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- Bowker connects "O'Brien" the soldier with O'Brien the writer. He operates as a figment of O'Brien's imagination, allowing him to move between the war and storytelling, providing a purpose and a story for O'Brien to tell.
www.cliffsnotes.com/literature/t/the-things-they-carried/character-analysis/norman-bowkerThe Things They Carried: Character Analysis | Norman Bowker ...
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The main character of “Speaking of Courage” is Norman Bowker. Unusually for the book, this story is set after the war, and depicts Norman driving around a lake near his parents’ home on a lonely 4th of July evening in the 1970’s, longing for someone to talk to about the war.
- Kiowa
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- Mary Anne Bell
A detailed description and in-depth analysis of Mary Anne...
- Elroy Berdahl
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- Jimmy Cross
In “The Things They Carried,” Cross bears the grief of...
- Tim O'Brien
In 1990, “Speaking of Courage” was one of twenty-two stories...
- Mitchell Sanders
Mitchell Sanders is a likable soldier and a devoted friend....
- Character List
Norman Bowker A man who embodies the damage that the war can...
- Notes
Summary. O’Brien says that “Speaking of Courage” was written...
- Kiowa
Character Analysis Norman Bowker. Bowker arrives in Vietnam operating within a schema of World War II soldiering. He believes, according to O'Brien, that what marks men as courageous are medals and service awards.
- Tim O'Brien
- 1990
- Tim O’Brien. The narrator and protagonist of the collection of stories. O’Brien is a pacifist who rationalizes his participation in Vietnam by concluding that his feelings of obligation toward his family and country are stronger influences than his own politics.
- Jimmy Cross. The lieutenant of the Alpha Company, who is responsible for the entire group of men. Cross is well intentioned but unsure of how to lead his men.
- Mitchell Sanders. One of the most likable soldiers in the war. Sanders strongly influences the narrator, O’Brien. He is kind and devoted, and he has a strong sense of justice.
- Kiowa. O’Brien’s closest friend and a model of quiet, rational morality amid the atrocities of war. Kiowa’s death, when the company mistakenly camps in a sewage field, is the focal point of three stories.
Get everything you need to know about Norman Bowker in The Things They Carried. Analysis, related quotes, timeline.
Character Analysis. We know more about Bowker at peace than we do about him at war. At war, we know that he's gentle, but carries a thumb that Mitchell Sanders cut off a VC soldier and gave to him. The only other personal thing he carries is a diary.
Summary. O’Brien says that “Speaking of Courage” was written at the request of Norman Bowker who, three years after the story was written, hanged himself in the YMCA.
The things they carry are determined by superstition: Lieutenant Jimmy Cross' pebble, Dave Jensen's rabbit foot, Norman Bowker carries a dead man's thumb that was a gift from Mitchell Sanders. Mitchell Sanders said there was a moral to taking the dead teenager's thumb.
