field trip tim o'brien summary

The Things They Carried Field Trip Summary

After he writes "In the Field," O'Brien takes a ten-year-old Kathleen to Vietnam with him. They go to the field where Kiowa died.
The place looks smaller, and peaceful. It's twenty years after Kiowa's death.
Kathleen doesn't really get why they're there. She says it smells.
During the touristy part of their trip, Kathleen has held up well.
She asks why the war started. O'Brien says that some people wanted one thing, and others wanted another thing. When Kathleen asks what he wanted, he tells her that all he wanted was to stay alive.
She doesn't understand why he can't forget the war, why he needed to come to Vietnam, and why he was in Vietnam in the first place.
At the field where Kiowa died, O'Brien takes a few pictures. Kathleen is bored.
O'Brien pulls out a cloth bundle from the jeep and wades into the river. Ignoring Kathleen's protests, he gets to the point where Mitchell Sanders had found Kiowa's rucksack, and takes Kiowa's moccasins out of the bundle. He lets the moccasins sink down into the muck.
He notices an old farmer watching him. The old man raises his shovel grimly, then brings it down and begins to dig.
O'Brien gets out of the water, and Kathleen observes, correctly, that he stinks to high heaven. She asks him if the old man is mad at him, and he says no. All that is over.

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Short Story Reviews

Field Trip by Tim O’Brien

In Field Trip by Tim O’Brien we have the theme of forgiveness, connection, innocence, and closure. Taken from his The Things We Carried collection the story is narrated in the first person by O’Brien himself and from the beginning of the story the reader realises that O’Brien may be exploring the theme of forgiveness. O’Brien has returned to Vietnam with his daughter, Kathleen, and he is trying to forgiver himself for Kiowa’s death. Despite the passing of time O’Brien still feels a sense of responsibility for Kiowa dying. He has been unable to let go of his friend. Kathleen on the other hand feels nothing. She doesn’t really understand what her father is doing and it is interesting that he lends her no advice on the matter. It is as though the matter remains private to O’Brien something he has been unable to talk about for twenty years. Not even his wife is present. Though it is possible she is fully aware of how agitated O’Brien is.

What is also interesting is the fact that Kathleen can make no connection with her father or Kiowa. Possibly assisted by the fact O’Brien is telling her nothing about events. She is lost to the seriousness of the event and how emotional O’Brien feels over the matter. Not even the tourist guide is any help to telling Kathleen about what her father is doing. Though he may realise how private the matter is to O’Brien. It is as though O’Brien is attempting to close the door on his past and move on. The fact that O’Brien’s wife is not with him could also suggest how important the issue is with O’Brien. Something that remains lost on the young ten year old Kathleen. She remains bored throughout the story though there is a lesson to be learnt.

There may also be some symbolism in the story that might be important. The moccasins that O’Brien places in the water may be his way of having Kiowa walk again. To walk to a peaceful place that does not include the place he died. It is after all the last spot where O’Brien saw Kiowa. The tourist guides silence as mentioned may highlight how personal the moment is for O’Brien. The tourist guide knows to leave O’Brien alone and let him grieve. The farmer raising his shovel in the air might also have some symbolic significance. Though it looks like a sign of defiance it may possibly be a signal that the war is over. That people have to move on and let go of the past. Something that is a little clearer to the reader by the peacefulness of the setting.

The end of the story is interesting too as there is a sense that O’Brien and to some extent the restless Kathleen have gotten closure. There is nothing left to fear or worry about. O’Brien can finally let his feelings about Kiowa go and move on with his life. More importantly it is also possible that Kathleen, when she gets older, will learn to understand the significance of what has happened. Her father has finally and respectfully buried Kiowa allowing for O’Brien, Kathleen and Kiowa to be free of the past. Though it may be a case that O’Brien will never forget how important Vietnam has been to shaping his life. After all Kathleen has seen the effects of Vietnam on her father and does realise how important the country is to him even if she cannot fully understand what is happening. O’Brien has lost his best friend in Vietnam and that is not something he has been able to let go of. Similar in scale and effect to the man that O’Brien killed ( The Man I Killed ) events as mentioned have shaped O’Brien. Vietnam may always be in O’Brien’s mind and memory but it does not always have to be negative. O’Brien met Kiowa in Vietnam and still has happy memories of his friend. Times when they felt connected to each other and Kiowa helped O’Brien.

On the Rainy River by Tim O’Brien
The Dentist by Tim O’Brien
Enemies by Tim O’Brien
Night Life by Tim O’Brien
Tim O'Brien

Could you please give notes on short stories and poems of CXC syllabus and also notes on The Tempest? Thanks Lakshmi

Interesting that there is the idea of letting go of the past and moving on, yet O’Brien cannot let go of the past, and in fact writes the stories in The Things They Carried as a way of hanging on to (while still dealing with) the past.

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What happens in the chapter “Field Trip” in The Things They Carried ? How does “Field Trip” demonstrate how soldiers seek closure after the war is over?

We’ll look at the basic elements of the chapter “Field Trip” ( The Things They Carried ) and look at how the narrator attempts to bring the Vietnam War to life for his young daughter.

“Field Trip” ( The Things They Carried )

In this chapter of The Things They Carried , “Field Trip,” 43-year-old O’Brien returns to Vietnam with his ten-year-old daughter, Kathleen . He wishes to bring his war experience alive for his daughter by bringing her to the country that has defined so much of his life. While in Vietnam, Kathleen struggles to understand why the war happened and how her father came to be a part of it. He is unable to coherently explain to her either the political and ideological conflicts that created the conflict or the sequence of events that led to his personal decision to fight in it.

Eventually, O’Brien takes her to the setting of his most harrowing war experience—the field where Kiowa died. Both his daughter and the Vietnamese government interpreter who accompanies them are perplexed as to why he would choose to visit such a place. Kathleen almost immediately notices the stench of the field.

In “Field Trip” in The Things They Carried , O’Brien notes how ordinary and mundane the field looks today, nothing like the filthy hellscape it was the night Kiowa died. It is hard to imagine that this place has loomed so large in his mind for all these years— this field, after all, had killed his close friend, while transforming O’Brien himself into a different person than who he’d been before . This field was the cornerstone of his Vietnam trauma, the place that embodied all the filth and terror of the war. Now, however, he sees it for what it really is: just a drab and unremarkable patch of dirt in a far-flung corner of rural Vietnam, obscure and unremarkable.

In what he hopes is a final act of closure, O’Brien returns Kiowa’s moccasins to the field, letting them sink into the mud . Although a gifted writer, words fail him in this instant. He is unable to come up with anything poignant or meaningful to say during this moment of remembrance. He simply says, “Well, there it is,” as he looks back at the field one last time. In “Field Trip” in The Things They Carried , he feels that he has been buried in that field ever since that terrible night, but that now, perhaps, he has finally found his way out.

Earlier in the book, before “Field Trip” in The Things They Carried , O’Brien reveals why he was unable to write about Kiowa’s death. It is because he feels that he was responsible, not Bowker. Right before the attack, O’Brien and Kiowa had been talking together in the field, sharing stories from back home. O’Brien 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’s position to the enemy, causing the firefight which led to Kiowa’s death. Naturally, O’Brien is haunted because he believes he is responsible for the gruesome death of his friend. This theme remains in “Field Trip” in The Things They Carried .

The next day, the men begin the mournful search for Kiowa’s body in the sewage field. Their boots sink into the filth as they wade through, trying to cover as much ground as they can. Eventually, they find Kiowa’s pack, containing a pair of moccasins and an illustrated New Testament.

Later, they find Kiowa’s submerged body, which requires several men to dig out from the muck. Finding the body causes the men to reflect on the random nature of life and death in Vietnam . What happened to Kiowa could just as easily have happened to any of them. Even Azar is driven to a moment of introspection after the incident. While earlier in the day he had been cracking jokes about Kiowa being “buried in shit,” he later tells his comrades, “Those dumb jokes—I didn’t mean anything.” After finding the pack, Mitchell Sanders becomes enraged at what he perceives as Lieutenant Cross’ incompetent decision to encamp the company in a sewage field, arguing that he ought to have exercised better field discretion and found a safer place for his men to spend the night. The grief of losing fellow soldiers and struggling with blame are also themes of “Field Trip” ( The Things They Carried ).

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What the Vietnam War was like for soldiers on the ground
How Vietnam soldiers dealth with the psychological stress of death around them
How fictional stories can be truer than the truth
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Amanda Penn

Amanda Penn is a writer and reading specialist. She’s published dozens of articles and book reviews spanning a wide range of topics, including health, relationships, psychology, science, and much more. Amanda was a Fulbright Scholar and has taught in schools in the US and South Africa. Amanda received her Master's Degree in Education from the University of Pennsylvania.

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Full Book Summary

Plot summary by chapters.

All Characters
Tim O'Brien
Lt. Jimmy Cross
Bob "Rat" Kiley
Norman Bowker
Henry Dobbins
Mitchell Sanders
Ted Lavender
Dave Jensen and Lee Strunk
Mary Anne Bell
All Literary Devices
Fiction or True Story
All Infographics
Character Map
Biography of author

The Things They Carried: Plot Summary

Table of contents.

“The Things They Carried” by Tim O’Brien is a powerful and introspective novel that delves into the experiences of American soldiers during the Vietnam War. Through a collection of interconnected short stories, O’Brien explores the physical, emotional, and psychological burdens carried by the soldiers, while also examining the nature of truth, memory, and storytelling.

The book opens with the story that shares its title, “The Things They Carried.” In this story, O’Brien introduces the readers to the tangible and intangible objects carried by the soldiers, ranging from weapons and equipment to personal items that hold deep sentimental value. These objects symbolize the weight of the soldiers’ burdens, both literal and metaphorical, as they navigate the challenges of war.

Throughout the book, O’Brien delves into the lives of various soldiers, providing glimpses into their individual experiences. The story “Love” centers around Lieutenant Jimmy Cross, the platoon leader, and his unrequited love for a girl back home. Cross carries letters and photographs of her, which serve as a constant reminder of the emotional weight he carries. His preoccupation with thoughts of her leads to the tragic death of one of his men.

In “Spin,” O’Brien explores the concept of “humping,” the arduous task of carrying heavy equipment through the harsh jungle terrain. The story highlights the physical strain endured by the soldiers and the toll it takes on their bodies and minds. It also reveals the psychological coping mechanisms employed by the soldiers to maintain their sanity in the face of the grueling demands of war.

