thought and allow the reader to see and understand the burden of the war through the eyes of Tim O’Brien and his soldiers.
“The things they carried were determined to some extent by superstition” (12). Lieutenant Jimmy Cross, Henry Dobbins, Dave Jensen, and Kiowa all seemed to have a deal in superstition. Each man carried an object that he thought would bring him luck and never left anywhere without it. These men carried these objects because it connected them to home in some way and made them feel more powerful on the battlefield. All men carried fear. At any moment, their life could be lost and they would never see their friends and family ever again. To any ordinary man, his greatest fear in life is death. Lieutenant Jimmy Cross carried more than just fear for his own life, but the responsibility of the lives of the men in his unit as well. He often would feel guilt as men died throughout the war. Kiowa often carried distrust towards the other men due to biased opinions on where he came from.”That’s a smart Indian. Shut up” (17). Kiowa carried what many men didn’t have within the unit, sympathy. He cared about others even when he didn’t want to and told the honest truth. The final thing every man carried with him is his own mind. The thoughts and memories of war are not always pleasant and it is something they must carry with them for the rest of their lives. “They were tough” (20). The men were tough and though some struggled with the thoughts of war back home, they still fought for their country
From this, the soldiers have become robotic due to the war, as they no longer possess any emotion or individuality among themselves and thus are no longer differentiable. In order to restore what’s left of their respective identities, the soldiers must carry items that one may assume are “trivial”, when in actuality they are the most significant “things” they carry. For instance, O’Brien details the story behind what one of the soldiers in Cross’ platoon named Kiowa carries by stating, “Kiowa, a devout Baptist, carried an illustrated New Testament that had been presented to him by his father, who taught Sunday school in Oklahoma City, Oklahoma” (3). This is the only item Kiowa possesses to reminisce on his
Death, it cannot be prevented from happening, no matter how many bullets you carry, or how high you get. Kiowa, an Indian, a soldier, a warrior, he is just there, in Vietnam, at war, carrying on a tradition, carrying the distrusting feelings of the white man and most important carrying the pride of his people.
The death of Kiowa is the point in this story, and arguably the entire novel, where the true nature of war becomes evident. His death in any situation would have been tragic, and camping in that “shit field” alone would have been an emotionally scarring experience; however, that these events had to coincide in time only multiplies the gravity of the situation. Interestingly, every soldier has his own way of grappling with such overwhelming feelings of grief for his highly-esteemed comrade. Yet what every man has in common is that in the end he concludes that he alone is the one ultimately responsible for Kiowa’s death.
One of the clearest points in The Things They Carried is that of the importance of certain objects or feelings used by the soldiers of Alpha Company to survive the war. Jimmy Cross, the leader the group, carries a picture of a Martha, a girl who writes him from the states. Jimmy knows that there is no real relationship between the two, but he uses the picture the help keep him connected to the world he was forced to leave behind. He creates stories in his head about what will happen when he makes it back home, alive. The Bible carried by Kiowa was given to him by his father. When the book is mentioned, it is referring to the smell of the New Testament: the leather, glue, ink and paper. Kiowa carries the Bible as more of a remembrance then as a show of his faith. The stockings carried by Henry Dobbins came from his girlfriend. He carefully raps them around his neck each time the company moves out. Even after his girlfriend ends the relationship, Henry continues to wear the stockings because in his mind, their symbolism has not changed. All these items are psychological tools used by the soldiers to keep them connected to their homes and loved ones. The items are not important just because of who gave them to the soldiers, rather they are important because they seem like t...
In Tim O’Brien’s The Things They Carried, the readers follow the Alpha Company’s experiences during the Vietnam War through the telling’s of the main character and narrator, Tim. At the beginning of the story, Tim describes the things that each character carries, also revealing certain aspects of the characters as can be interpreted by the audience. The book delineates what kind of person each character is throughout the chapters. As the novel progresses, the characters’ personalities change due to certain events of the war. The novel shows that due to these experiences during the Vietnam War, there is always a turning point for each soldier, especially as shown with Bob “Rat” Kiley and Azar. With this turning point also comes the loss of innocence for these soldiers. O’Brien covers certain stages of grief and self-blame associated with these events in these stories as well in order to articulate just how those involved felt so that the reader can imagine what the effects of these events would be like for them had they been a part of it.
