{"id":5177,"date":"2019-12-07T20:21:32","date_gmt":"2019-12-08T00:21:32","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/?p=5177"},"modified":"2023-04-13T15:13:54","modified_gmt":"2023-04-13T19:13:54","slug":"the-things-they-carried-characters","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/the-things-they-carried-characters\/","title":{"rendered":"13 The Things They Carried Characters: Analysis and Themes"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<p>Who are the main <em>The Things They Carried <\/em>characters? How do their stories demonstrate both the humanity of soldiers and the dehumanizing effects of war?<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><em>The Things They Carried <\/em>is a collection of interconnected short stories about the experiences of a company of young American men serving in the Vietnam War. We&#8217;ll cover the primary <em>The Things They Carried <\/em>characters and their main scenes in the book.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<!--more-->\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\"><em>The Things They Carried<\/em><\/h2>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-embed is-type-video is-provider-youtube wp-block-embed-youtube wp-embed-aspect-16-9 wp-has-aspect-ratio\"><div class=\"wp-block-embed__wrapper\">\n<div class=\"jetpack-video-wrapper\"><iframe loading=\"lazy\" title=\"The Things They Carried | 10-Minute Book Summary\" width=\"750\" height=\"422\" src=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/afoDUkGjZms?feature=oembed\" frameborder=\"0\" allow=\"accelerometer; autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture; web-share\" allowfullscreen><\/iframe><\/div>\n<\/div><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<h3 class=\"wp-block-heading\" id=\"h-the-things-they-carried-character-tim-o-brien\"><em>The Things They Carried<\/em> Character: TIM O&#8217;BRIEN<\/h3>\n\n\n\n<p>The primary <em>The Things They Carried <\/em>character is Tim O&#8217;Brien himself.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>The book blurs the line between fiction and autobiography.<\/strong> It is told mainly from the first-person perspective of a middle-aged writer named Tim O\u2019Brien, who is looking back on his time during the war. Tim O\u2019Brien, however, is also the name of the actual author of <em>The Things They Carried<\/em>\u2014it is unclear if the main character (and narrator) of the book is meant to be the same person as the author (who is also a Vietnam veteran).<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>We see O\u2019Brien\u2019s early experiences with grief and loss as he recounts the death of his childhood girlfriend in the 1950s, his reluctance to go to war when he is drafted, the trauma and chaos he experiences when he is in Vietnam, and his attempts to make peace with his past and achieve closure with the war when he revisits the combat scenes of his youth with his daughter.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h3 class=\"wp-block-heading\" id=\"h-the-things-they-carried-character-lieutenant-jimmy-cross\"><em>The Things They Carried<\/em> Character: LIEUTENANT JIMMY CROSS<\/h3>\n\n\n\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/lieutenant-jimmy-cross-the-things-they-carried\/\">First Lieutenant Jimmy Cross<\/a>, commanding officer in charge of Alpha Company, a unit of the U.S. Army in the Vietnam War, is reminiscing about <a href=\"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/martha-the-things-they-carried\/\">a girl named Martha<\/a> whom he knew back home. He is in love with her, but fears that his love is unrequited\u2014although she signs off her letters to him with the customary \u201cLove,\u201d Cross knows that it is perfunctory and without meaning.&nbsp;<br><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>Cross is a reluctant commander<\/strong>, who never wanted the responsibility of leading men in combat. He had joined the officer training program in his sophomore year of college because it seemed preferable to the draft. He has no deep commitment to the war, and, at 24 years of age, feels himself to be entirely unsuited to be making life-or-death decisions for others. The responsibility is too much for him to bear.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><br>To cope with his war burden, he clings to the memory and to the idea of Martha in any way he can, including tasting the envelope flaps of her letters (knowing that her tongue has been there) and keeping a small pebble in his mouth that she sent to him from a beach back home. He also endlessly ponders whether or not she is a virgin. His feelings about Martha are his tether, <strong>his connection to a world apart from the horror and <a href=\"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/tim-obrien-vietnam\/\">mayhem of Vietnam<\/a>.