Things They Carried
The Things They Carried, by Tim O’Brien, is about the experience multiple soldiers go through during the Vietnam War. There are stories about the love, hardships, friendships, and loss all the soldiers go through. By going to war, the soldiers all lose a part of themselves. I believe the message Tim O’Brien is trying to convey in his novel is people who do not go to the war, do not understand what it is like. I think throughout this novel, O’Brien tries his best to give the people who are not a part of the war an opportunity to understand. There are multiple examples throughout, The Things They Carried, demonstrating there is no clear understanding from the people at home for what it is like at war. In addition to the disconnection, Tim
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Norman Bowker had a strong feeling the death of a friend, Kiowa, in the war was his fault. He believes he could have received the Silver Star medal for saving Kiowa but has failed himself and friend. Because of his failure, he senses there is a lack of courage in himself. Once Norman Bowker was home, all he would do is drive around in circles representing him not being able to get anywhere with his thoughts. “Speaking of Courage” enforces the fact Norman feels like he cannot talk to anyone from home about the war. He believes no one will understand what he is truly going through because of the powerful disconnect. Norman goes through all the people he could talk to, but shoots all of his options down for different reasons. One option would be talking to his ex-girlfriend, Sally. This option is quickly eliminated because Sally is now married and if Norman were to say any type of vulgar word to describe what happened, she would be disgusted and ask him to stop. His next option would be his best friend, Max. Norman knew Max would be his best choice to talk to but unfortunately, Max had drowned before Norman left for the war. The last option Norman could choice to talk to would be his father. Norman describes his father as someone who just sits around and watches baseball. The reason Norman does not want to talk to his father about the war is because he is worried how he would react. The only thing Norman talks to during “Speaking of Courage” is a metal box as he is giving his food order. The metal box represents the disconnection created through war. A sense of a lack of humanity and human connection is created during this
Norman Bowker had a strong feeling the death of a friend, Kiowa, in the war was his fault. He believes he could have received the Silver Star medal for saving Kiowa but has failed himself and friend. Because of his failure, he senses there is a lack of courage in himself. Once Norman Bowker was home, all he would do is drive around in circles representing him not being able to get anywhere with his thoughts. “Speaking of Courage” enforces the fact Norman feels like he cannot talk to anyone from home about the war. He believes no one will understand what he is truly going through because of the powerful disconnect. Norman goes through all the people he could talk to, but shoots all of his options down for different reasons. One option would be talking to his ex-girlfriend, Sally. This option is quickly eliminated because Sally is now married and if Norman were to say any type of vulgar word to describe what happened, she would be disgusted and ask him to stop. His next option would be his best friend, Max. Norman knew Max would be his best choice to talk to but unfortunately, Max had drowned before Norman left for the war. The last option Norman could choice to talk to would be his father. Norman describes his father as someone who just sits around and watches baseball. The reason Norman does not want to talk to his father about the war is because he is worried how he would react. The only thing Norman talks to during “Speaking of Courage” is a metal box as he is giving his food order. The metal box represents the disconnection created through war. A sense of a lack of humanity and human connection is created during this