The Things They Carried CHAPTER ONE

Vocabulary What Things Did They Carry  Physical Items (weapons, supplies, clothes, & personal items)  Psychological (fears & superstitions)  Ghosts & Memories 

Characters are Defined by What They Carry….  Rank  Specialty  Necessity  Mission  Superstition  Why the emphasis on what things weigh?

What did they carry? Why important? Pounds: P-38 Can Opener, Pocket Knife (1 lb), Heat Tab, Salt Tablets, Wrist Watch, Dog Tags, Mosquito Repellents, Chewing Gum, Candy, Kool Aid Packets, Cigarettes, Lighter, Matches, Sewing Kit, Military Payment Certificate, C-Rations (2 lbs), 2-3 Canteens of Water.

Examples of things characters carry:  Rat Kiley: morphine, plasma, malaria tablets, surgical tape (comic books, M&Ms) Symbolism of his name?  Kiowa: Bible, hatchet, & moccasins  Lt. Jimmy Cross: maps, binoculars, compass, code books,.45 pistol What else does Jimmy carry? Symbolism of his name?

Examples of things characters carry:  Sanders: PRC-25 Radio, condoms & brass knuckles Symbolism of his name?  Bowker: carried a thumb & a diary (what is significance? What can we guess will happen based on these items?  “O’Brien”: author vs character

“They all carried ghosts” (9). Lt. Jimmie Cross: (Martha vs his Men): (8, 11)* Ted Lavender: (extra ammo, dope, tranquilizers): (6)* Norman Bowker: (pressure from dad to earn a medal): (34)*

Superstitions  Jimmy Cross: Pebble from Martha  Dave Jensen: Rabbit’s foot  Henry Dobbins: Girlfriend’s stockings  Kiowa: Bible  Norman Bowker: Thumb from corpse

Vocabulary Protagonist  The central figure of a story; The character with the lead role. Is narrator reliable? Fiction vs Nonfiction (look at dedication, subtitle, & protagonist) Believable vs Unbelievable Purpose in Telling Story back

Vietnam Vietnam Timeline –1950 – Truman sent economic and military aid to the French who were trying to retain hold on their Indochina colony. –1954 – The defeated French conceded to a communist government north of the 17 th parallel. communist –1960 – JFK approves Aid –1964 – US began sending combat troops as a result of The Gulf of Tonkin Resolution.

Vietnam Vietnam Timeline –1965 – 1966 Military escalation because S. Vietnam couldn ’ t handle things –1967 – Draft began. Antiwar Protests happening across US –1969 – My Lai Massacre where US soldiers kill a village full of civilians –1972 – Ceasefire –1973 – Paris Peace Agreement Click here for an online timeline offered by pbs.orghere

Vietnam Vietnam Demographics  Location – South of China, East of Laos and Cambodia, West of South China Sea Here Here is an interesting interactive map of places mentioned in the book

Vietnam Religion  Confucianism, Taoism, Buddhism, Christianity, and Tam Giao (tri-religion, … )

Religions *Other religions include: Hoa Hao (1.5%), Cao Dai (1.1%), Protestant (.5%, and Muslim (.1%)

Vietnam People of Vietnam 80% ethnic Vietnamese 20% different ethnic minority groups, hill tribes Languages spoken: Vietnamese, Chinese, English, French, Russian

Tim O ’ Brien (author) vs. “ Tim O ’ Brien ” (character, narrator)  Protagonist and sometime narrator is “ Tim O ’ Brien ”. This “ Tim O ’ Brien ” in the book is NOT REAL. Protagonist  Even when “ Tim O ’ Brien ” talks directly to the reader, it is the fictional “ Tim ”.

Example of the narrator “ Tim O ’ Brien ” speaking directly to the reader “ Now and then, when I tell this story [about the baby water buffalo], someone will come up to me afterward and say she liked it. It ’ s always a woman. “…. What I should do ”, she ’ ll say, “ is put it all behind me. Find new stories to tell. ” “ I wont say it but I ’ ll think it. “ I ’ ll picture Rat Kiley ’ s face, his grief, and I ’ ll think, You dumb cooze. “ Because she wasn ’ t listening. “ It wasn ’ t a war story. It was a love story. ” ~ “ How to Tell a True War Story ”, pgs

Tim O'Brien Tim O ’ Brien, the author  The author Tim did actually go to Vietnam and really was in the Alpha Company, but is writing a fictional account.

Tim O'Brien Tim O'Brien biography: The Early Years  Born in Austin on Oct. 1, 1946 and grew up in a small town in Minnesota –He shares this birth date with several of his characters  Dad was an insurance salesman  Mom was an elementary school teacher

Tim O'Brien Tim O'Brien Biography: College Life  Political science major at Macalester College, attended peace vigils and war protests  Graduated in 1968

Tim O'Brien Tim O'Brien Biography: In Vietnam  Assigned to the 3 rd Platoon, Alpha Company, 5 th battalion, 46 th Infantry as a foot soldier  Served in Vietnam from  Returned home with a Purple Heart –Was wounded by shrapnel from a hand grenade

Lit devices Literary Devices found in The Things They Carried Imagery Mood Point of View Characterization Symbolism Metaphor Irony

Lit devices  Vivid language that puts a picture in the mind of the reader  Example: –“ His jaw was in his throat, his upper lip and teeth were gone, his one eye was shut, his other eye was a star-shaped hole …” (pg. 124)

Lit devices  Feeling author wants the reader to have while reading  Example: –In the story “ Ghost Soldiers ” Tim wants the reader to feel the fear of being on night watch.

Lit devices  The attitude or outlook of a narrator or character.  Example: –The narrator “ Tim O ’ Brien ” is against war and thinks himself a coward for going to Vietnam

Lit devices  What the characters are like; their personalities  Example: –Henry Dobbins is superstitious and believes in luck because he carries extra rations and his girlfriend ’ s pantyhose.

Lit devices  Compare two things that are unlike in any way (without using like or as)  Example: –The disjointed telling of the story is a metaphor for life as a soldier in Vietnam

Lit devices  An object that represents a larger idea  Example –The Silver Star is a medal that symbolizes courage and honor

Lit devices  The opposite of what is expected happens  Example: –When 2 characters are goofing off and having a good time, a bomb goes off and kills one.

Tim O'Brien Tim O'Brien Biography: Life after Vietnam  After returning to the states, he became a grad student at Harvard.  Left Harvard to become a newspaper reporter for The Washington Post.  Began writing fiction about Vietnam

Tim O'Brien Works by Tim O ’ Brien  If I Die in Combat (1973)  Northern Lights (1975)  Going after Cacciato (1978)  The Nuclear Age (1985)  The Things They Carried (1990)  In the Lake of the Woods (1994)

Tim O'Brien Tim O'Brien Biography: Current Whereabouts  Is currently a visiting professor and chair at Southwest Texas State University where he teaches in the Creative Writing Program

Tim O'Brien Tim O ’ Brien  Claims he still gets calls from people, asking questions, offering their own opinions about what happened.  They want to know, missing the point of the novel, that life often does not offer solutions or resolutions, that it is impossible to know completely what secrets lurk within people

Vocabulary Abbreviations found in The Things They Carried AbbreviationPart of speech Definition SOPNStandard Operating Procedure CONCommanding Officer PFCNPrivate First Class (rank) RTONRadio Transmissions Officer LPNLanguage/Listening Patrol CSNTear gas MRENMeal ready to eat VCNViet Cong