<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n<h3 class=\"wp-block-heading\" id=\"h-the-things-they-carried-character-martha\"><em>The Things They Carried<\/em> Character: MARTHA<\/h3>\n\n\n\n<p>Cross believes that he was daydreaming and distracted while thinking about Martha, and that this led to soldier Lavender\u2019s demise. Wracked with guilt and shame, <strong>he is afraid to cry in front of the men<\/strong>. He retreats to his foxhole to weep, for Lavender, for his unrequited love for Martha, and for the world he has lost to war. The morning after Lavender\u2019s death, Cross burns Martha\u2019s letters and photos. He would sever the connection to his old life, commit now to his duties as a soldier\u2014and nothing more. <strong>\u201cLove\u201d would no longer be a factor.&nbsp;<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Years later, after the war, <a href=\"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/the-things-they-carried-love\/\">Cross reunites with the narrator<\/a>, O\u2019Brien, at the latter\u2019s home in Massachusetts. O\u2019Brien asks Cross what became of Martha. He tells O\u2019Brien that he ran into her again at a college reunion in 1979 and told her that he still loved her. He\u2019d even confessed to her his fantasy about tying her to her bed and touching her knee (which Martha had said she was glad he never acted upon).<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h3 class=\"wp-block-heading\" id=\"h-the-things-they-carried-character-dave-jensen-lee-strunk\"><em>The Things They Carried<\/em> Character: DAVE JENSEN &amp; LEE STRUNK<\/h3>\n\n\n\n<p>Other <em>The Things They Carried <\/em>characters include <a href=\"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/dave-jensen-the-things-they-carried\/\">Dave Jensen<\/a> and <a href=\"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/lee-strunk-the-things-they-carried\/\">Lee Strunk<\/a>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Back in Vietnam\u2014or rather, <em>ahead <\/em>in Vietnam\u2014soldiers Lee Strunk and Dave Jensen get into a fight over a jackknife that one supposedly stole from the other. Jensen, being stronger, overpowers Strunk and breaks the latter\u2019s nose.<br><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>This leads to a tense situation between the two men, as Jensen grows increasingly paranoid that Strunk is plotting his revenge. He scrupulously avoids Strunk at all turns. The anxiety causes Jensen to snap\u2014one day, he starts firing his rifle indiscriminately into the air, yelling Strunk\u2019s name.<br><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Later that evening, Jensen takes a pistol and uses the barrel to break his <em>own <\/em>nose, to preempt Strunk\u2019s feared retaliation. This act of penance brings about a reconciliation between the two men. They begin sharing foxholes and going on patrol and guard duty together.&nbsp;<br><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>They also make a solemn pact. If either of them should become seriously maimed in the course of combat, the other man agrees to mercy-kill him. They put this agreement in writing and even have some of their fellow Alpha Company men stand as witnesses.&nbsp;<br><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>This grim covenant is shortly put to the test when Strunk loses his right leg after stepping on a mortar round. When Jensen comes to see his friend\u2019s wound, however, Strunk pleads with him not to kill him. Jensen assures Strunk that he will not kill him, and the company has Strunk airlifted into the chopper to be taken to a field hospital. The men later learn that Strunk dies from his wounds while he\u2019s en route. Jensen is relieved to be spared from performing his harsh duty.<br><\/p>\n\n\n\n<h3 class=\"wp-block-heading\" id=\"h-the-things-they-carried-character-henry-dobbins\"><em>The Things They Carried<\/em> Character: HENRY DOBBINS<\/h3>\n\n\n\n<p>O\u2019Brien recalls another man in Alpha Company, <a href=\"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/henry-dobbins-the-things-they-carried\/\">Henry Dobbins<\/a>, as being highly drawn to sentimentality. Dobbins carried his girlfriend\u2019s pantyhose around his neck, but not out of a sexual predilection. For Dobbins, the pantyhose were a talisman, a good-luck charm, something that made him feel protected.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>O\u2019Brien recalls Dobbins as being more drawn to the idea of being nice to people as a minister rather than grappling with any weighty theological considerations, remembering Dobbins saying, <strong>\u201cAll you can do is be nice. Treat them decent, you know?