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The Things They Carried. Full Book Summary. The protagonist, who is named Tim O’Brien, begins by describing an event that occurred in the middle of his Vietnam experience. “The Things They Carried” catalogs the variety of things his fellow soldiers in the Alpha Company brought on their missions.
- On The Rainy River
In The Things They Carried, O’Brien shows how soldiers...
- Foreshadowing
Tim O’Brien uses foreshadowing in The Things They Carried as...
- Important Quotes Explained
This quotation from the first story, “The Things They...
- How to Tell a True War Story
A summary of “How to Tell a True War Story” in Tim...
- The Man I Killed
A summary of “The Man I Killed” in Tim O'Brien's The...
- The Lives of The Dead
A summary of “The Lives of the Dead” in Tim O'Brien's...
- Character List
A list of all the characters in The Things They Carried. The...
- Speaking of Courage
A summary of “Speaking of Courage” in Tim O'Brien's The...
- On The Rainy River
Published in 1990, The Things They Carried is a collection of linked short stories written by Tim O’Brien that provides a powerful portrayal of the experiences of American soldiers during the Vietnam War. The narrative is structured around the physical and emotional burdens carried by the soldiers, both tangible and intangible.
- Plot
- Quotes
- Story
- Synopsis
- Analysis
- Premise
\"On the Rainy River:\" Before going to Vietnam, Tim O'Brien decides to dodge the draft, and he drives north to Canada but stops near the border at The Tip Top Lodge, owned by an old man named Elroy Berdahl. O'Brien credits Berdahl with being \"the hero of his life.\" O'Brien spends six days at the Lodge, trying to decide whether or not to flee. Be...
\"How to Tell a True War Story:\" O'Brien writes that war stories have no moral, they are often not true (at least completely), and if a story is true you can tell by the kinds of questions a story gets after it's told. O'Brien tells the story of Rat Kiley's reaction to Curt Lemon's death as an example, as well as Mitchell Sanders' story about a pl...
\"Sweetheart of the Song Tra Bong:\" O'Brien tells a story that Rat Kiley told him from when he was stationed in an isolated area. There was so little action there that one soldier, Mark Fossie, snuck his girlfriend Mary Anne Bell in by helicopter. Things don't go as Fossie planned, though, because Bell becomes infatuated with the war, leaves Fossi...
\"The Man I Killed:\" The story goes back and forth between O'Brien's memories of the corpse of the young, armed man he threw a grenade at on a path outside of My Khe and the invented history O'Brien has created of the dead man as a mathematician, scholar, and terrified soldier. Kiowa keeps insisting that O'Brien quit staring at the body and talk t...
\"Notes:\" A post-script for the story \"Speaking of Courage.\" O'Brien tells the background of how \"Speaking of Courage,\" came to be when Norman Bowker sent him a seventeen page letter, ultimately asking him to write a story about a man like him who feels he died after the war. O'Brien feels guilty and compelled to oblige, and writes a version o...
\"The Lives of the Dead:\" O'Brien compares his Vietnam wartime experiences with the death of his childhood sweetheart, Linda, who died of a brain tumor when she was nine. Hers was the first dead body O'Brien ever saw. He says that stories keep their subjects alive, and in this way Linda can live forever.
The Things They Carried comprises 22 short stories that range in length from just a few paragraphs to fully fleshed-out narratives of 20 pages or more. These stories blend fiction and semi-autobiographical narrative as they highlight the experiences of American soldiers during the Vietnam War.
Interrelated short stories present themes such as the allure of war, the loss of innocence, and the relationship between fact and fiction. Novelist Tim O'Brien's collection of vignettes provides powerful insight into the experiences of foot soldiers in Vietnam — a connection from past to present.
The best study guide to The Things They Carried on the planet, from the creators of SparkNotes. Get the summaries, analysis, and quotes you need.
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Interrelated short stories present themes such as the allure of war, the loss of innocence, and the relationship between fact and fiction. Novelist Tim O'Brien's collection of vignettes provides powerful insight into the experiences of foot soldiers in Vietnam — a connection from past to present.
