The Things They Carried

The Things They Carried is a deceptively simplistic book. At first glance, it seems like an anthology of random stories from author Tim O'Brien's experience during the Vietnam War.

If you go beyond the face value of the book, you'll see the layers of complexity. The stories are told through the memories of an unreliable narrator—weaving fiction with nonfiction, revealing stories in a non-linear fashion, and connecting stories with symbols to demonstrate an arc of overcoming guilt and shame from the war.

Mix and Match

While the ideal schedule would allow you to read the entire text from beginning to end, our unit plans might not always have the space for the entire text. There are several clusters of stories within the text that work well together and provide a more rigorous line of thought than simply one story. Because the stories are told from differing perspectives or expand on previous stories, they often complete character arcs or allow for a comparison of one story to another.

• "Enemies" and "Friends" are two brief stories that pack a heavy emotional punch for a mere four pages. The first tells the story of a petty argument between two soldiers that leads to violence, but ultimately reconciliation; since in war, the only friends you have are the men in your company. "Friends" continues the story of the same two former enemies as they decide what to do if one of them should be gravely injured, and how they deal with that situation after it actually happens. The full arc of these characters as they go from enemies to friends allows for a quick exploration of characterization, conflict, and dynamic characters.

• "The Man I Killed" and "Ambush" both discuss the first time that the narrator killed a man. While both are written from a first-person point of view, "The Man I Killed" is full of sensory descriptions in a stream-of-consciousness style as the narrator examines the body of the man he killed and begins inferring a backstory to the corpse. "Ambush" pulls back a little in objectivity, giving not only the background leading to the incident, but skipping forward in time to show how this affected the narrator years later. Both are great texts for inferences, direct and indirect characterization, objectivity and subjectivity, and sensory images. 

• The initial story, "The Things They Carried," discusses the things the soldiers carried not just for practical reasons, but the things they carried as talismans. The stories, "Stockings" and "The Dentist" talk about some of the crazy things the soldiers did in the name of good luck. It's a good insight into motivation and characterization. 

• The longest stretch of stories is near the end of the anthology that centers around the death of Kiowa, one of the close friends of Tim O'Brien. "Speaking of Courage" deals with the guilt of a soldier who feels responsible for Kiowa's death. This guilt haunts him even after he returns home. "Notes" and "Good Form" are O'Brien's reflections on how literal his stories are. He discusses how many of the details are changed and why he changed them. Finally, "In the Field" discusses the immediate aftermath of Kiowa's death, while "Field Trip" is many years later when Tim O'Brien visits the same field with his daughter. If you have the time, it is a great study of an unreliable narrator, and themes of guilt and forgiveness.

Symbols and Motifs

Symbolic objects are a frequent occurrence throughout the book (in case the title wasn't a dead give away). In the first story, "The Things They Carried" many of the items demonstrate what the soldiers place their faith in—whether it is a Bible, an item from a girlfriend, or an additional weapon. The physical items show what each man values—especially since the soldiers only have room for things that are absolutely essential. 

In other stories, the narrator has symbolic visions. In "On the Rainy River," a young Tim O'Brien considers running away to Canada to avoid the draft. As he stares across the river to the Canadian border, he sees a vision of people past, present, and future. Each of these people symbolizes a concept important to O'Brien and ultimately give him the reasons he needs to go to war.

"The Man I Killed" is the narrator's reflection on the corpse of a man he killed. While there are smaller symbols as the narrator evaluates the body; eventually the dead Vietnamese man mirrors the narrator's own beliefs about war and violence—essentially becoming a symbol of O'Brien himself.

The final story, "The Lives of the Dead," uses many of the symbols previously mentioned throughout the story, but centers around one—the death of Linda, a nine-year-old who passes away from cancer. Since this is O'Brien's first experience with death, it serves as a symbol for many of the deaths he later sees. His experience using stories to preserve the memory and life of Linda inspired him to also write about his experiences in the war.  

Multiple Intelligences

The most difficult part of teaching a war story is the lack of background knowledge. Few high schoolers can empathize with being in a war zone, or with the emotional turmoil of such a situation. Because of this, it's important to teach the texts in a variety of learning styles. This allows the students to not just analyze the story from a verbal-linguistic perspective, but empathize with the characters. As O'Brien freely admits, the point of the stories is not to be a literal story of the events in Vietnam, but rather stories that authentically capture the emotion of the soldiers' experiences.

For auditory learners, there are several audiobooks available, though my personal favorite is read by the award-winning Bryan Cranston (check out a preview video before you buy it on Audible). While I am by no means an auditory learner, listening to the text helped because the narration slows the story down and adds emotional inflection to the words. Because the stories are first-person and deeply subjective, it helps to hear the narrator as if the narrator were telling you his own story.

For visual learners, it's important to establish the setting since it is drastically different than what most high schoolers have experienced. By showing pictures or video of Vietnam, you can help establish why warfare was so different than previous wars—and how the jungle could add complications to equipment and maneuvering. 

Finally, for bodily-kinesthetic learners, you can help them experience what it was like to lug around all the gear like soldiers did. Between food, weapons, and ammo, they could be carrying over 80 pounds. Have a volunteer suit up in a jacket, boots, and helmet (a trip to the army surplus store could add authenticity) and then fill their backpack with various items to give them an estimate of the weight a soldier would have to carry. This entry event helps the class keep in mind the importance of each item the soldiers carried and why nonessential items must have deep significance in order to still be carried. 

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