\u201d<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n<h3 class=\"wp-block-heading\" id=\"h-the-things-they-carried-character-norman-bowker\"><em>The Things They Carried<\/em> Character: NORMAN BOWKER<\/h3>\n\n\n\n<p>A significant <em>The Things They Carried <\/em>character is <a href=\"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/norman-bowker-the-things-they-carried\/\">Norman Bowker<\/a>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>After the war, a soldier from Alpha Company named Norman <a href=\"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/the-things-they-carried-speaking-of-courage\/\">Bowker returns to his hometown<\/a> in Iowa. <strong>He is unable to find a meaningful use for his life after the war,<\/strong> and spends his days and nights wistfully driving his car along the lake in his town, remembering friends lost and a life gone by. He thinks about his best friend from high school who drowned in the same lake and about his teenage sweetheart, Sally Kramer, who is now married.<br><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>He imagines conversations that he\u2019d <em>like <\/em>to have with all the people in his life, but never actually does<\/strong>. He fantasizes about visiting Sally and impressing her with his war-taught skill of being able to tell time without looking at a clock. He is haunted by the Silver Star medal for uncommon valor that he <em>almost <\/em>won in Vietnam, but never did. <strong>His life has become a series of regrets, unfulfilled promises, and dreams unrealized.<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>O\u2019Brien tells us that Norman Bowker shared this story with him in 1975, three years before Bowker hanged himself in the locker room of a YMCA. He had sent O\u2019Brien a long, rambling, and disjointed letter in which he shared his thoughts on life after Vietnam; his resentment toward \u201cpatriotic idiots\u201d who knew nothing about what the war was actually like; and his feeling that he had actually died back in the shit field all those years ago, rendering his life after that moment a mere addendum or epilogue to his story.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h3 class=\"wp-block-heading\" id=\"h-the-things-they-carried-character-rat-kiley\"><em>The Things They Carried<\/em> Character: RAT KILEY<\/h3>\n\n\n\n<p>O\u2019Brien reflects on two separate occasions in which he was hit by gunfire in Vietnam. The first time was when <a href=\"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/rat-kiley-the-things-they-carried\/\">Rat Kiley<\/a> was still with the company. As a skilled medic, Kiley had been able to successfully apply a compress, stop the bleeding, and get O\u2019Brien to an emergency evacuation helicopter. O\u2019Brien even recalls Rat Kiley almost hugging him as he was being helped into the chopper. After a short hospital stay, O\u2019Brien returned to the company in the field.&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><br>When he returned, however, he discovered that Kiley was no longer with the unit, having suffered his own gunshot wound and transferred to a hospital in Japan. What really happened, however, was much more disturbing. <strong>Kiley had, in fact, suffered a mental breakdown, believing that the insects in the jungle were personally out to get him<\/strong>. He had begun compulsively scratching himself, eventually covering himself in scabs and open sores. The strain of his job as a medic, having to constantly attend to the dead and dying, had finally pushed him past his limits. <strong>In desperation, <a href=\"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/the-things-they-carried-night-life\/\">Kiley shot himself<\/a> in the foot to get out of active combat duty<\/strong>, although Cross told Kiley that he would present it as an accident to the military authorities.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h3 class=\"wp-block-heading\" id=\"h-the-things-they-carried-character-ted-lavender\"><em>The Things They Carried<\/em> Character: TED LAVENDER<\/h3>\n\n\n\n<p>One of the men under Cross\u2019s command, <a href=\"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/ted-lavender-the-things-they-carried\/\">Ted Lavender<\/a>, is shot in the head and killed while the company is stationed outside a small village. His death comes entirely out of the blue, without warning. By this point, the burden of war has hardened the men\u2014<strong>death is no longer (at least outwardly) a cause for shock or displays of grief<\/strong>. They coldly and unemotionally observe how Lavender\u2019s body hit the ground. They note that his death was un-dramatic and oddly mundane\u2014in their words, \u201cthe poor bastard just flat-fuck fell. Boom. Down. Nothing else.