“On the Rainy River” narrates O’Brien’s personal struggle with the decision to go to war or escape to Canada. As a young man faced with the draft, he wrestles with feelings of shame, fear, and moral confusion. The story delves into the internal conflict experienced by many soldiers torn between personal beliefs and societal expectations.

In “The Man I Killed” and “Ambush,” O’Brien confronts the guilt and trauma resulting from killing an enemy soldier. He vividly describes the aftermath of a violent encounter and the profound impact it has on his psyche. These stories explore the moral ambiguity of war and the lasting emotional consequences endured by those involved.

“How to Tell a True War Story” challenges the notion of absolute truth and the idea that war stories can be objectively conveyed. O’Brien asserts that the truth of war lies in the emotional and psychological truths conveyed through storytelling, rather than in strict factual accuracy. He explores the ways in which the human experience of war defies easy categorization and seeks to capture the complex, contradictory nature of combat narratives.

The final story, “The Lives of the Dead,” reflects on the power of storytelling to preserve the memory of the deceased. O’Brien recalls childhood memories of a girl named Linda who died at a young age. He emphasizes the importance of storytelling in immortalizing the dead and keeping their spirits alive through memory and narrative.

The Things They Carried: Chapter 1

The first chapter of “The Things They Carried” by Tim O’Brien, titled “The Things They Carried,” sets the stage for the entire book. In this opening story, O’Brien introduces the readers to the tangible and intangible items carried by the soldiers serving in the Vietnam War.

The story begins by listing the physical objects that the soldiers carry, emphasizing their weight and significance. These objects include weapons, ammunition, and gear, but they also include personal belongings such as photographs, letters, and good luck charms. O’Brien describes each item in detail, highlighting their individual importance to the soldiers and the memories and emotions attached to them.

As the story progresses, the focus shifts from the physical objects to the intangible burdens carried by the soldiers. O’Brien explains that the soldiers also carry the weight of fear, guilt, and the overwhelming burden of the war itself. The soldiers carry the memories of fallen comrades, the weight of responsibility, and the constant presence of death and danger.

Moreover, O’Brien introduces the concept of storytelling as another burden carried by the soldiers. He explains that storytelling is a means for them to make sense of their experiences, cope with the trauma of war, and connect with others. The act of storytelling allows the soldiers to carry the weight of their experiences and share their stories with one another, creating a bond and a sense of collective memory.

“The Things They Carried” sets the tone for the rest of the book, highlighting the physical and emotional burdens carried by the soldiers and the role of storytelling in navigating the complexities of war. It introduces the theme of the blurred line between truth and fiction and sets the stage for the exploration of memory, trauma, and the human experience of war that follows in the subsequent chapters.

Love: Chapter 2

The second chapter of “The Things They Carried” by Tim O’Brien is titled “Love” and focuses on the character of Lieutenant Jimmy Cross, the platoon leader. The chapter explores the theme of love and its impact on the soldiers’ experiences during the Vietnam War.

In “Love,” O’Brien reveals that Cross carries letters and photographs from a girl back home named Martha. Martha is not Jimmy Cross’s girlfriend, but rather a woman with whom he is infatuated. He imagines a romantic relationship with her, even though their connection is primarily platonic. Cross uses his fantasies about Martha as a form of escapism from the harsh realities of war.

Throughout the chapter, O’Brien recounts instances where Cross’s preoccupation with Martha leads to costly distractions and a loss of focus on his duties as a leader. In one instance, Cross is distracted by thoughts of Martha while his men are under attack, resulting in the death of one soldier, Ted Lavender.

The death of Lavender profoundly affects Cross, and he blames himself for the tragedy. He realizes the weight of his responsibility as a leader and the consequences of his distracted state of mind. Cross feels guilt and remorse for not being fully present and focused on the well-being of his men.

The chapter also explores the emotional toll that war takes on relationships. Cross’s love for Martha is one-sided, as she does not share the same romantic feelings towards him. He carries her letters and photographs as a symbolic connection to a world of love and normalcy, a stark contrast to the violence and brutality of war.

“Love” delves into the complexities of human emotions and the ways in which love, both real and imagined, can impact soldiers in a war zone. It examines the ways in which personal attachments can become burdensome in the midst of a war, distracting soldiers from their responsibilities and adding to their emotional burdens.

Spin: Chapter 3

The third chapter of “The Things They Carried” by Tim O’Brien is titled “Spin” and focuses on the concept of “humping” – the arduous task of carrying heavy equipment through the unforgiving terrain of the Vietnam War.

In “Spin,” O’Brien vividly portrays the physical and psychological toll that humping takes on the soldiers. He describes the weight of the gear they carry, including weapons, ammunition, and supplies, and emphasizes the relentless demands of their mission. The soldiers trudge through muddy jungles and steep mountains, their bodies strained to the limit as they navigate the treacherous landscape.

Throughout the chapter, O’Brien delves into the coping mechanisms employed by the soldiers to endure the grueling task of humping. They engage in light-hearted banter, jokes, and storytelling as a means of distraction and camaraderie. The humor and camaraderie serve as a temporary respite from the physical and emotional burdens they carry.

O’Brien also explores the psychological impact of humping. The soldiers become intimately familiar with the weight of their equipment, feeling it even when they are not actively carrying it. The weight becomes ingrained in their bodies and minds, leaving a lasting impression even after they remove their gear.

“Spin” also highlights the disparity between the physical and psychological burdens carried by the soldiers. While the physical weight can be measured and quantified, the emotional toll remains immeasurable. O’Brien reflects on the mental exhaustion and strain that accompany the physical exhaustion, revealing the immense burden that the soldiers carry on both a physical and psychological level.

The chapter concludes with the soldiers reaching their destination and finding temporary relief from the weight they have carried. They strip off their gear, shedding the physical and metaphorical burdens that have weighed them down. However, the respite is temporary, as they know they will soon have to shoulder their

On the Rainy River: Chapter 4

The fourth chapter of “The Things They Carried” by Tim O’Brien is titled “On the Rainy River” and explores the protagonist’s internal struggle with the decision to go to war or escape to Canada.

In “On the Rainy River,” O’Brien recounts his personal experience as a young man facing the draft during the Vietnam War. He introduces the character Tim O’Brien, who shares his name but may or may not reflect his own experiences.

The chapter begins with O’Brien describing his life in the small town of Worthington, Minnesota, and his initial reluctance to go to war. He feels torn between societal expectations, patriotic duty, and his own personal beliefs. As the draft notice arrives, O’Brien’s internal conflict intensifies.

O’Brien decides to escape to Canada, seeing it as a way to avoid the horrors of war. He makes his way to the Rainy River, which separates the United States and Canada. However, when he arrives at the river, he is overwhelmed by fear, shame, and confusion.

The story takes a reflective turn as O’Brien contemplates the consequences of his decision. He grapples with feelings of cowardice and the judgment he anticipates from others. O’Brien is torn between his own moral convictions and the pressures of societal expectations and familial pride.

Ultimately, O’Brien decides to return to the United States, feeling unable to face the shame and guilt that desertion would bring. He acknowledges that the decision is not a heroic one, but rather one driven by fear and a desire to avoid social stigma.

“On the Rainy River” explores the complexities of patriotism, duty, and personal convictions in the context of war. It highlights the internal struggle faced by many young men during the Vietnam War, torn between their own beliefs and the societal pressures to conform.

The chapter serves as a turning point in the book, setting the stage for the exploration of truth, memory, and the effects of war on the human psyche. It establishes O’Brien’s introspective and reflective narrative voice, providing a deeper understanding of his personal journey and the moral dilemmas faced by soldiers during wartime.

Enemies & Friends: Chapter 5

In the story “Enemies,” the soldiers encounter a young Vietnamese water buffalo while on a mission. The platoon becomes divided on whether to kill the animal or let it go. On one side, some soldiers argue that the buffalo could be a potential threat, while others oppose killing it, seeing it as an innocent creature. Tensions rise as the soldiers debate the situation. Eventually, Azar, one of the soldiers, throws a grenade at the buffalo, killing it. The act leads to a sense of remorse and guilt among the platoon, highlighting the moral complexities and the blurred lines between right and wrong in war.

Friends: Chapter 6

In the story “Friends,” the focus is on the friendship between two soldiers, Dave Jensen and Lee Strunk. Both soldiers make a pact that if either of them is critically injured, the other will euthanize them to spare them from suffering. However, their friendship becomes strained when Jensen breaks Strunk’s nose during a heated argument. Later, Strunk suffers a leg injury, and Jensen contemplates fulfilling their pact. Ultimately, Strunk recovers from the injury and forgives Jensen. The story delves into the complexities of friendship and the extreme circumstances faced by soldiers, highlighting the bonds and tensions that can arise under the pressure of war.

These stories, like others in the book, offer glimpses into the lives of soldiers during the Vietnam War, exploring themes of morality, friendship, and the psychological impact of war. Each story presents a unique perspective on the human experience of warfare and adds to the overall tapestry of the book.

How to Tell a True War Story: Chapter 7

The chapter “How to Tell a True War Story” in “The Things They Carried” by Tim O’Brien is a metafictional exploration of the nature of storytelling and the blurred lines between truth and fiction. O’Brien challenges the notion of objective truth and delves into the emotional and subjective aspects of war narratives.

The chapter begins with O’Brien stating that true war stories are not about war but about the human experience and the often contradictory and complex emotions that arise in such situations. He emphasizes that the truth of a war story lies in its emotional impact rather than strict adherence to factual accuracy.

O’Brien presents various vignettes to illustrate his point. He tells the story of Curt Lemon, a soldier who dies in Vietnam, and describes how Lemon would play dangerous games with his life to prove his bravery. Through this story, O’Brien explores the ambiguity of courage and the irrationality of war.

He also recounts the tale of Rat Kiley, a medic who mutilates a dead Vietnamese soldier out of frustration and anger. O’Brien highlights the horror and despair that war can inflict on individuals, often leading to actions that defy moral norms.

The chapter further examines the relationship between the storyteller and the listener. O’Brien argues that the act of telling a true war story is an act of communion, an attempt to bridge the gap between the experiences of the soldier and the listener who can never fully understand the reality of war.

