The Things They Carried
Tim O’Brien
The Things They Carried: Two
Stories
Okie From Muskogee
We don't smoke marijuana in Muskogee.
We don't take our trips on LSD
We don't burn our draft cards down on Main Street;
‘Cause we like livin' right and bein' free.
We don't make a party out of lovin';
But we like holdin' hands and pitchin' woo.
We don't let our hair grow long and shaggy,
Like the hippies out in San Francisco do.
The Things They Carried
And I'm proud to be an Okie from Muskogee,
A place where even squares can have a ball.
We still wave Old Glory down at the courthouse,
And white lightning's still the biggest thrill of all.
The Things They Carried
Leather boots are still in style for manly
footwear.
Beads and Roman sandals won't be seen.
And football's still the roughest thing on campus,
And the kids here still respect the college dean.
And I'm proud to be an Okie from Muskogee,
A place where even squares can have a ball.
We still wave Old Glory down at the courthouse.
And white lightning's still the biggest thrill of all.
And white lightning’s still the biggest thrill of all.
The Things They Carried
Fortunate Son
Some folks are born made to wave the flag.
Ooh, they’re red, white, and blue.
And when the band plays “Hail to the Chief,”
Ooh, they point the cannon at you, lord.
It ain’t me, it ain’t me; I ain’t no senator’s son,
son.
It ain’t me, it ain’t me; I ain’t no fortunate one, no.
The Things They Carried
Some folks are born silver spoon in hand,
Lord, don’t they help themselves y’all.
But when the taxman comes to the door,
Lord, the house looks like a rummage sale,
yeah.
It ain’t me, it ain’t me; I ain’t no millionaire’s son,
no, no.
It ain’t me, it ain’t me; I ain’t no fortunate one, no.
The Things They Carried
Yeah, some folks inherit star-spangled eyes,
Ooh, they send you down to war, lord,
And when you ask them, how much should we give?
Ooh, they only answer more! more! more!
It ain’t me, it ain’t me, I ain’t no military son, son.
It ain’t me, it ain’t me; I ain’t no fortunate one, one.
It ain’t me, it ain’t me, I ain’t no fortunate one, no, no, no.
It ain’t me, it ain’t me, I ain’t no fortunate son, no, no, no.
“Speaking of Courage”
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Intricate storytelling structure here: Whereas O’Brien
writes in past tense, separating his current self from the
self that fought in the war, Bowker is unable to use
storytelling as a way to deal with his war trauma.
Bowker has no one to talk to as a way to leave his war
experiences behind him.
Compelling metaphor: The sewage field represents an
unpleasant, meaningless battle that none of the soldiers
can escape; literally Kiowa, and symbolically Bowker,
whose wading into the lake he drives around (and even
tastes) signals his desire to return to Vietnam to change
the events that ended Kiowa’s life.
(Collela): “Bowker represents the paradox between the
need for emotional truth and the pain many feel in
expressing it.”
“Notes”
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It’s here where we get to the crux of the question,
“What is patriotism?” (page 156).
This is O'Brien's search for authenticity in
storytelling: Most of his writing comes from the
“simple need to talk,” illustrating that his writing
is his chosen form of relief from mental anguish.
As such, his success in dealing with his mental
anguish is directly related to his success as a
storyteller: “By telling stories, you objectify your
own experiences. You separate it from yourself.
You pin down certain truths.”
Bowker has no such avenue for relief.
“In The Field,” “Good Form”
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No one emerges emotionally intact from the
three perspectives of “In The Field.”
Lt. Cross blames himself for not going against
orders and setting up camp in a better spot.
The young, unnamed soldier (presumably Tim)
blames himself for his carelessness, turning on
the flashlight to show Kiowa a picture of the
young soldier’s girlfriend.
When the men discover Kiowa’s body, they are
overwhelmed by the sense of “bad luck” that
caused his death – bad luck that could have
claimed (and still could claim) any one of them.
“In the Field” “Good Form”
Consider how this same “luck” visited the
Viet Cong soldier “O’Brien” killed in “The
Man I Killed.”
