Things They Carried Themes

They are many themes in the novel The Things They Carried but some major themes are guilt and blame, courage, and innocence. The first theme, guilt and blame, is shown throughout the whole book. In the chapter In The Field, Mitchell Sanders states, “Ten billion places we could've set up last night, the man picks a latrine." (In The Field/pg 158). Mitchell Sanders is blaming Jimmy Cross for the death of Kiowa since he picked the location of where they were going to sleep. In the chapter The Man I Killed, Kiowa says, “You want to trade places with him? Turn it all upside down-you want that?” (The Man I Killed/pg 120). Kiowa was trying to help Tim O’Brien by not making him feel guilty of killed the enemy soldier. He continues to say that this is war and that you have to get over the fact of killing people. The second theme, courage, is also shown throughout the book. In …show more content…
Norman Bowker was close to Kiowa when he got hit by a mortar. Norman tried to pull him out of the muck but wasn’t able to since he was sinking too. The third theme, innocence, shows up a few time in the novel. In the chapter Sweetheart of the Song Tra Bong, it states “During her first days in-country she liked to roam around the compound asking questions: What exactly was a trip flare? How did a Claymore work? What was behind those scary green mountains to the west?” (Sweetheart of the Song Tra Bong/pg 91). This was Mary Anne when she first arrived to war. In the chapter Sweetheart of the Song Tra Bong, it states, “At the end of the second week, when four casualties came in, Mary Anne wasn’t afraid to get her hands bloody.” (Sweetheart of the Song Tra Bong/pg 93). This was Mary Anne at the end of the second week. She was completely innocent when she first arrived then she changed into a solider. She later goes on ambushes with other soldier and then leaves the war zone and walks into the