O’Brien concludes the chapter by presenting a fictionalized account of a soldier who dies from a gunshot wound. He explains that the story is not entirely true but captures the truth of war and its impact on the soldiers.

“How to Tell a True War Story” challenges the traditional notions of truth and reality in storytelling. O’Brien emphasizes the importance of emotional truth and the power of narrative to convey the complex and often contradictory experiences of war. The chapter serves as a meditation on the nature of storytelling itself, inviting readers to question the boundaries between fact and fiction, and to recognize the inherent subjectivity and power of storytelling in shaping our understanding of war.

The Dentist: Chapter 8

The chapter “The Dentist” in “The Things They Carried” by Tim O’Brien delves into the peculiar character of Curt Lemon, a soldier who becomes obsessed with visiting a dentist despite having healthy teeth. The chapter explores the theme of fear and the lengths to which individuals go to confront and overcome their fears in the midst of war.

In “The Dentist,” the narrator recalls the story of Curt Lemon, a soldier known for his reckless behavior. Lemon develops an irrational fear of dentistry and becomes fixated on having a tooth pulled. Despite having no dental issues, he becomes determined to visit a dentist and convinces the platoon to arrange for one.

The soldiers find an Army dentist stationed nearby and take Lemon to the clinic. Upon arrival, Lemon’s fear intensifies, and he becomes increasingly anxious. The dentist, who recognizes the absurdity of the situation, tries to reason with Lemon, assuring him that there is no need for tooth extraction.

However, Lemon insists on going through with the procedure, hoping that it would prove his courage and validate his masculinity. The dentist reluctantly agrees and proceeds to extract a perfectly healthy tooth.

The chapter highlights the irony of Lemon’s situation, as he willingly endures unnecessary pain to confront his fear. It explores the warped sense of bravery and the distorted notions of masculinity that emerge in the context of war.

Furthermore, the chapter serves as a commentary on the absurdity and irrationality of the Vietnam War itself. The soldiers are placed in a hostile and unpredictable environment, facing life-threatening situations, yet they also grapple with their own personal fears and insecurities.

“The Dentist” sheds light on the complex psychological toll of war, revealing the ways in which fear manifests and influences individuals’ actions. It underscores the lengths to which people are willing to go to prove their courage, even if it means subjecting themselves to unnecessary risks and pain.

Through the character of Curt Lemon, O’Brien offers a glimpse into the anxieties and vulnerabilities of soldiers in the midst of a chaotic and uncertain war. The chapter explores the nuanced aspects of fear and the desperate measures individuals take to confront it, further adding to the multifaceted portrayal of the human experience in the Vietnam War.

Sweetheart of the Song Tra Bong: Chapter 9

The chapter “Sweetheart of the Song Tra Bong” in “The Things They Carried” by Tim O’Brien recounts an extraordinary and unsettling tale that takes place during the Vietnam War. The chapter explores the transformative power of war and the ways in which individuals can be profoundly changed by their experiences.

In “Sweetheart of the Song Tra Bong,” the story revolves around Mark Fossie, a soldier stationed in Vietnam. Fossie’s girlfriend, Mary Anne Bell, arrives unexpectedly from the United States and joins him at his outpost. Initially innocent and naive, Mary Anne is eager to experience the war firsthand.

As time passes, Mary Anne gradually undergoes a dramatic transformation. She becomes immersed in the war, embracing the harsh realities and adapting to the environment. She discards her civilian clothing, adopts a soldier’s mentality, and learns to handle weapons.

Mary Anne becomes increasingly involved with the Green Berets, who allow her to accompany them on dangerous missions. Her transformation becomes so complete that she loses touch with her former self, seemingly enchanted by the power and allure of war.

The other soldiers, including the narrator, are both fascinated and disturbed by Mary Anne’s transformation. They witness her assimilation into the brutal and violent world of war, and her transformation becomes a symbol of the war’s ability to shape and change individuals.

However, the story takes a dark turn when Mary Anne disappears into the mountains. Fossie and the others search for her, but she is never found. She becomes a legend among the soldiers, embodying the mysterious and unpredictable nature of war.

“Sweetheart of the Song Tra Bong” explores themes of transformation, the allure of war, and the loss of innocence. The chapter raises questions about the impact of war on individuals and the profound changes it can bring about. It examines the psychological and emotional toll that war takes on those involved, and the ways in which the war environment can both attract and consume individuals.

Through Mary Anne’s character, O’Brien examines the destructive power of war and the ways in which it can strip individuals of their identities and reshape them into something unrecognizable. The chapter serves as a haunting reminder of the profound and lasting effects of war on the human psyche.

Stockings: Chapter 10

In the chapter “Stockings,” the narrator, Tim O’Brien, reflects on the emotional significance of a pair of stockings he received from a fellow soldier’s girlfriend. The stockings are intended as a good luck charm and symbolize the connection between the soldiers and their lives back home.

The chapter explores the power of tangible objects in maintaining a sense of normalcy and humanity amidst the chaos and brutality of war. O’Brien describes how the stockings evoke memories of warmth, intimacy, and femininity, contrasting sharply with the harsh realities of the Vietnam War.

The stockings become a symbolic link to the civilian world and the soldiers’ longing for love, comfort, and stability. They represent the soldiers’ desire for connection, both physical and emotional, and the yearning for a life beyond the confines of war.

O’Brien reflects on the shared experiences and conversations among the soldiers surrounding the stockings. They discuss the significance of the stockings and their own personal connections to home. The stockings become a shared symbol of hope, reminding the soldiers of the love and support they have left behind.

Church: Chapter 11

In this chapter, the soldiers of Alpha Company attend a makeshift church service in the Vietnam War.

In “Church,” the soldiers gather at an abandoned pagoda, led by Lieutenant Cross and the company’s chaplain. The setting is a stark contrast to the violence and chaos of the war, providing a temporary respite from the harsh realities they face.

During the service, the soldiers participate in rituals and prayers, seeking solace and a connection to something greater than themselves. They recite the Lord’s Prayer and listen to the chaplain’s sermon, which centers on the themes of faith, fear, and the uncertainty of war.

As the service progresses, however, the soldiers’ thoughts often wander. They think about their loved ones back home, their fears of dying, and the harsh realities of the war they must confront daily. The soldiers grapple with the dichotomy between their faith and the violence they witness and participate in.

The chapter explores the soldiers’ complex relationship with religion and the challenges they face in reconciling their beliefs with the harshness of war. It reflects on the ways in which faith can provide comfort and hope amidst the chaos, but also acknowledges the doubts and conflicting emotions that arise in such circumstances.

Through the “Church” chapter, O’Brien explores the role of religion in the lives of soldiers and the ways in which it can offer a temporary respite from the traumas of war. It highlights the soldiers’ search for meaning and connection, even in the midst of destruction and despair.

The Man I Killed: Chapter 12

In Chapter 12 of “The Things They Carried” by Tim O’Brien, titled “The Man I Killed,” the narrator, Tim O’Brien, reflects on the death of a young Vietnamese soldier he killed during a skirmish. The chapter delves into the complex emotions and psychological impact that result from taking another person’s life.

“The Man I Killed” begins with a vivid description of the deceased soldier, O’Brien meticulously portraying his physical attributes and imagining the life he might have led. As O’Brien examines the body, he contemplates the profound loss of life and the weight of responsibility that comes with killing.

The chapter delves into O’Brien’s guilt and inner turmoil as he tries to come to terms with the consequences of his actions. He questions the justifications for war and the human cost of violence, grappling with the morality of taking another person’s life.

Throughout the chapter, O’Brien oscillates between reality and imagination, weaving scenarios of the soldier’s past, his family, and the potential futures that will never come to fruition. These imagined scenarios highlight the universal humanity of the enemy and challenge the dehumanization often associated with war.

As O’Brien continues to reflect on the deceased soldier, he acknowledges that he will carry the memory of the man he killed with him for the rest of his life. The chapter ends with O’Brien acknowledging the futility of trying to understand the full complexity of the soldier’s life, acknowledging the inherent limitations of his imagination and perspective.

“The Man I Killed” explores the psychological and emotional toll of war, addressing themes of guilt, remorse, and the dehumanizing effects of violence. It raises profound questions about the nature of war, the moral implications of killing, and the lasting impact it has on those who participate in it.

Ambush: Chapter 13

In Chapter 13 of “The Things They Carried” by Tim O’Brien, titled “Ambush,” the narrator, Tim O’Brien, recounts a pivotal moment from his time as a soldier in the Vietnam War. The chapter explores the complexities of guilt, the unpredictability of war, and the burden of memory.

In “Ambush,” O’Brien shares the story of an ambush he and his fellow soldier, Azar, set up on a trail in the Vietnam jungle. As they lie in wait, a young enemy soldier approaches, seemingly oblivious to the imminent danger. O’Brien hesitates but ultimately throws a grenade, killing the young soldier instantly.

The chapter delves into the immediate aftermath of the ambush and the emotions it evokes in O’Brien. He grapples with a profound sense of guilt and regret for taking another person’s life. He questions the morality of his actions and wonders if he could have chosen a different path.

As O’Brien reflects on the incident, he contemplates the ambiguity of war and the blurred lines between right and wrong. He acknowledges the fundamental uncertainty and confusion that permeates the battlefield, where split-second decisions can have lasting consequences.

The chapter also explores the power of storytelling and the subjective nature of memory. O’Brien admits that over time, his recollection of the events may have become embellished or distorted. He acknowledges that the truth of the story lies not in strict factual accuracy but in the emotional impact and the lasting weight it carries.

“Ambush” serves as a meditation on the psychological and moral dilemmas faced by soldiers in war. It delves into the complexities of decision-making under extreme circumstances and the lifelong repercussions of those choices. The chapter captures the moral ambiguity and the enduring emotional burden that war places on those who experience it firsthand.

Through introspection and introspective narration, O’Brien invites readers to question the nature of warfare, the ethical implications of violence, and the lasting effects of guilt. “Ambush” serves as a poignant reminder of the profound toll that war takes on the human psyche and the complexities of reconciling the weight of one’s actions in the face of a volatile and unpredictable environment.

Style: Chapter 14

In Chapter 14 of “The Things They Carried” by Tim O’Brien, titled “Style,” the narrator explores the power of storytelling and the ways in which truth and fiction intertwine in the retelling of war experiences. The chapter reflects on the role of storytelling in shaping memories, providing solace, and preserving the essence of those who have been lost.