\u201d Of the 17 men\u2014now 16\u2014only Rat Kiley shows any shock as he repeatedly remarks, as if in shock, \u201cThe guy\u2019s dead.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h3 class=\"wp-block-heading\" id=\"h-the-things-they-carried-character-azar\"><em>The Things They Carried<\/em> Character: AZAR<\/h3>\n\n\n\n<p>Soldier <a href=\"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/azar-the-things-they-carried\/\">Azar<\/a> is one of the most unlikeable <em>The Things They Carried <\/em>characters. He seems to genuinely relish the most ghoulish aspects of Vietnam and takes pleasure in watching the pain and suffering of others.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>O\u2019Brien decided to psychologically torment Jorgenson and turned to the darkly cruel Azar for help. They chose a night when they knew Jorgenson had been selected to pull night guard duty as their moment to strike, <strong>knowing how <a href=\"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/the-ghost-soldiers-the-things-they-carried\/\">ghostly and terrifying nights in Vietnam<\/a> could be, when one\u2019s mind tended to run wild with the worst fears imaginable<\/strong>. All of the potential horrors of war could be projected onto the blackness of the night. O\u2019Brien and Azar knew that Jorgenson would be at his most psychologically vulnerable when he was alone in the dark.<br><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>They hid in the bushes and rattled cans and tripped flares. Finally, O\u2019Brien asked Azar to stop, feeling that his need to psychologically balance the equation with Jorgenson had been met. But Azar was unable to stop, instead carrying the \u201cprank\u201d to more and more extreme lengths, firing off more flares and even tear gas grenades at Jorgenson. O\u2019Brien himself was cowering in fear and shock and pleading with the sadistic Azar to stop. Jorgenson eventually fired back at the \u201cenemy,\u201d impressing O\u2019Brien with how cool and collected he was. It is only at this moment that Jorgenson realized the whole ordeal was a prank. Azar left, disgusted with O\u2019Brien, labelling him the \u201csorriest fuckin\u2019 specimen I ever seen.\u201d <br><\/p>\n\n\n\n<h3 class=\"wp-block-heading\" id=\"h-the-things-they-carried-character-kiowa\"><em>The Things They Carried<\/em> Character: KIOWA<\/h3>\n\n\n\n<p>Among the men of Alpha Company, only one soldier, <a href=\"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/kiowa-the-things-they-carried\/\">Kiowa<\/a>, a Native American who carries his New Testament on his person at all times, shows any introspection.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>O\u2019Brien reveals why he was unable to write about Kiowa\u2019s death. It is because he feels that <em>he <\/em>was responsible, not Bowker. Right before the attack, O\u2019Brien and Kiowa had been talking together in the field, sharing stories from back home. O\u2019Brien had shown Kiowa a picture of his girlfriend Billie and used a flashlight to illuminate the photograph. The light from the flashlight gave away the company\u2019s position to the enemy, causing the firefight which led to Kiowa\u2019s death. Naturally, <strong>O\u2019Brien is haunted because he believes he is responsible for the gruesome death of his friend. <\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n<h3 class=\"wp-block-heading\" id=\"h-the-things-they-carried-character-curt-lemon\"><em>The Things They Carried<\/em> Character: CURT LEMON<\/h3>\n\n\n\n<p>Rat had served with a man named <a href=\"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/curt-lemon-the-things-they-carried-a-macho-soldier-faints\/\">Curt Lemon<\/a> who was known for volunteering for the most dangerous combat assignments, like late-night reconnaissance missions and patrols. Lemon was also celebrated for being a daredevil with what his fellow soldiers saw as a terrific sense of humor. According to Rat, Lemon once went out to a Vietnamese village, nude except for a mask and full body paint, to go \u201ctrick-or-treating,\u201d bewildering the villagers in the process.&nbsp;<br><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Lemon was killed in action when he accidentally stepped on a landmine while he and Rat were goofing off by tossing smoke grenades back and forth.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h3 class=\"wp-block-heading\" id=\"h-the-things-they-carried-character-mary-anne\"><em>The Things They Carried<\/em> Character: MARY ANNE<\/h3>\n\n\n\n<p>One of the men in Rat\u2019s unit, Mark Fossie, decided to bring his American girlfriend out to Vietnam. After some time with the unit, Mary Anne became accustomed to life in Vietnam, learning about weaponry and military hardware, coming to understand the intricacies of Army tactics and maneuvers, learning some Vietnamese, and growing more and more curious about what was in the mountains beyond the unit\u2019s base camp.