What does each man carry in the things they carried? Most of the men are common, low-ranking soldiers and carry
a standard M- 16 assault rifle and several magazines of ammunition. Several men carry grenade launchers
. All men carry the figurative weight of memory and the literal weight of one another. They carry Vietnam itself, in the heavy weather and the dusty soil.
What did they carry in The Things They Carried Chapter 1?
Characters. The narrator opens the first chapter by reflecting about Lieutenant Jimmy Cross, known for carrying
the letters written by a girl named Martha
. He carries these letters because he wants Martha to love him, though, according to the narrator, she does not.
What did the platoon carry in the things they carried?
What are some of the intangible things the men carried in The Things They Carried?
What did Lt Jimmy Cross carry?
What did Lee Strunk carry?
Dave Jensen carried night-sight vitamins high in caro- tene. Lee Strunk carried
his slingshot
; ammo, he claimed, would never be a problem. Rat Kiley carried brandy and M&M’s candy. Until he was shot, Ted Lavender carried the starlight scope, which weighed 6.3 pounds with its aluminum carrying case.
What did Kiowa carry?
In life, Kiowa is diligent and honest, introspective and compassionate. He is practical, carrying
moccasins
in order to be able to walk silently and helping his fellow soldiers to rationalize their own unfortunate actions, especially O’Brien’s killing of a young Vietnamese soldier.
Where does Jimmy carry Martha’s Pebble?
Where does Jimmy carry Martha’s pebble? He carries it
in his mouth
.
Who carried brass knuckles in The Things They Carried?
Mitchell Sanders
carried brass knuckles. Kiowa carried his grandfather’s feathered hatchet. Every third or fourth man carried a Claymore antipersonnel mine — 3.5 pounds with its firing device. They all carried fragmentation grenades — 14 ounces each.
What does Norman Bowker carry?
Norman Bowker carries
a diary
. Kiowa carries a volume of the New Testament and moccasins. Rat Kiley carries his medical kit, brandy, comic books, and M&M’s candy.
What intangible things does Ted Lavender carry?
What did Norman Bowker carry emotionally?
What did Norman Bowker carry emotionally? He believes, according to O’Brien, that what marks men as courageous are
medals and service awards
. Because of and in spite of this belief, Bowker has an active emotional life, an intensity of feeling about the atrocities he experienced in Vietnam, especially Kiowa’s death.
Why does Norman Bowker carry a thumb?
We know more about Bowker at peace than we do about him at war. At war, we know that he’s gentle, but carries a thumb that
Mitchell Sanders cut off a VC soldier and gave to him
. The only other personal thing he carries is a diary.
Why does Ted Lavender carry tranquilizers?
Ted Lavender is a young, scared soldier in the Alpha company in Tim O’Brien’s book The Things They Carried. He is the most afraid to die, and dies first. Before he is shot, he carries and takes tranquilizers
to dull his fear
.
What does Rat Kiley carry emotionally?
In the first chapter, O’Brien describes the various objects that the members of Alpha Company carry along with them as a way of showing the burdens (physical, mental, and emotional) that each soldier carries. Rat Kiley, for example, carries
malaria tablets, morphine
to ease the wounded’s pain, and supplies to treat …
Who is Curt Lemon in The Things They Carried?
Curt Lemon
A childish and careless member of the Alpha Company
who is killed when he steps on a rigged mortar round. Though O’Brien does not particularly like Lemon, Lemon’s death is something O’Brien continually contemplates with sadness and regret.
Why does Kiowa carry a hatchet?
Why does Kiowa carry a Bible?
What does Curt Lemon symbolize?
What is the significance of the Pebble in The Things They Carried?
Pebble : Jimmy Cross carries the pebble, which he received from Martha, under his tongue. Its presence distracts him from his soldierly duties. Martha wrote that the pebble
symbolized her feelings toward him
, since she found it on the shore, right where things come together and also separate.
Why does Martha send cross a pebble?
Why does Jimmy Burn Martha’s letters and pictures?
After Ted Lavender is killed, Cross feels deeply guilty that he was not able to protect him, and burns Martha’s letters and photo
as way of trying to apologize and make things right
. Why aren’t the stories in chronological order?
Why did Rat Kiley carry comic books?
What does the narrator emphasize by listing the weight of each item the soldiers carry?
The idea of weight is used as physical weight of the actual items the soldiers carry, and
emotional weight from the stresses of war
. As a reader this shows me how grueling the war is and if I was in a situation these soldiers are in I do not think I would survive.
Is Jimmy Cross Real?
Jimmy Cross never visited me at my house in Massachusetts, because of course
Jimmy Cross does not exist in the world of objects
, and never did. He’s purely invented, like Martha, and like Kiowa or Mitchell Sanders and all the others. I never ran way to the Rainy River. I wanted to—badly—but I didn’t.
What does Martha represent in The Things They Carried?
The pictures of Martha also symbolize
his unattainable dreams
and this girl is part of that future. He carries around these pictures so he can dream about an alternate life for himself.
What are things that are not tangible?
How does Tim O’Brien change in The Things They Carried?
While in Vietnam, Tim O’Brien lost numerous friends and witnessed incidents too excruciatingly ugly to endure. In order to survive, regain his shredded sanity, then thrive, he wrote this book. In it,
he becomes both narrator and active character, a constant observer to the things he cannot change or undo
.
What is the moral of The Things They Carried?
Why does Rat write a letter to Lemons sister?
What are the two bodies of water in Speaking of Courage?
O’Brien uses the images of
the sewage field and the lake
to illustrate the characters’ inability to escape the effects of the Vietnam War. The sewage field is a vivid metaphor for an unpleasant, meaningless battle that none of the soldiers can escape.
What is the main idea of The Things They Carried?
Who is Mitchell Sanders in The Things They Carried?
What’s ironic about Ted Lavender’s death?
What is ironic about the timing of Ted Lavender’s death?
Lavender’s death occurred one day before he was to complete his tour in Vietnam
. Lavender had just said a prayer for Strunk’s safety. The men were joking about how Lavender was the most fearsome warrior.
What does Dave Jensen carry in chapter 1?
Dave Jensen carries
soap, dental floss, foot powder, and vitamins
. Mitchell Sanders carries condoms, brass knuckles, and the unit’s radio. Norman Bowker carries a diary.
What did Norman Bowker carry?
At war, we know that he’s gentle, but carries a thumb that Mitchell Sanders cut off a VC soldier and gave to him. The only other personal thing he carries is
a diary
.