In “Style,” the soldiers engage in a discussion about the different narrative approaches employed by war writers. The narrator, O’Brien, emphasizes the importance of finding the right “style” to convey the true essence of a war story. He emphasizes that storytelling is not solely about factual accuracy but rather about capturing the emotional truth and human experience.

The chapter also delves into the concept of truth in storytelling. O’Brien acknowledges that, at times, he may exaggerate or fabricate certain details to convey the emotional truth of a situation. He argues that truth goes beyond mere facts, insisting that what matters most is the authenticity of the emotions and the connections made through storytelling.

As the soldiers debate the merits of different war stories and writing styles, the chapter underscores the subjective nature of memory and the role of imagination in reconstructing past events. O’Brien emphasizes that the stories we tell ourselves and others shape our understanding of reality and serve as a form of coping and healing.

“Style” serves as a metafictional reflection on the act of storytelling itself. It explores the power of narrative to convey the multifaceted experiences of war and the complexities of capturing the truth in words. The chapter highlights the ways in which storytelling becomes a means of preserving memories, honoring the fallen, and finding solace in the face of trauma.

Through “Style,” O’Brien invites readers to consider the malleability of truth and the subjective nature of memory. It challenges conventional notions of what constitutes a “true” war story and invites us to engage with the deeper emotional truths conveyed through storytelling. Ultimately, the chapter underscores the vital role of storytelling in processing and making sense of the harrowing experiences of war.

Speaking of Courage: Chapter 15

In Chapter 15 of “The Things They Carried” by Tim O’Brien, titled “Speaking of Courage,” the narrator focuses on the character Norman Bowker, a Vietnam War veteran who struggles with the psychological and emotional aftermath of his experiences. The chapter explores themes of guilt, isolation, and the longing for recognition and understanding.

“Speaking of Courage” takes place after the war, as Bowker drives aimlessly around his hometown, unable to find solace or connection with the people and places he once knew. Through internal monologue, O’Brien delves into Bowker’s thoughts and memories, revealing the weight of guilt he carries for a specific incident during the war.

The chapter recounts the story of how Bowker tried to save his comrade Kiowa from sinking into a sewage field, but ultimately failed, leading to Kiowa’s death. Bowker’s inability to save his friend haunts him and fuels his sense of guilt and shame.

As Bowker drives around town, he yearns for recognition and understanding of his experiences in the war. He wants someone to listen to his stories, to acknowledge the sacrifices he made and the horrors he witnessed. However, he struggles to find an audience that can truly comprehend the depth of his emotional burdens.

“Speaking of Courage” highlights the alienation and isolation experienced by many veterans returning from war. It explores the challenges of reintegrating into civilian life and the difficulty of conveying the complex and traumatic nature of their war experiences to those who have not lived through it.

Through Bowker’s story, O’Brien underscores the importance of empathy and understanding in healing the wounds of war. The chapter serves as a powerful reminder of the lasting impact of war on individuals and the necessity of acknowledging and addressing the psychological toll it takes on veterans.

Notes: Chapter 16

In Chapter 16 of “The Things They Carried” by Tim O’Brien, titled “Notes,” the narrator reflects on the aftermath of the war and the process of writing the book itself. This chapter serves as a metafictional exploration of the author’s creative process and the challenges of capturing the essence of war through storytelling.

“Notes” delves into O’Brien’s struggles in translating the experiences of war into words. He acknowledges the limitations of language in conveying the full depth and complexity of the emotions and horrors he and his comrades faced. The chapter emphasizes the role of storytelling as a means of understanding and processing the traumas of war.

O’Brien discusses his attempts to find the right narrative approach, grappling with the weight of responsibility in accurately representing the lives and experiences of his fellow soldiers. He confronts the challenges of memory, acknowledging that the stories he tells may be altered or embellished over time but are nevertheless grounded in emotional truth.

Throughout the chapter, O’Brien addresses the notion of truth in storytelling and its relationship to personal memory and imagination. He recognizes that the stories he tells may not be strictly factual, but they contain a deeper emotional resonance and capture the essence of the war experience.

“Notes” serves as a reflection on the power of storytelling and its ability to transcend time and distance. O’Brien acknowledges the cathartic nature of writing and its role in preserving the memories and experiences of those who have been lost.

Through this chapter, O’Brien invites readers to consider the complexities of representing war through literature. He explores the intersection of memory, truth, and fiction, emphasizing the importance of emotional truth in conveying the impact of war on individuals and society as a whole.

In the Field: Chapter 17

In Chapter 17 of “The Things They Carried” by Tim O’Brien, titled “In the Field,” the narrator recounts a distressing incident that occurs during a mission in Vietnam. The chapter explores the horrors of war, the fragility of life, and the psychological toll it takes on the soldiers.

“In the Field” focuses on the death of Ted Lavender, a young soldier in the platoon. As the platoon moves through the dense jungle, Lavender is suddenly shot and killed. The suddenness and violence of his death leave the soldiers in shock and disbelief.

The chapter delves into the aftermath of Lavender’s death, examining the emotional impact it has on the soldiers. They grapple with feelings of guilt, fear, and grief, haunted by the realization that death can strike at any moment and to anyone.

O’Brien explores the fragility of life and the sense of vulnerability experienced by the soldiers in the face of constant danger. The chapter highlights the psychological toll that witnessing death and experiencing loss has on the soldiers, as they struggle to cope with the brutal realities of war.

Through vivid descriptions and introspective narration, “In the Field” captures the chaos and confusion that permeate the battlefield. O’Brien portrays the sense of disorientation and the surreal nature of war, where life can be extinguished in an instant.

The chapter also raises questions about the morality and purpose of war, as the soldiers confront the human cost and the futility of the violence they are subjected to. It offers a searing critique of the dehumanizing effects of war and the toll it takes on the individuals caught in its midst.

“In the Field” serves as a poignant reminder of the devastating consequences of war and the impact it has on the soldiers who endure its hardships. It encapsulates the themes of loss, trauma, and the fragility of life that permeate the entire novel.

Good Form: Chapter 18

In Chapter 18 of “The Things They Carried” by Tim O’Brien, titled “Good Form,” the narrator delves into the concept of truth in storytelling and the role of fiction in conveying the realities of war. The chapter explores the fluid nature of memory, the reliability of narratives, and the ways in which storytelling can shape our understanding of the past.

“Good Form” begins with the narrator challenging the accuracy of his previous chapters and acknowledging that some details may have been fabricated or altered for the sake of storytelling. He highlights the inherent subjectivity and fallibility of memory, underscoring the difficulty of capturing the full truth of war experiences.

The chapter also explores the literary technique of metafiction, as the narrator questions the purpose and impact of the stories he tells. He acknowledges that some readers may seek a straightforward, factual account of the war, but he argues that the emotional truth conveyed through storytelling is equally valid and meaningful.

Through “Good Form,” O’Brien blurs the boundaries between fact and fiction, challenging the notion of objective truth and emphasizing the power of storytelling to evoke emotional responses and convey deeper truths. The chapter invites readers to question their own assumptions about the nature of truth and the ways in which narratives shape our understanding of the world.

By examining the complexities of memory and storytelling, “Good Form” encourages readers to reflect on the limitations of language and the subjective nature of personal narratives. It raises profound questions about the nature of truth and the ways in which we construct meaning from our experiences.

Ultimately, the chapter serves as a meditation on the nature of storytelling itself, challenging conventional expectations of what constitutes a “true” war story and encouraging readers to engage with the deeper emotional truths that emerge from the intertwining of fact and fiction. “Good Form” underscores the power of storytelling to capture the essence of lived experiences and the profound impact of war on those who endure it.

Field Trip: Chapter 19

After the emotionally devastating story of “In the Field” in Tim O’Brien’s novel “The Things They Carried,” the narrative shifts to the aftermath of the war. O’Brien reveals that years later, he and his ten-year-old daughter visit the site where Kiowa, one of his comrades, tragically lost his life. Accompanied by an interpreter, O’Brien returns to the field that holds painful memories.

As O’Brien surveys the area, he notices that the field appears different from how he remembers it. The passage of time has transformed the landscape, altering the physical features that once held significance. However, the emotional weight and the burden of guilt associated with Kiowa’s death remain unchanged within O’Brien’s heart.

In a symbolic act of reconciliation, O’Brien decides to leave a pair of Kiowa’s moccasins in the spot where he believes his friend sank. This gesture serves as a form of closure for O’Brien, allowing him to come to terms with the loss and to honor the memory of Kiowa.

By leaving the moccasins, O’Brien acknowledges the enduring impact of the war and the lives lost during the conflict. It represents his attempt to pay homage to Kiowa and find a sense of peace within himself. Through this act, O’Brien finds solace in the midst of grief, offering a small tribute to a fallen comrade and symbolically releasing the weight of guilt that has burdened him.

This chapter highlights the lingering effects of war on the human psyche and the importance of finding ways to reconcile with the past. It explores themes of guilt, loss, and the complexities of survivor’s guilt. O’Brien’s pilgrimage to the field and his symbolic gesture demonstrate his commitment to preserving the memory of his fellow soldiers and his ongoing journey towards healing and understanding.

The Ghost Soldiers: Chapter 20

In Chapter 20 of “The Things They Carried” by Tim O’Brien, titled “The Ghost Soldiers,” the narrator recounts a nighttime mission undertaken by the soldiers in Vietnam. The chapter explores themes of fear, vulnerability, and the complexities of human emotions in the midst of war.

“The Ghost Soldiers” centers around a mission to retrieve the body of a fallen soldier, Curt Lemon, who had been killed earlier in the novel. The soldiers are tasked with infiltrating an enemy-controlled area under the cover of darkness.

As they navigate the treacherous jungle, the soldiers’ fear and apprehension intensify. They are haunted by the presence of the unseen enemy, who seems to lurk in every shadow and rustle of foliage. The soldiers grapple with their mortality and the fragile nature of their existence in the hostile environment.

Amidst the tension and fear, O’Brien explores the depth of human emotion and the ways in which fear can affect individuals differently. Some soldiers exhibit bravery, while others succumb to panic and display irrational behavior. The chapter delves into the psychological toll of war, highlighting the fragile nature of the human psyche in such extreme circumstances.

