Title: "In the Field" page 162
Jenna, Kirstin, Alyssa
Significance:
In this chapter of The Things They Carried, the troop received commands to take
refuge in a "shit field" where they were warned by locals not to go because of dangers.
This chapter is significant because due to the chain of commands the troop was forced
into a dangerous situation and a man ended up dying. It shows that this war was difficult
to fight because the people calling the shots had no idea of the conditions these men
had to face. It also shows the difficulty of the war because American soldiers were not
familiar with the land they were fighting on or with the different terrains.
Themes:
Detatchment- The men, especially commanders and Lieutenants are trained to
not see they soldiers as men but interchangeable objects. This is a method to help
prevent grief and being affected by the many deaths. However, this is an aspect of war
that Lt. Cross had trouble with.
Guilt- The men know that death in battle is often no ones specific fault, however
no matter what they are bound to feel guilty. Both Lt. Cross and the young soldier blame
themselves for Kiowa's death.
Dark Humor- In war, men have different ways of dealing with things like death,
some talk about it, some dwell on it, and some try to joke about it. This dark humor is
brought up in the story as Azar tries to deal with Kiowa's death
Quotations:
• Page 163 "The filth seemed to erase identities, transforming the men into identical
copies of a single soldier, which was exactly how Jimmy Cross had been trained to
treat them, as interchangeable units of command. "
This quote relates to the theme of distatchment. Lt Cross was trained to nojt develop
personal relationships with any of his men.
• Page 164 "... First Lieutenant Jimmy Cross began composing a letter in his head to
the kids father, not mentioning the shit field, just saying what a fine soldier Kiowa
had been, what a fine man being, and how he was the kind of son that any father
could be proud of forever."
Tis quote relates to the theme of guilt; Cross believes that he is responsible for Kiowa's
death because he didn't listen to the locals. In return for this guilt he wanted to write a
heartfelt letter to Kiowa's father to explain, however in the end he decides its not the
best decision
• Page 165 "Azar kept shaking his head. He coughed and shook his head and said
'Man, talk about irony. I bet if Kiowa was here, I bet he'd just laugh. Eating shit-its
your classic irony.' 'Fine' Norman Bowker, 'Now pipe down.' Azar sighed, 'Wasted
in the waste,' he said, 'A shit field. You got to admit, its pure world class irony.
This quote relates to the theme of dark humor. Some soldiers, like Azar used dark
humor to protect themselves emotionally and mentally from the war and to hide their
true feelings about the war.
Questions
1. Why did the young soldier feel guilty? What did he want to explain to Lt.
Cross?
2. If he was just following commands, why does Lt. Cross feel guilty? What does
he say he could have done? What would you do?
3. Why did Lt. Cross have to mentally erase his first letter to Kiowa's father?
Why wasn't it proper for him to say what a good man Kiowa was?