Author
Author: Tim O’ Brien
• Born 1946
• Inspired by his own
father’s written accounts
of battles like Iwo Jima
and Okinawa during
WWII.
• O’Brien also became a
soldier when he was
drafted to fight in the
Vietnam
Author
Author
• O’Brien strongly opposed
the war in Vietnam, but
fought bravely
• We was wounded in
battle and returned home
with numerous honors.
These include:
– Bronze Star of valor
– Combat Infantry Badge
– Purple Heart
General Information
General Information
• The Things They
Carried is a sequence
of interrelated stories
about different
soldiers fighting in
Vietnam
• It is viewed as one of
the foremost works of
literature concerning
the Vietnam war.
General Information
General Information
• The narrative is a mix of
O’Brien’s personal
experiences and fiction
• The main character in the story
is named Tim O’Brien
• The protagonist Tim O’Brien is
a fictional character.
• There are elements linked to
the real O’Brien, but other
aspects are unique to the
character
– The most clear example of the
difference between the real
and fictional O’Brien is that the
author never killed a man in
battle
Literary Focus
Literary Focus
• Type of Work
• Collection of interconnected
short stories
• Genre
• War stories; coming-of-age
stories; memory stories
• Setting (time)
• Shifts between the Vietnam
War in the late 1960s and the
narrator’s immediate past,
twenty years after the war
• Setting (place)
•
Vietnam and Massachusetts
Literary Focus
Literary Focus
• Narrator
• Tim O’Brien (the character)
• Point of View
• Uses a mix of 1st person and
3rd person
• The effect is one of being
able to take the reader into
emotional situations through
1st person narrative and
distance the reader from
situations through the 3rd
person perspective
Literary Focus
Literary Focus
• Tone
• Foreshadowing
• An introspective tone that
relies on a self-conscious
examination of human nature
and human interactions
• The deaths of several
characters are mentioned prior
to the description of their
deaths.
• This foreshadowing adds a
sense of dread and suspense
to the novel
Literary Focus
Literary Focus
• Conflict
• Symbolism
• Tim O’Brien and the other
soldiers struggle with the
effects—both immediate and
long-term—of the Vietnam
War.
• The seemingly insignificant
items the men carry with them
are symbolic of the important
small details, the overlooked
instances of both joy and
regret, that dominate human
existence
Themes and Focus
Themes and Focus
• Emotional Baggage:
– the grief, guilt, fear, love,
and memories each man
carries with him into war
and from war dominates
the narrative
• Perception:
– the pressures society
places on people weigh
heavily on the backs of the
soldiers
– O’Brien’s character
specifically reports to war
because of the fear of
disapproval more than any
feelings of patriotism
Themes and Focus
Themes and Focus
• Courage and Manhood:
– The doubts, baggage and
fears of perception all play
into the ideas of what is
true courage and what
determines manhood
– With perspective and
experience these
definitions change and alter
throughout the novel
Summary and
Plot Overview
Summary and Plot
Overview
• The main character O’Brien
catalogs the different things
the other soldiers in his
fighting company brought
to war
• These “things” can be
intangible items such as
guilt or fear
• They can also be tangible
items such as matches,
morphine, M-16 rifles, and
even M&M candy!
Summary and
Plot Overview
Summary and Plot
Overview
• In the section “Lost”
Lieutenant Jimmy Cross
deals with his feelings
over a college crush and
guilt over his perceived
shortcomings in battle
• “On the Rainy River”
details the events that led
to O’Brien coming to
Vietnam
Summary and
Plot Overview
Summary and Plot
Overview
• “The Dentist” details a
visit from Alpha
Company member
Curt Lemon to the
dentist
• “Friends” detail a pact
made between friends
regarding injury in
battle
Summary and
Plot Overview
Summary and Plot
Overview
• Within each of these
stories is often a
common thread: men
dealing with loss and
guilt
• These emotions are
“things they carry”
well after they are
done fighting in battle
Character Analysis
Character Analysis
• Tim O’Brien
• The protagonist and
narrator
• Enters the war a scared
young man afraid of the
shame that dodging the
war would bring him
• As a middle-aged man he
struggles to cope with his
painful memories and
emotional baggage
• He is conflicted over his
own personal beliefs and
those of his country and
family
Character Analysis
Character Analysis
• Other Characters
• Jimmy Cross:
– An immature college student
who signs up for the reserves
because of his friends
• Mitchell Sanders:
– Loyal and pragmatic individual
who doesn’t believe war
teaches lessons or truths
• Kiowa
– A Baptist and a Native
American, who brings a
perspective different from that
of his fellow soldiers