Written by author Tim O’Brien after his own experience in Vietnam, “The Things They Carried” is a short story that introduces the reader to the experiences of soldiers away at war. O’Brien uses potent metaphors with a third person narrator to shape each character. In doing so, the reader is able to sympathize with the internal and external struggles the men endure. These symbolic comparisons often give even the smallest details great literary weight, due to their dual meanings. The symbolism in “The Things They Carried” guides the reader through the complex development of characters by establishing their humanity during the inhumane circumstance of war, articulating what the men need for emotional and spiritual survival, and by revealing the character’s psychological burdens.
The environment in which Kiley was first deployed to lacked rules since authorities were not present to enforce them, the highest ranking NCO’s favorite pastimes ran from “dope to Darvon...there was no such thing as military discipline...You could let your hair grow...didn’t have to polish your boots or snap off salutes, or put up with the usual rear-end nonsense” (91). Thus along with the medical unit, Kiley’s exposure in a medical detachment far away from the tropical warzone gave him a deceptive impression of the Vietnam war. His ingenuous attitude shows that as a young soldier, Kiley had entered the war with a simplistic worldview, unsuspecting of the severity the war brought on to everybody within its sphere of influence. In one of the early chapters, “How To Tell A True War Story”, O’Brien recalled the time Lemon and Kiley went off by themselves after the platoon marched for two days, “A nature hike, [Rat Kiley and Curt Lemon] thought…giggling and calling each other yellow mother and playing a silly game they invented” (69). Kiley is momentarily portrayed as a kid, who is untouched by the harsh realities of the Vietnam War. But the juxtaposition of placing an unsuspecting child in a hostile war zone sets an ominous tone for Rat Kiley. Like most soldiers who had been drafted into the war, Kiley initially did not have the emotional
Kiowa is more sensible in realizing and understanding what Tim is experiencing. Tim: It’s a war. The guy wasn’t Heidi—he had a weapon, right? It’s a tough thing, for sure, but you got to cut out that staring” (126). He knows that what Tim is feeling is really hard for him to grasp because of the astonishment “Take it slow”.
Tayo faced a struggle of recognizing his essence: the true definition of himself outside and most especially inside. Being a half Native American and half-Caucasian in an environment of a Native American tribe in Laguna, he was constantly reminded of being an outcast. Externally, whenever he would try to fit in any of his race, both sides would reject him with ridicules. As Emo stated against Tayo, “There he is. He thinks he’s something all right. Because he’s part white. Don’t you, half-breed?” It presented hatred from a full-blooded Native American because, “the only reason for this hate was that Tayo was part white.” In fact the shame of being a “half-breed” continued down to his relatives. Auntie’s, “shame for what his mother (Tayo’s) had done, and Auntie’s shame for him (Tayo),” was surprising even though she was one of the closest blood relative of Tayo. On his Caucasian side, encounters were similar with the Native Americans. He was not truthfully acknowledged by the Caucasians he encountered under the shadows of his military uniform, which symbolizes “his service and loyalty” for the United States because, “they had the uniform and they didn’t look different no more. They got respect” . He was automatically disregarded as “the different o...
One of the significant concepts in The Things They Carried is that of the importance of certain objects or feelings used by the soldiers of Alpha Company to survive the war. Some examples of these items are the picture of the girl carried by Jimmy Cross, the Bible carried by Kiowa, and the stockings carried by Henry Dobbins. All the items helped the respective soldier to survive from day to day and to continue fighting the war. One of the most important things that helped the soldiers is their friendship with each other. This bond that the soldiers form helped them to survive, excluded someone who was outside their group, and helped the men of Alpha Company to cope with the war after they returned to the United States.
The person i interviewed was a woman by the name of terri shore she stood 5’5 62 years old and free spirited unafraid of anything. she grew up in California in the ‘70s and excelled in all of her class she was high school valedictorian she experimented with drugs like LSD and Marijuana but it wasn't for her she said she married her high school boyfriend and move to europe because he join N.A.T.O . She took a job at the N.A.T.O newspaper as an editor after he was discharged they move back to california then they had a son named Jeff she got a job in marketing at the at this point in her life she had 2 kids in europe a girl and a boy and the last child was born in california. everything seem to be perfect but it wasn't for her she divorced her husband but they kept quiet from their kids while they live in the same home it didn't work out she move back to