The Things They Carried: Literary Analysis
Men and women that went to Vietnam came back plagued with gruesome stories of all the things they did and some never came back at all. The Vietnam War was the most unpopular war the United States had ever been involved in. Unlike WWI, WWII, or the Korean War the veterans were not welcomed home. They hid their involvement from the war to stay away from the judgement they would have received from some members of society. The soldiers normalized death and destruction while in Vietnam so it became their way of life.
In this book Tim O’Brien tells about one of his friends, Ted Lavender. With the men being so bored and unhappy during the war, Lavender decides to adopt a puppy to take care of while in Vietnam. On one of their off days, Azar strapped the puppy to a Claymore and triggered it. When ridiculed …show more content…
During his service in Vietnam he earned seven medals, but one medal haunted him. Bowker comes close to earning the Silver Star for valor. He found Kiowa in the muck field during the mortar fire on the banks of the Song Tra Bong. Bowker tried to save Kiowas life but had to give up because the struggle of saving his own life was to strong. He blames himself for Kiowa’s death and wishes he could tell how he almost earned the Silver Star. Bowker drives around the lake in his town constantly, and he always thinks back on the war and how different it is back home. Bowker writes a letter to O’Brien and says, “The thing is, there’s no place to go. Not just in this lousy little town. In general. My life, I mean. It’s almost like I got killed over in Nam… Hard to describe. That night when Kiowa got wasted, I sort of sank down into the sewage with him… Feels like I’m still in deep shit” (p. 150). When he left for Vietnam he was a small town kid and did not know what he was about to go through. Bowker ended up killing himself by suicide; he hanged himself with a jump rope in his local
Men and women that went to Vietnam came back plagued with gruesome stories of all the things they did and some never came back at all. The Vietnam War was the most unpopular war the United States had ever been involved in. Unlike WWI, WWII, or the Korean War the veterans were not welcomed home. They hid their involvement from the war to stay away from the judgement they would have received from some members of society. The soldiers normalized death and destruction while in Vietnam so it became their way of life.
In this book Tim O’Brien tells about one of his friends, Ted Lavender. With the men being so bored and unhappy during the war, Lavender decides to adopt a puppy to take care of while in Vietnam. On one of their off days, Azar strapped the puppy to a Claymore and triggered it. When ridiculed …show more content…
During his service in Vietnam he earned seven medals, but one medal haunted him. Bowker comes close to earning the Silver Star for valor. He found Kiowa in the muck field during the mortar fire on the banks of the Song Tra Bong. Bowker tried to save Kiowas life but had to give up because the struggle of saving his own life was to strong. He blames himself for Kiowa’s death and wishes he could tell how he almost earned the Silver Star. Bowker drives around the lake in his town constantly, and he always thinks back on the war and how different it is back home. Bowker writes a letter to O’Brien and says, “The thing is, there’s no place to go. Not just in this lousy little town. In general. My life, I mean. It’s almost like I got killed over in Nam… Hard to describe. That night when Kiowa got wasted, I sort of sank down into the sewage with him… Feels like I’m still in deep shit” (p. 150). When he left for Vietnam he was a small town kid and did not know what he was about to go through. Bowker ended up killing himself by suicide; he hanged himself with a jump rope in his local