“The Ghost Soldiers” also explores the theme of camaraderie and the bonds forged among soldiers in times of adversity. The soldiers support and rely on each other for survival, demonstrating the strength that can be found in shared experiences and collective purpose.

Throughout the chapter, O’Brien conveys the surreal and disorienting nature of war. The uncertainty, the darkness, and the constant threat of danger create a palpable sense of unease and tension. The narrative reflects the chaos and confusion of the battlefield, as well as the individual struggles faced by the soldiers.

Night Life: Chapter 21

In Chapter 21 of “The Things They Carried” by Tim O’Brien, titled “Night Life,” the narrator reflects on the experiences and emotions of soldiers during their downtime in Vietnam. The chapter explores themes of escapism, longing, and the contrast between the harsh realities of war and the desire for normalcy.

“Night Life” takes place in the city of Saigon, where the soldiers are granted a brief respite from the dangers of the war zone. The chapter focuses on the interactions between the soldiers and the local Vietnamese people, particularly the relationships they form with Vietnamese women.

O’Brien portrays a vibrant nightlife scene in Saigon, filled with bars, clubs, and brothels. The soldiers seek solace and temporary relief from the horrors of war through these encounters. They yearn for human connection, intimacy, and a taste of normalcy in an otherwise chaotic and dehumanizing environment.

However, beneath the surface of these interactions lies a sense of loneliness, longing, and a profound sense of displacement. The soldiers are acutely aware of the transient nature of their relationships and the barriers that separate them from the Vietnamese people. The cultural and language barriers serve as reminders of the underlying tensions and conflicts of the war.

Through “Night Life,” O’Brien explores the complexities of desire, highlighting the ways in which the soldiers seek comfort and escape from the traumas of war. He captures the yearning for connection and the pursuit of temporary happiness in an environment defined by violence and uncertainty.

The chapter also examines the moral ambiguity of these encounters, as the soldiers grapple with their own actions and the consequences of their choices. It raises questions about the impact of war on individuals’ moral compasses and the ethical implications of seeking solace in the midst of conflict

The Lives of the Dead: Chapter 22 Summary

In the final chapter of “The Things They Carried” by Tim O’Brien, titled “The Lives of the Dead,” the narrator reflects on the power of storytelling and the impact of war on his own life. The chapter explores themes of memory, loss, and the ways in which stories can bring the dead back to life.

“The Lives of the Dead” begins with the narrator recounting his childhood fascination with death and his first encounter with mortality when his childhood sweetheart, Linda, passed away from a brain tumor. He recalls how Linda’s death deeply affected him and sparked his interest in storytelling as a means of preserving memories and bringing the deceased back to life.

As the chapter progresses, the narrator describes his experiences in Vietnam and the lasting impact of the war on him and his fellow soldiers. He reflects on the deaths of his comrades, including Curt Lemon and Kiowa, and the weight of their memories that continue to shape his life.

Throughout the chapter, O’Brien weaves together personal anecdotes, dreams, and fictional stories to illustrate the interconnectedness of life and death. He contemplates the notion that storytelling has the power to transcend mortality by keeping the memories and experiences of the dead alive.

“The Lives of the Dead” serves as a poignant conclusion to the novel, as the narrator grapples with the lingering effects of war and the significance of storytelling in processing grief and making sense of the past. The chapter encapsulates the overarching theme of the book: the power of storytelling to convey the complexities of human experiences, particularly in the context of war.

By blending reality and imagination, O’Brien blurs the lines between fact and fiction, challenging traditional notions of truth and inviting readers to reflect on the nature of storytelling and its ability to shape our understanding of the world.

In “The Lives of the Dead,” O’Brien offers a profound meditation on the intertwined nature of life and death, memory and storytelling. The chapter serves as a reminder of the enduring impact of war and the importance of preserving the memories and stories of those who have been lost.

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The Things They Carried

Tim o’brien, ask litcharts ai: the answer to your questions.

The Things They Carried is a collection of twenty-two stories chronicling the author, Tim O'Brien's, recollections of his time as a soldier in the Vietnam War. While O'Brien admits in the book to often blurring the line between fact and fiction, the names of the characters in the book are those of real people. Since it is a collection of stories rather than a novel, there is not a traditional narrative arc with a beginning, middle, and end. Yet, the entire collection functions as a self-contained work because it is so loyal to its themes and characters.

"The Things They Carried:" This story introduces the reader to O'Brien's platoon leader, Lieutenant Jimmy Cross . The story travels between Cross' infatuation with a girl named Martha that he's in love with based on a single date in college, the death of the soldier Ted Lavender , and an itemized chronicle of what the men carried at war, from supplies, to tokens of luck, to emotions.

"Love:" Jimmy Cross visits Tim O'Brien long after the war has ended and they swap war stories over a bottle of gin. The topic of Martha comes up, and Cross confesses that he still loves her. He tells the story of how he saw Martha at a college reunion after the war. She had never married. Cross asks O'Brien to write a story about him that makes him appear to be the best platoon leader ever, hoping Martha would read it and find him.

"Spin:" A story of Tim O'Brien's fragmented memories from the war. Mitchell Sanders sends his body lice to his hometown draft board. Norman Bowker and Henry Dobbins play checkers every night. O'Brien's daughter, Kathleen , says he should stop writing so many war stories. O'Brien recalls Kiowa teaching Rat Kiley and Dave Jensen a rain dance. Ted Lavender adopted a puppy that Azar blew up. Kiowa told O'Brien he had no choice but to kill the armed man on the path. O'Brien says he must write stories because that's all that's left when memory is gone.

"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. Berdahl takes him out on a boat so he's only yards away from Canadian soil. O'Brien feels forced to go to war for fear of embarrassing himself and his family, more than he fears death.

"Enemies:" Dave Jensen and Lee Strunk get in a brutal fight over a stolen jackknife where Jensen breaks Strunk's nose. After Strunk returns from a few days in medical care, Jensen becomes paranoid that Strunk will retaliate by killing him. Jensen isolates himself for a week, and eventually loses it and starts shooting his gun in the air until he's out of ammo. Then he breaks his own nose with a pistol and asks Strunk if they're even. Strunk says they are.

"Friends:" Dave Jensen and Lee Strunk become friends after their fight and start doing everything in pairs. They make a pact and sign it that reads one is obligated to kill the other if one is harmed so badly in battle that they would be wheelchair bound. Later that month, Strunk gets most of his right leg blown off in combat. As the soldiers wait for a medic chopper, Strunk comes in and out of consciousness begging for Jensen not to kill him. Jensen promises he won't. Strunk dies in the chopper, and Jensen appears relieved.

"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 platoon of soldiers that started having auditory hallucinations. When O'Brien tells the story of Lemon's death, usually an older woman will say it's too sad, and O'Brien resolves he has to keep telling the stories and adding to them to make them truer.

"The Dentist:" Curt Lemon , a soldier that Tim O'Brien didn't particularly because of his hyper-macho personae, is eulogized in a quick story. Lemon enjoyed combat and was known for his dangerous antics, but he was terrified of the Army dentist that all of the soldiers had to see. When the dentist touched him, Lemon fainted. When he came to, he spent the rest of the day in a stupor, cursing himself. In the night, Lemon woke the dentist and forced him to pull out a perfectly healthy tooth.

"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 Fossie, and joins the Green Berets in battle.

"Stockings:" Henry Dobbins , a loveable, gentle-giant, had a peculiar ritual of wrapping his girlfriend's stockings around his neck before dangerous missions. At first Dobbins was made fun of, but then the platoon started to believe in the power of the stockings because Dobbins was never hurt in battle, even when he was standing in open fire and stepped on a mine that didn't go off. When Dobbins' girlfriend breaks up with him, he still wears the stockings and says the magic didn't leave.

"Church:" The platoon uses a pagoda where two monks live as an operations base for a week. The two monks like the soldiers, but they particularly love Henry Dobbins . Dobbins tells Kiowa he might become a monk after the war, but confesses he could never be a minister because he can't answer the hard questions about life and death. Kiowa, who always carries the New Testament, doesn't feel that it's right that they're using a church as a base. Dobbins agrees.

" 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 to him.

"Ambush:" O'Brien's daughter, Kathleen , asks him if he's ever killed anyone. He lies and says he hasn't, but then addresses the story to an adult Kathleen and promises to give the truth. He recalls the image of the young man outside of My Khe and how the memory haunts him still, but in his memories the young man keeps walking down the path and survives.

"Style:" A young Vietnamese girl dances in the charred remains of her village. Azar keeps asking why she is dancing. From where her house was, the soldiers find the corpses of the girl's family. She continues to dance. Later, when the soldiers have left the village, Azar dances like the girl in a mocking way. Henry Dobbins picks up Azar and holds him over a well, threatening to drop him if he won't stop and "dance right."

"Speaking of Courage:" Follows Norman Bowker at home after he returns from the war to the Unites States on the Fourth of July. Bowker drives repeatedly around a lake in his hometown, reminiscing about the night Kiowa died. He remembers seeing Kiowa's boot and trying to pull but Kiowa was too stuck so Bowker fled. Bowker has convinced himself he would have won the Silver Star if he had pulled Kiowa out, and that Kiowa would still be alive. Bowker feels like he has no one to talk to, and imagines telling his father that he was a coward. He imagines his father consoling him with the many medals he did win. Bowker wades into the lake and watches the fireworks.

"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 of "Speaking of Courage" that he publishes, sends to Bowker, but is not truly proud of. Bowker doesn't react well to the story because it was doctored to fit into O'Brien's novel and lacks the truth of what happened to Kiowa in Vietnam. O'Brien hopes the story will speak to his failure to protect Kiowa and to Bowker's courage.

"In the Field:" Chronicles the search to find Kiowa buried under the muck after enemy mortar rounds killed him. The story is split between Lieutenant Jimmy Cross' guilt fueling his conviction to write Kiowa's father a letter, the young soldier ( O'Brien ) who feels he killed Kiowa by turning on his flashlight in the dark to show him a picture of his girlfriend, and the men of the platoon who eventually pull Kiowa out.

"Good Form:" O'Brien toys with the function of Truth in storytelling, and how there are different kinds of truth in a story, particularly a war story. There is story-truth and happening-truth. He claims he wouldn't be lying if he said he killed the young man outside of My Khe but he also wouldn't be lying if he claimed he did not kill him.