<br><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>Mary Anne developed a fascination with the war, especially its most grisly realities<\/strong>. She got an adrenaline rush from treating injured soldiers and seemed to be at her most comfortable and serene when she was surrounded by the chaos and violence of warfare. She had become more of a natural soldier than any of the men in Kiley\u2019s unit, remarking, <strong>\u201cEverything I want is right here,\u201d and telling Fossie that she\u2019d never been happier in her whole life.<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><br>One night, Mary Anne didn\u2019t come back to the base. At first thinking she was sleeping with one of the other soldiers, Fossie and Kiley searched the entire camp, but found no trace of her. It dawned on them that Mary Anne wasn\u2019t missing or captured\u2014she had gone out on <em>ambush <\/em>with the Green Berets. <strong>Vietnam had consumed her. She had gone native.<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n<h3 class=\"wp-block-heading\" id=\"h-the-things-they-carried-character-linda\"><em>The Things They Carried<\/em> Character: LINDA<\/h3>\n\n\n\n<p>Finally, another important <em>The Things They Carried <\/em>character is Linda.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>O&#8217;Brien tells the story of his <a href=\"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/linda-the-things-they-carried\/\">childhood girlfriend Linda<\/a>, who died of a brain tumor when they were both nine years old.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>One day, a bully managed to knock Linda\u2019s cap off during class, revealing her bald scalp beneath. Linda was sick with a brain tumor and had lost all her hair\u2014she had been wearing the cap to cover it up. Later, O\u2019Brien\u2019s mother explained to him that Linda was terminally ill and would soon pass away from the tumor. Linda survived the school year and summer, but died during the September when O\u2019Brien was entering the fifth grade. Foreshadowing <strong>the callous and cold way death would be treated on the fields of Vietnam<\/strong>, the same bully who humiliated Linda in class told O\u2019Brien of her death by coming up to him during recess and telling him that Linda had \u201ckicked the bucket.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>His experience with Linda was O\u2019Brien\u2019s first glimpse into the <a href=\"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/the-power-of-storytelling\/\">power of storytelling<\/a>. After her death, he began to invent elaborate stories in which Linda was still alive. His dreams and his stories became his secret meeting place with his lost friend. He could bring Linda to life again by telling her story. He could make her real, make her smile and speak. In one of his dreams, the dead Linda likened herself to an old book on a library shelf that hadn\u2019t been checked out for a long time. <strong>All she could do was wait for someone to check her out\u2014for someone to tell her story and bring her to life again.<\/strong><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Who are the main The Things They Carried characters? How do their stories demonstrate both the humanity of soldiers and the dehumanizing effects of war? The Things They Carried is a collection of interconnected short stories about the experiences of a company of young American men serving in the Vietnam War. We&#8217;ll cover the primary The Things They Carried characters and their main scenes in the book.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":4,"featured_media":5194,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[40],"tags":[63],"class_list":["post-5177","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-books","tag-things-they-carried","","tg-column-two"],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO Premium plugin v24.3 (Yoast SEO v24.3) - https:\/\/yoast.com\/wordpress\/plugins\/seo\/ -->\n<title>13 The Things They Carried Characters: Analysis and Themes - Shortform Books<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"Who are the main The Things They Carried characters? Learn the primary characters, their main scenes, and how their actions convey the nuances of war.\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/the-things-they-carried-characters\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"13 The Things They Carried Characters: Analysis and Themes\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Who are the main The Things They Carried characters? 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