War and religion. While in many cases, churches and other holy sites are often used as a way for people to avoid the violence of warfare, in cases such as the Crusades, religion can be the cause of warfare. The Things They Carried, written by Tim O’Brien, does not explicitly focus on themes relating to the nature of the relationship between religion and war, rather it focuses mainly on other large ideas such as burdens and subjective truths. However, several symbols presented in some of the many novellas of this book make some form of reference to real world religion and issues with faith, mainly Christianity. These symbols range from a single symbol representing only one idea in the story, to multiple symbols that encompass a much larger theme
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Unlike the rest of his platoon, Kiowa is the only soldier whose race and religion is explicitly revealed by the narrator, and he is characterized as a man of a great amount of faith. However, the outcome of events for Kiowa in the story goes against what he believes in his faith as a Christian. According to the statements made by Kiowa, every death should have a reason for happening, but the deaths of character such as Ted Lavender and Curt Lemon goes against that, due in part to “how fast it was, no drama, down and dead, and how it was hard to feel anything but surprise” and how little they could be justified (17). Their deaths also act as a stark contrast to the death of Jesus Christ as told in the New Testament, further showing how Kiowa’s beliefs are being broken. Then there was Kiowa’s own death during the short story In The Field, where he drowns in a field of shit and Norman Bowker and the other soldiers are unable to save him in time. Kiowa ends up being “the only overtly Christian character in the book and the most sympathetic but not for that reason” due to how his strong faith is unable to save him or the other men of the Alpha Company (Ruff). These examples of how unjustified death can be in a war could exemplify a belief of Tim O’Brien, the author, that having a strong faith means nothing on the battlefield. Religion cannot act as a shield towards
Unlike the rest of his platoon, Kiowa is the only soldier whose race and religion is explicitly revealed by the narrator, and he is characterized as a man of a great amount of faith. However, the outcome of events for Kiowa in the story goes against what he believes in his faith as a Christian. According to the statements made by Kiowa, every death should have a reason for happening, but the deaths of character such as Ted Lavender and Curt Lemon goes against that, due in part to “how fast it was, no drama, down and dead, and how it was hard to feel anything but surprise” and how little they could be justified (17). Their deaths also act as a stark contrast to the death of Jesus Christ as told in the New Testament, further showing how Kiowa’s beliefs are being broken. Then there was Kiowa’s own death during the short story In The Field, where he drowns in a field of shit and Norman Bowker and the other soldiers are unable to save him in time. Kiowa ends up being “the only overtly Christian character in the book and the most sympathetic but not for that reason” due to how his strong faith is unable to save him or the other men of the Alpha Company (Ruff). These examples of how unjustified death can be in a war could exemplify a belief of Tim O’Brien, the author, that having a strong faith means nothing on the battlefield. Religion cannot act as a shield towards