"Field Trip:" O'Brien takes his ten-year-old daughter Kathleen with him to Vietnam. With a translator, they visit the field where Kiowa died. The field looks different than O'Brien remembers. He wades out into the water and buries the pair of Kiowa's moccasins where he believes Kiowa's rucksack was found. His daughter Kathleen asks about the old farmer staring at O'Brien and thinks he looks angry, but O'Brien says that's all over.

"The Ghost Soldiers:" O'Brien recalls the two bullets he caught in Vietnam. Rat Kiley immediately treated the first bullet, while the second nearly killed him because the new medic, Bobby Jorgenson , was in shock while the platoon was under fire. O'Brien wants revenge on Jorgenson, but only Azar will help him try to scare the medic. They try to terrify Jorgensen one night by pretending to be the enemy, but Jorgenson doesn't scare and O'Brien is forced to let go of his grudge when they agree they're even.

"Night Life:" A second-hand account of how Rat Kiley shot his own foot to get out of the line of duty. The platoon had heard rumors of an imminent enemy attack, and only operated by walking at night. Everyone was affected, but Rat Kiley started to lose it. After he shot his foot, Lieutenant Jimmy Cross told the chopper that carried him away it had been an accident.

"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" Summary

The stories were based on O’Brien’s experiences while serving as a soldier in the U.S. Army during the Vietnam War. O’Brien was motivated to write the book after returning from Vietnam and being shocked to see how little American civilians knew about the war.

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"The Things They Carried" Plot Overview

"The Things They Carried" is a collection of 22 connected short stories following the experiences of a U.S. Army platoon in South Vietnam during the war. The book’s central characters are the soldiers in the platoon. They were based on real people, but at times the author blurred the line between fact and fiction.

“Love” is a story that takes place after the war, when O’Brien meets up with his old platoon leader Jimmy Cross. They talk about his obsession with Martha and Cross admits that he still loves her and that she never married. He hoped that O’Brien could write a heroic story about him in his book, thinking that Martha would be impressed.

“Enemies” is about two soldiers, Dave Jensen and Lee Strunk, who get into a fight in which Jensen breaks Strunk’s nose. Strunk is sent to the hospital and when he returns to the platoon, Jensen is worried that Strunk will try to kill him for revenge. Jensen avoids Strunk until his madness drives him to break his own nose with his pistol. He then asks Strunk if they are “even” now, and Strunk agrees that they are.

“Friends” is the follow-up story to “Enemies”. Strunk and Jensen have become close friends and do everything together. The two make a pact, agreeing that if either of them is severely wounded in battle, the other will finish him off as an act of mercy. Later, Strunk loses most of his leg in a battle. He begs Jensen not to shoot him as they had previously agreed. Jensen sees Strunk off to the medevac chopper, but later learns that Strunk died en route to the hospital.

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“The Dentist” is about a hyper-macho, courageous soldier who actually enjoyed combat. In combat he behaves recklessly and without fear. However, he is extremely afraid of a certain army dentist. During one attempt to visit the dentist, the fearless soldier faints. The solder agonizes over his fear about going to the dentist so much that one night, he wakes the dentist and forces him to pull one of his teeth. The tooth turned out to be entirely healthy, and the pain the soldier felt was only in his own mind.

“Spin” is a story about the platoon members’ unusual habits and quirks. It is told in a series of short, disconnected anecdotes about the different soldiers in the platoon. O’Brien’s daughter, Kathleen, says he tells too many war stories. For O’Brien, writing war stories is a way to preserve memories, his own and those of his platoon mates.

“On the Rainy River” follows O’Brien before the war, when he attempts to avoid the draft board by going to Canada. In the forests near the border between the US and Canada, O’Brien finds a tourist lodge run by a man named Elroy Berdahl. He spends six days at the lodge with Berdahl, trying to decide whether or not to cross the border into Canada. Berdahl offers to take him across in a boat, but in the end, O’Brien decides to return and join the military. He explains that he felt he was forced to go to war because he feared embarrassing his family more than facing death. O’Brien doesn’t see it as courageous. He thinks he took the cowardly way out because he let other people’s opinions compel him into going to war.

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In “Field Trip” , another story that takes place long after the war, O’Brien travels with his daughter to find the place where one of his fellow soldiers, Kiowa, was killed. Kiowa had been killed in a mortar attack and his body sank into mud and had to be dug out after the battle. When O’Brien finds the place where the battle happened, many years after the war, he is surprised to find the area doesn’t look as he remembered it. He buries the dead soldier’s keepsake (a pair of moccasins) in the place where he believes he had died.

In “Church” , the platoon uses a Buddhist pagoda as a base of operations. They interact with the temple monks and discuss their own feelings about religion. Although the monks do not seem to mind the platoon’s presence, Kiowa, one of the soldiers, is upset at the idea of using a religious site as a base. Kiowa is seen as a very religious soldier because he carried a Bible with him everywhere, but it is revealed that he only does this because of his upbringing.

“Stockings” is about a soldier named Dobbins who would wear his girlfriend’s stockings around his neck when sleeping, and sometimes in combat. He continues to do so even after learning she wants to break up with him, because he believes her stockings keep him protected. After he survives several deadly encounters without a single scratch, other members of the platoon start believing in the stockings’ powers.

In “How to Tell a True War Story” , O’Brien discusses how soldiers are always telling war stories. He writes that many of these stories are false, or at least partially false. He explains that soldiers tell war stories to cope with their situation in war and to understand it afterward. O’Brien explains how to tell what’s true or not in these stories, and says the listener can tell the difference by the amount of questions the story provokes. He also suggests that it doesn’t matter if everything in the story is totally factually true, because such stories are about conveying the emotions of the experience, not historical truth.

In “The Man I Killed” , O’Brien describes how he killed an enemy. He struggles with this knowledge and imagines an alternate reality where he didn’t kill the man and he survives the war. O’Brien imagines a whole life story after the war for the dead fighter.

In “Ambush” , O’Brien is asked by his daughter after the war if he ever killed anyone. He lies and says no, but then recounts one of the times when he did. The story begins with a graphic description of the dead man’s body as O’Brien saw it. Long after the war, O’Brien can still see the man he killed walking down the jungle path where he was killed.

"Sweetheart of the Song Tra Bong” is a story told to O’Brien by the platoon medic Rat Kiley. The story is about one soldier whose unit spent its time in a very quiet sector of the front. It is so quiet and boring that one soldier finds a way to sneak his girlfriend into his base. But things go wrong when she loses interest in him and becomes infatuated with the war. She ultimately leaves him.

In the story “Style” , the platoon finds a village that has been destroyed by bombing. A very young Vietnamese girl is dancing in the ruins of a destroyed house, and the soldiers are confused. They approach the house and find the bodies of the girl’s family in the rubble. The girl continues to dance, and some of the soldiers wonder if her dance is some kind of ritual. Later, one soldier mocks the girl, causing another soldier to threaten to kill him if he doesn’t show respect.

“Speaking of Courage” is another story that takes place after the war. It is a story of one of O’Brien’s platoon mates, Norman Bowker, who returns from the war and had no friends to talk to about his experiences. He spends his time driving around a lake, remembering how his friend Kiowa died. Kiowa’s leg got caught in some mud when the platoon came under mortar fire, and Bowker, after failing to pull him out, ran in fear. He feels responsible for Kiowa’s death and thinks he was a coward for running away.

“Notes” is about how O’Brien wrote the story “Speaking of Courage.” Bowker had written him a long letter asking him to write a letter about someone who felt as though they died after the war. O’Brien agrees and writes a version of the story that would become “Speaking of Courage.” Bowker doesn’t like the story because O’Brien distorts the truth about what happened to Kiowa. Unable to adjust to civilian life after the war, Bowker later committed suicide.

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“In the Field” tells the story of trying to find Kiowa’s dead body after it was buried under mud in a mortar attack. Jimmy Cross, the platoon leader, must write a letter to Kiowa’s parents about their son’s death. O’Brien feels responsible for the death because he used his flashlight at night, which he thinks allowed the enemy to detect the platoon. Eventually the men find Kiowa’s body and pull it from the muck.

“Good Form” is another story about war stories, and the truth or fiction that is a part of them. O’Brien writes about how there are different kinds of truth in war stories. One example he gives was a story about killing a young Vietnamese fighter. He says he would not be lying if he said he killed the soldier, but also if he said he hadn’t. He says the purpose of the story, which was to convey the feelings of the war, is more important than the truth.

In “Ghost Soldiers” , O’Brien writes about two occasions when he was shot. In the first case, he was saved by the platoon medic, Rat Kiley. He was nearly killed the second time, however, because the platoon’s new medic froze up when the platoon came under fire. He decides he wants to get revenge on the new medic, so he and some of his friends decide to scare him at night by pretending to be the enemy. But he is surprised when the new medic doesn’t scare so easily.

“Night Life” is a story about the platoon medic Rat Kiley, and how he left the platoon. The platoon is forced to sleep during the days and march through the nights, looking for the enemy. No enemy is ever encountered and the regimen starts to negatively affect the soldiers. Rat Kiley is haunted by the deaths of some of his platoon mates. He has doubts about his ability to be a combat medic because of the blood and body parts he sees. Once he has a gruesome dream about his own death, and in the morning he shoots himself in the foot, hoping to be sent home. The platoon leader Jimmy Cross knows Kiley shot himself on purpose, but he also knows how brave Kiley was in the past. The other platoon members also believe in Kiley. When Cross has to evacuate Kiley in a helicopter, he vouches for him by telling the other medics that Kiley’s wound was an accident.

“The Lives of the Dead” compares O’Brien’s first experiences of war with the first time he saw a dead body as a child. In the story, O’ Brien’s platoon receives fire from a village, and the platoon leader calls in an air strike that destroys it. A fellow soldier finds the dead body of an old man and pokes it with a stick, encouraging O’Brien to do the same. O’Brien refuses because he has respect for the dead. Another soldier asks him if the old man was the first dead body he ever saw. It wasn’t. When he was young, his childhood friend Linda died of brain cancer at the age of 9. O’Brien writes about the ways in which he still sees or thinks of the people in his life he lost, like Linda and his fellow soldiers. He concludes that the dead still live through people’s memories.

The Things They Carried

By tim o'brien.

