Who Is Kiowa In Tim O Brien's The Things They Carried

The Things They Carried by Tim O’Brien is a book about soldiers during the Vietnam War. The Things They Carried is a work of fiction, although O’Brien himself did serve in the Vietnam War (McMechan, n.d.). Kiowa was a Native American Baptist, as described in the first chapter of the book: The Things They Carried. Kiowa witnessed the death of Ted Lavender and constantly repeated the phrase, “Boom-down.” Kiowa also used his grandfather’s hatchet to separate a thumb from a dead boy in the same chapter. Kiowa is a very unique character in my opinion, even though he was killed due to mortar rounds. While camping one night, Tim and the group took on mortar fire. People were shooting up flares while being bombarded by the mortar rounds. Suddenly, Norman heard a man screaming; it was Kiowa. …show more content…
Norman attempted to pull Kiowa out of the ground, but to no avail. Norman blamed himself for the death of Kiowa, but in the chapter “Notes,” O’Brien states that “Norman Bowker was in no way responsible for what happened to Kiowa. Norman did not experience a failure of nerve that night. He did not freeze up or lose the Silver Star for valor. That part of the story is my own” (O’Brien, 1990). Lieutenant Cross was the man who decided that the squadron should camp out in the field. On page 159, in the chapter titled “In the Field,” the book states, "’Some lieutenant,’ Sanders said. ‘Camps us in a toilet. Man don't know shit,’” (O’Brien, 1990). This decision by Cross was an underlying cause of Kiowa’s death. In the chapter “The Lives of the Dead,” O’Brien states,”I watched