1. The Things They Carried
Chase Wight

2. Background Vietnam War
The typical narrator, Tim O’Brien, graduated from Harvard before getting drafted into the Army
Tim entered the war around the time it entered its bloodiest phase
The author modeled Tim after himself
Tim almost ran away to Canada to escape the draft

3. Structure of the Book Short stories revolving around Alpha Company
Each story focuses on a new character’s experience
Not limited to the American soldiers or even the Vietnam War

4. The Daily War Most of the days were spent “humping” Regular burdens
Carrying all of the soldiers burdens from one location to the next day or night
Regular burdens
Heavy equipment
Emotional burdens
Fear from constant threat

5. Themes
Equipment
Used to weigh the burdens of each soldier and often contrast the emotional burden of the lightest objects
Fear
Fear of shame
Much of the fear comes from inaction
The fearless versus frightened soldiers
Fear of the unknown

6. Themes
Terrain
Vietnam was as much an enemy as the actual enemy soldiers
The shit field that swallowed up Alpha Company and trapped them under mortar fire, killing Kiowa
The mountain musical

7. Themes Stories and Memory
The events that do not happen to Alpha Company are verbally told by a soldier
In between the short stories, the author reflects with his daughter and old friends
The verbal stories seem very probable but imaginary
Ex: The man Tim killed

8. Important Quotes
“They carried the soldier’s greatest fear, which was the fear of blushing. Men killed, and died, because they were embarrassed not to. It was what had brought them to the war in the first place, nothing positive, no dreams of glory or honor, just to avoid the blush of dishonor. They died so as not to die of embarrassment.”

9. Quote Explanation
This quote is the most fundamental part of the fear theme
Tim did not flee to Canada because he feared the dishonor and shame from his home town
Ex: Curt Lemon feinted during a dentist check up, so he “redeemed” himself by going back and getting a perfectly good tooth pulled the next day.

10. Important Quotes
“By telling stories, you objectify your own experience. You separate it from yourself. You pin down certain truths. You make up others. You start sometimes with an incident that truly happened, like the night in the shit field, and you carry it forward by inventing incidents that did not in fact occur but that nonetheless help to clarify and explain.”

11. Quote Explanation Basically, stories do not have to happen to be true
Often the connotation and context of a story can completely change the moral
Ex: The shit field
Ex: Tim only tossed a grenade and killed a random armed Vietnamese man, but he created an entire life story for the man to bring war back into perspective.

12. My Interpretation