The Things They Carried Summary

The Things They Carried is a collection of twenty-two stories, or chapters. All focus on the Alpha Company and the fate of its soldiers after they return home to America. A character named Tim O’Brien (same name as the author) narrates most of the stories.

In “The Things They Carried,” the Alpha Company is mobilized to fight in the Vietnam War. The soldiers carry goods necessary to their survival as well personal items. Lieutenant Jimmy Cross carries letters and photos from a female friend named Martha , and spends most of his time mooning over her. The first casualty for the company is Ted Lavender , shot dead while relieving himself. Cross blames himself for the death because he thinks he was too busy thinking about Martha to properly take care of his troops. He burns her letters and photographs and decides to be a better leader.

In “Love,” Jimmy goes to visit the narrator, Tim O’Brien, in his home in Massachusetts after the war. Cross relates that he bumped into Martha after she got home, and that he still loves her although she doesn’t love him back. He has never forgiven himself for Lavender’s death, but pleads with O’Brien to portray him as a great leader if the writer ever writes about their experiences.

“Spin” is made up of a collection of recollections of the ordinary things soldiers do when they are at war, such as playing chess games. O’Brien compares the war to a Ping-Pong ball, saying that one can spin it in many different directions. He is now a 43-year-old writer who only writes war stories. His daughter thinks he should find a happier topic, but O’Brien keeps replaying the gruesome war scenes over and over in his mind.

In “On The Rainy River,” O’Brien describes the decision of whether or not to go to war after receiving his draft card. He had just graduated college and planned to go to Harvard for graduate school. He was split between the instinct to run, and the instinct to do what everyone expected: go to war. He took the car up to the Canadian border, and a friendly hotel owner rowed him along a river right up to Canada. In the end he couldn’t bring himself to jump out of the boat. He cried in the boat, paid Elroy for the room, and drove home. It is a hard story for O’Brien to tell, he writes, because it shows that he was a coward and that he made the wrong choice.

In “Enemies,” two members of the company, Lee Strunk and Dave Jensen , get into a fistfight over a missing penknife. Jensen wins the fight and breaks Strunk’s nose. Jensen borrows a pistol and uses it to break his own nose. Then he asks Strunk if they are “square.” Strunk says yes and laughs at his new friend -- because he was the one who had stolen Jensen’s knife in the first place. In “Friends,” Dave Jensen and Lee Strunk make a pact that if either were seriously injured or crippled, the other would find a way to kill him. In October Lee Strunk steps on a mortar and loses his leg as a result of the accident. He is terrified, because he thinks Jensen will kill him. Later the men find out that Strunk has died, which seems to relieve Jensen of a big burden.

In “How to Tell a True War Story,” Curt Lemon steps on a mortar and is killed. O’Brien has to go up into a tree to pick out his remains, and one of the other men makes a bad pun on “lemon tree,” similar to many other morbid jokes the soldiers make throughout the book After Lemon's death, Rat Kiley writes his sister a long letter to which she never responds. Rat dismisses her as a “dumb cooze.” O’Brien says this is a true story because such stories are unsentimental, seem too crazy to believe, or else never end. Another “true” story O’Brien tells is about a water buffalo the company tortured after Lemon died. It seems incomprehensible, so it must be true, he writes.

After Curt Lemon was killed, and O’Brien describes having a hard time mourning him in “The Dentist.” Lemon was a macho guy, but one day a dentist came in on a helicopter to check up on the men’s teeth. Lemon was so afraid that when it was his turn he passed out in the dentist’s chair. Then he was so ashamed that he woke up the dentist in the middle of the night, insisted that he had a toothache, and made the dentist remove a perfectly good tooth.

O’Brien retells a story that he first heard from Rat Kiley in “Sweetheart of the Song Tra Bong.” Before joining up with Alpha, Kiley was stationed at a medical detachment near the village of Tra Bong along with a special force called the Green Berets. A young man named Mark Fossie imported in his American girlfriend. Fossie got upset when she didn't return to their quarters one night. It turns out she wasn’t cheating on him, but was on ambush duty with the Green Berets. Later, Fossie finds her in the Green Beret encampment wearing a necklace made of human tongues. In the end, she becomes a killer and disappears into the mountains by herself.

Henry Dobbins keeps his girlfriends’ stockings wrapped around his neck for good luck, and credits them with the fact that he never gets shot. Then, in “Stockings,” his girlfriend says she wants to break up. He continues to wear the stockings around his neck all the same. In “Church,” the company sets up camp at a pagoda where a few monks still remain. The monks especially like Henry Dobbins, who talks about possibly joining the order and gives the monks some chocolate and peaches as a parting gift.

In “The Man I Killed,” Tim O’Brien surveys the man he killed, repeating the same details over and over: He has thin, arched eyebrows, like a woman; he is thin, with a concave chest, like a scholar. O’Brien imagines that the man was always afraid to go to war, was possibly in love, was possibly a scholar. Kiowa tries to get O’Brien to stop staring at the corpse, with no success.

In “Ambush” O’Brien’s nine-year-old daughter, Kathleen , asks her father if he has ever killed anyone. Of course not, O’Brien tells her; he thinks when she is a grown-up she will understand better. In “Style,” his company enters a burnt-down compound full of dead bodies, and the only living person they find is a young girl, dancing. Azar thinks she is performing some strange rite. Dobbins thinks she is dancing because she likes to dance.

In “Speaking of Courage,” Norman Bowker returns to his hometown after the war is over. His best friend is dead and his ex-girlfriend has married someone else, so he has no one to talk to about why he failed to get a Silver Star medal for courage. He imagines a conversation with his father about the subject; the reason he didn’t get the medal was that he let his comrade Kiowa die in a shit field after Kiowa was shot. Bowker stops for a burger, drives around his hometown lake, and stops to admire the sunset. In 1975, writes O’Brien in “Notes,” he received a letter from Bowker telling the story that he retells in “Speaking of Courage.” O’Brien wants to emphasize that he made up the part about Bowker failing to save Kiowa and worrying about why he didn’t get the Silver Star. The letter shook O’Brien, who had congratulated himself on adjusting so well, transitioning straight from Vietnam to Harvard. In 1978, Bowker hanged himself.

All 18 soldiers in the company search for Kiowa’s body in the shit field in “In the Field.” Bowker eventually locates Kiowa’s body. Cross mentally rehearses different letters he might write to Kiowa’s father; perhaps he will take responsibility for the death, perhaps not. Instead of writing the letter to Kiowa’s father, he decides, he’ll play golf. In “Good Form,” O’Brien, the 43-year-old writer/narrator, says that “story truth”, i.e. what happens in the story, is more important than “happening truth,” i.e. what happened in reality. A few months after writing “In the Field,” O’Brien returns to Vietnam with his daughter, Kathleen, who is ten. In “Field Trip,” she doesn’t understand what the war was about, nor why her father insists on traveling to a funny-smelling place (the shit field). O’Brien buries a pair of Kiowa’s moccasins where his friend died, and tries to say goodbye.

O’Brien blames Bobby Jorgenson , a young medic who replaced Rat Kiley with the company, for almost letting him die of shock after getting shot. In “The Ghost Soldiers,” O’Brien enlists Azar’s help to get revenge on Jorgenson. They make noises outside Jorgenson’s encampment to make him think he is being attacked. Jorgenson is terrified, but then he figures out it's just O’Brien, and the two say they are “even.” “Night Life” is the account, culled secondhand from another soldier, of how Rat Kiley went beserk and had to leave the company. The strain of the war was too much for him and he shot himself in the foot to be discharged from the army.

In “The Lives of the Dead” O’Brien writes that the purpose of stories is to save lives. He had been in love with a nine-year-old, Linda , when he was also nine. They went on a date, and then she died of a brain tumor. Afterwards, he made dates with her in his dreams, and they went ice-skating together. The purpose of stories, writes O’Brien, is to make people like Linda or the soldiers killed in Vietnam live again.

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The Things They Carried Questions and Answers

The Question and Answer section for The Things They Carried is a great resource to ask questions, find answers, and discuss the novel.

is this a war story, per se? if so who is the main character, and why?

This particular story is more about sexual longing than war. Mark Fossie seems to be the main character who wants to import his girlfriend.

What is it that Jimmy cross carries with him? What do they represent?

Jimmy always carries letters from Martha. His identity and hopes for the future are part of those letters.

How does Tim kill his first enemy

I think with a grenade.

Study Guide for The Things They Carried

The Things They Carried study guide contains a biography of Tim O'Brien, literature essays, quiz questions, major themes, characters, and a full summary and analysis.

About The Things They Carried
Character List

Essays for The Things They Carried

The Things They Carried essays are academic essays for citation. These papers were written primarily by students and provide critical analysis of The Things They Carried by Tim O'Brien.

Rationalizing the Fear Within
Physical and Psychological Burdens
Role of Kathleen and Linda in The Things They Carried
Let’s Communicate: It’s Not About War
Turning Over a New Leaf: Facing the Pressures of Society

Lesson Plan for The Things They Carried

About the Author
Study Objectives
Common Core Standards
Introduction to The Things They Carried
Relationship to Other Books
Bringing in Technology
Notes to the Teacher
Related Links
The Things They Carried Bibliography

The Things They Carried
Tim O'Brien
Literature Notes
Book Summary
About The Things They Carried
Character List
Summary and Analysis
On the Rainy River
Enemies and Friends
How to Tell a True War Story
The Dentist
Sweetheart of Song Tra Bong
The Man I Killed and Ambush
Speaking of Courage
In the Field
The Ghost Soldiers
The Lives of the Dead
Character Analysis
Lt. Jimmy Cross
Norman Bowker
Mary Anne Bell
Henry Dobbins
Tim O'Brien Biography
Critical Essays
The Things They Carried in a Historical Context
Narrative Structure in The Things They Carried
Style and Storytelling in The Things They Carried
The Things They Carried and Loss of Innocence
The Things They Carried and Questions of Genre
Full Glossary for The Things They Carried
Essay Questions
Practice Projects
Cite this Literature Note

Summary and Analysis Field Trip

O'Brien and his daughter travel to Vietnam and visit the site of Kiowa's death. O'Brien and 10-year-old Kathleen visit the tourist spots, which she enjoys, but it is clear to him that she does not understand the war that had happened 20 years earlier. She wonders "why was everybody so mad at everybody else." She thinks her father is "weird" because he cannot forget the past.