 Reality, randomness, luck and war
overwhelm all of them.
 “Good Form”: O’Brien distinguishes, again,
the difference between “story truth” and
“happening truth.”
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“Field Trip”
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The scene in the field is the climax of the story.
O’Brien finds a sense of closure through the
physical act of wading into the water and
depositing Kiowa’s moccasins.
Still, he is unable to explain this to his daughter,
Kathleen, who represents the future.
O’Brien’s lingering questions about Vietnam 20
years later: Is it a country, a memory, both, or
neither?
“The Ghost Soldiers”: Key
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Where (on his body) was O’Brien wounded the first time he
was shot?
His side
After being shot a second time, what nearly caused his
death?
He almost went into shock.
This chapter contains an allusion to Minneapolis. What or
whom does O’Brien specifically mention?
Met Stadium; Harmon Killebrew
What is the first and last name of the guy O’Brien seeks
revenge against?
Bobby Jorgenson
“The Ghost Soldiers”: Key
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Dobbins says “there’s no way” Morty Phillips (the guy who went
swimming) could have died of … (name the disease).
Polio
Whom does O’Brien get to help him with his revenge plan?
Azar
In the series of pranks O’Brien planned, which was the final one?
They set up a sandbag on a wire to look like a person.
What did O’Brien’s partner-in-crime physically do to O’Brien out of
disgust?
Kicked him in the head.
Other than the embarrassment of his wound and the fact that he
almost died, what else is O’Brien bitter about as he recuperates?
He is no longer part of the “brotherhood” of the men out in the bush.
“The Ghost Soldiers”
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This story, and the one that follows (“Night Life”),
both deal with how the night affects people: It is
at night that “O’Brien” holds the most hatred for,
and plots his revenge against, Jorgenson.
It is at night that Vietnam comes alive – not the
country but the war experience.
Part of “O’Brien’s” bitterness is in the
embarrassment of his wound (in the rear end)
and the fact that he almost died, but more in the
loss of his life as a combat soldier. He especially
misses the brotherhood that he is now on the
outside of, looking in.
“The Ghost Soldiers”
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“O’Brien” acts out his need for making war – on
Jorgenson – but in the process alienates
Sanders, while befriending Azar.
The reader realizes now how much “O’Brien”
changed: He is no longer fighting for an ideal but
for pure, raw, revenge.
In the end, “O’Brien” – “trembling…hugging
himself, rocking” has lost his friends, his
memories, and his moral superiority. He is
defeated.
“Night Life”
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This story illustrates the fine emotional and mental
stability line that the soldiers walk.
The change in routine from day to night maneuvers
pushes Kiley over that line and deep into himself, where
he battles visions, terror and obsession.
O’Brien goes to great lengths to show the impact of the
night routine: dark so thick that it creates an inability to
blink.
When Kiley shoots himself in the foot in order to get out
of there, it’s unclear if he does so because he has gone
crazy or if he does so to prevent himself from going
crazy.
“The Lives of the Dead’
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This is the story that encapsulates the novel’s purpose:
writing in order to make sense of life, especially in
relation to others’ deaths.
Linda is O’Brien’s first love – and his first realization that
fiction can overcome death.
When this beautiful, little child dies, her innocence, and
O’Brien’s, dies with her.
Linda’s visits to O’Brien’s dreams begin a life-long
process of addressing difficulty through imagination and
illusion: an ability he carried with him to Vietnam.
By keeping Linda alive – as well as his Vietnam
comrades – O’Brien is keeping himself alive.
“The Lives of the Dead”
Important quotes from Tim O’Brien:
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“The act of writing is an act of compassion. It entails sympathy for
human frailties, weaknesses, and strengths: sympathy for a human
condition in which we can never be that to which we aspire.
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“Novels are made out of a sense of outrage at the world, the way the
world treats us; the way we treat ourselves; the mistakes we make
ourselves. Books come out of that sort of thing, that tension to make
things better.
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“The thing about a story is that you dream it as you tell it, hoping that
others might then dream along with you ... There is the illusion of
aliveness.”