The Things They Carried

 

1.  Look in your wallet, purse, room, car etc.  What things do you carry around with you?  What do they say about you?

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

2. How does Tim O’Brien use the things his character carry to begin his descriptions of their character?

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Love

1. Soldiers return home from the war to realize dreams they had put on hold when they left.  Is this always possible?  Comment.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

2.  Sometimes we need to repress devastating memories in order to survive.  Comment on this.  How does the ending of this chapter show hoe Tim O'Brien understands this.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Spin 

1.  In what ways to we see how the men deal and respond to the uncertainties, fright and devastation of this war.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

2.  Why is the relationship between Tim O'Brien and his daughter important?

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

On the Rainy River

1.  Discuss the moral dilemma that Tim O'Brien faces in this story.  Comment on it.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

2. Discuss the role of Elroy Berdahl.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Enemies and Friends

War distorts the social codes we live by in dealing with each other.  How does O'Brien show us this in these two short stories?

 

1. Enemies

 

 

 

 

 

 

2.  Friends

 

 

  

 

 

 

 

 

How to Tell a True War Story

1.  What is the importance of storytelling to Tim O'Brien?

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

2. According to O'Brien, How important is the truth to these stories?

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

The Dentist

1.  How does this story show the importance of being brave?

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

2.  Talk of the relationship between mental and physical anguish / pain.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Sweetheart of the Song Tra Bong

1.  This story presents Vietnam as a foreign, exotic culture and place.  It has beauty and ugliness.  How does Mark Fossee respond to it?

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

2.  How does Mary Anne Bell respond?

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Stockings

1. Discuss the role of superstition in Vietnam.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Church

1. How can the church be symbolic of the U.S. presence in Vietnam?

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

2.  Differ between Kiowa and Dobbins and their attitudes about the church.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

The Man I Killed

1.  How does Tim O'Brien negotiate the guilt he feels for killing a man?

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

2.  How does O'Brien find beauty in the gore of death?

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Ambush

1.  How does O'Brien deal with the death of the man he killed differently in this chapter?

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

2.  How do we see O'Brien is still not over the guilt of throwing the grenade?

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Style

1.  Why does the girl dance?

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

2.  Why does Dobbins react to the dance in the way he does?

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

3.  Why are Dobbin's actions with Azar so confusing?

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Speaking of Courage

1.  Why can't Bowker accept the medals he won as meaningful?

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

2.  Discuss the meaning of the sewage field?

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Notes

1.  How does Notes compliment and help explain Speaking of Courage?

 

 

 

 

 

 

2.  How does the process of O'Brien rewriting the story of Norman Bowker show him dealing with his own grief and guilt?

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

In the Field

1.  How do we see different soldiers deal with and change due to Kiowa's death?

 

 

  

 

 

 

2. Why is Dobbin's remark that things could be worse so important?

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Good Form

1.  What is O'Brien ding with us?   Why is he doing this to us?

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

The Ghost Soldiers

1.  What does O'Brien say about the pain of being shot and the notion of it?

 

 

 

 

 

 

2.  How do we see O'Brien react to the concept of camaraderie?

 

 

 

 

 

 

3.  What is significant about O'Brien's revenge and his changes as a person?

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Night Life

1.  Discuss Kiley and the balance between shame and, fear and the survival instinct?

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

The Lives of the Dead

Why does O’Brien put this story in the book?