They arrive at the field where Kiowa died, and O'Brien notes how it looks like any farming field now. They walk to where the field meets the river. O'Brien unwraps a cloth bundle that holds Kiowa's old moccasins. With the moccasins, he wades in, swimming out to where Kiowa's rucksack had been recovered, and reaches in and wedges the moccasins into the river bottom. O'Brien holds the glance of an old Vietnamese farmer working nearby, whom Kathleen thinks looks angry. The man holds a shovel over his head like a flag, and O'Brien tells his daughter that the anger that the man would have felt was finished and in the past.

The point of this vignette is for O'Brien to attain some closure for the loss of Kiowa. He held an image in his mind for over 20 years of the field where Kiowa had died, but he immediately finds that the reality is nothing like the image in his mind. For example, now the land seems to be at peace, where before every hill and blade of grass made him feel fear at night — the fear of war. Neither his memory nor his field trip were truer than the other — they were simply different truths. O'Brien questions what is Vietnam: Is it a memory, is it a country, is it both, or is it neither?

Not insignificantly, O'Brien brings his daughter, Kathleen, on this trip, for he wants her to understand more about his past. Yet he finds that as attentive and interested as she is, she does not understand much, like the need to trek out into one of a thousand fields in the middle of a foreign country. When she asks about the meaning, all O'Brien can do is give an obscure answer. At first he says that there are three different perspectives, Kathleen's, his own, and those who sent him to this country. In the end, though, he simply answers, "I don't know." It is not that Vietnam has no meaning, but that he cannot understand or explain it to anyone else, even his own daughter.

Kathleen does not see the need to remember; she calls her father "weird" for his inability to forget that past. O'Brien does not see himself as weird, however, and although he never says it, he must regret his daughter's immediate desire to ignore such an important piece of his past. Perhaps this is why when they are in the field, he does not make an exhaustive effort to explain everything to her.

The scene in the field is the climax of the story, where for once the production of meaning comes from O'Brien rather than simply having meaning swarm around him. He describes the field as the locus for his emotional emptiness; he blames it for the man he has become. It is in this field, however, that he is finally able to create meaning for some part of what happened to him. Unlike the dancing girl from "Style" and the unintelligible monks from "Church," this time it is O'Brien, wading out into the marsh, touching the water, who is participating in an action that has a meaning. Conversely, Kathleen is now the observer who can merely look upon her father and not understand what he is doing. So O'Brien the writer creates a cycle where meaning and ignorance move through a generation. Now he as an ex-soldier, a friend, a father, and also a writer will tell stories and give meaning. His audience, however, may not understand him, and maybe be left only to mock his movements rather than participate and communicate with him. O'Brien's battle has shifted from a field in Vietnam to a culture, and rather than a gun or knife he now has a story, a book, and a family with which he must contend.

Ho Chi Minh's mausoleum Burial place of Ho Chi Minh, Vietnamese leader and first president of North Vietnam (1954-1969). His army was victorious in the French Indochina War (1946-1954), and he later led North Vietnam's struggle to defeat the U.S.-supported government in South Vietnam.

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COMMENTS

The Things They Carried: Field Trip Summary & Analysis
Kathleen is in a jeep with a government interpreter. O'Brien doesn't think either knows why he insisted on making the two-hour journey from Quang Ngai City in the August heat to that particular field. Kathleen gets out of the car and tells O'Brien she thinks the field smells terrible. O'Brien agrees.
The Things They Carried: Summary & Analysis
Use this CliffsNotes The Things They Carried Study Guide today to ace your next test! Get free homework help on Tim O'Brien's The Things They Carried: book summary, chapter summary and analysis, quotes, essays, and character analysis courtesy of CliffsNotes. In The Things They Carried, protagonist "Tim O'Brien," a writer and Vietnam War veteran, works through his memories of his war service to ...
The Things They Carried Field Trip Summary
The narrator and his daughter Kathleen travel to the places in Vietnam where he was deployed. Kathleen is only 10 and can't grasp the field's significance, though she notices its "rotten" smell. She can't understand why the war happened and why her father had to fight. People wanted different things, the narrator explains, but he wanted only to ...
The Things They Carried Field Trip Summary
Free summary and analysis of Field Trip in Tim O'Brien's The Things They Carried that won't make you snore. We promise. More on The Things They Carried ... After he writes "In the Field," O'Brien takes a ten-year-old Kathleen to Vietnam with him. They go to the field where Kiowa died. The place looks smaller, and peaceful. ...
Short Story Analysis: Field Trip by Tim O'Brien
Field Trip by Tim O'Brien. In Field Trip by Tim O'Brien we have the theme of forgiveness, connection, innocence, and closure. Taken from his The Things We Carried collection the story is narrated in the first person by O'Brien himself and from the beginning of the story the reader realises that O'Brien may be exploring the theme of ...
The Things They Carried "In the Field," "Good Form," and "Field Trip
Tim O'Brien is 43 years old, he writes. O'Brien is a writer and a veteran of the Vietnam War. Everything else is invented, he says. O'Brien saw a young man die in Vietnam. The man's eye became a star shaped hole, he writes. But O'Brien himself did not kill the man. Not having killed the man is the "happening-truth" writes O'Brien.
The Things They Carried Chapter 19 Summary
Chapter 19 Summary. The nineteenth story in The Things They Carried is "Field Trip.". It is twenty years after the war, and the narrator has returned to Vietnam with his daughter, Kathleen ...
The Things They Carried Summary
Complete summary of Tim O'Brien's The Things They Carried. eNotes plot summaries cover all the significant action of The Things They Carried. ... "Field Trip" "Field Trip" recounts O ...
"Field Trip"—The Things They Carried: Complete Chapter Guide
This article is an excerpt from the Shortform summary of "The Things They Carried" by Tim O'Brien. Shortform has the world's best summaries of books you should be reading. ... "Field Trip," 43-year-old O'Brien returns to Vietnam with his ten-year-old daughter, Kathleen. He wishes to bring his war experience alive for his daughter by ...
The Things They Carried Chapter 19, Field Trip: Summary
Overview. In chapter 19, titled 'Field Trip' in The Things They Carried by Tim O'Brien, the narrator recalls a trip back to Vietnam, taken nearly twenty years after the war. He is a grown man, and ...
The Things They Carried: Plot Summary
Field Trip: Chapter 19. After the emotionally devastating story of "In the Field" in Tim O'Brien's novel "The Things They Carried," the narrative shifts to the aftermath of the war. O'Brien reveals that years later, he and his ten-year-old daughter visit the site where Kiowa, one of his comrades, tragically lost his life.
The Things They Carried Chapter Summaries
Tim O'Brien's The Things They Carried Chapter Summary. Find summaries for every chapter, including a The Things They Carried Chapter Summary Chart to help you understand the book. AI Homework Help. Expert Help. Study Resources. ... Field Trip: The narrator and his daughter Kathleen travel to the places in Vietnam where he was deployed. ...
The Things They Carried by Tim O'Brien Plot Summary
The Things They Carried Summary. The Things They Carried is a collection of twenty-two stories chronicling the author, Tim O'Brien's, recollections of his time as a soldier in the Vietnam War. While O'Brien admits in the book to often blurring the line between fact and fiction, the names of the characters in the book are those of real people.
Tim O'Brien "The Things They Carried" Summary and Plot ...
In the story, O' Brien's platoon receives fire from a village, and the platoon leader calls in an air strike that destroys it. A fellow soldier finds the dead body of an old man and pokes it with a stick, encouraging O'Brien to do the same. O'Brien refuses because he has respect for the dead.
The Things They Carried In The Field Summary
Summary. The platoon searches for Kiowa 's body. Lieutenant Cross notices a shaky young soldier exploring the mud with his hands. Jimmy is trained to treat soldiers as "interchangeable units of command," but he sees them as "human beings." Kiowa had been the "very best" kind of man.
The Things They Carried Summary
The Things They Carried Summary. The Things They Carried is a collection of twenty-two stories, or chapters. All focus on the Alpha Company and the fate of its soldiers after they return home to America. A character named Tim O'Brien (same name as the author) narrates most of the stories. In "The Things They Carried," the Alpha Company is ...
The Things They Carried Plot Summary
See Plot Diagram Summary. The Things They Carried follows the actions of the soldiers of Alpha Company during their deployment in the Quang Ngai region of Vietnam during the Vietnam War. Interspersed with these stories are the reflections of Tim O'Brien, the main character and narrator.. The story the narrator first tells, "The Things They Carried," reveals the daily lives of the soldiers ...
The Things They Carried: Summary & Analysis
Use this CliffsNotes The Things They Carried Study Guide today to ace your next test! Get free homework help on Tim O'Brien's The Things They Carried: book summary, chapter summary and analysis, quotes, essays, and character analysis courtesy of CliffsNotes. In The Things They Carried, protagonist "Tim O'Brien," a writer and Vietnam War veteran, works through his memories of his war service to ...
The Things They Carried Good Form Summary
Summary. The narrator is a 43-year-old writer who was once a soldier in Quang Ngai Province. "Almost everything else," he admits, "is invented." This is the "form" of war stories. For example, the narrator watched a young man die on a trail, and, though he didn't kill him, his presence "was guilt enough." Then he admits "even that story is made ...
The Things They Carried
Analysis. "On the Rainy River" is a central narrative in The Things They Carried. It depicts the conflict in the mind of a young man who has been drafted into a war he objects to. Even though the name of the young man who tells the story is Tim O'Brien, the narrator is not the author. Rather, the narrator is a composite of young men the author ...

The Things They Carried Field Trip Summary

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Full Book Summary

The Things They Carried: Plot Summary

The Things They Carried: Chapter 1

Love: Chapter 2

Spin: Chapter 3

On the Rainy River: Chapter 4

Enemies & Friends: Chapter 5

Friends: Chapter 6

How to Tell a True War Story: Chapter 7

The Dentist: Chapter 8

Sweetheart of the Song Tra Bong: Chapter 9

Stockings: Chapter 10

Church: Chapter 11

The Man I Killed: Chapter 12

Ambush: Chapter 13

Style: Chapter 14

Speaking of Courage: Chapter 15

Notes: Chapter 16

In the Field: Chapter 17

Good Form: Chapter 18

Field Trip: Chapter 19

The Ghost Soldiers: Chapter 20

Night Life: Chapter 21

The Lives of the Dead: Chapter 22 Summary

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