1. The Things They Carried
Tim O’Brien

2. Author Background Born in 1946 in a small Minnesota town
In college, vehemently opposed the Vietnam War and considered avoiding conscription by going to Canada
Began service in Vietnam in February 1969
Served in the Fifth Battalion of the 46th Infantry, 198th Infantry Brigade, American Division until March 1970.
O’Brien’s area of operations was in the Quang Ngai Province
Later became setting of The Things They Carried
service brought him to the South Vietnamese village of My Lai a year after the infamous massacre of 1968
eventually wounded and returned home with a Purple Heart, a Bronze Star for Valor, and a Combat Infantry Badge

3. Novel Background Published 1990
sequence of stories that take place during and after Vietnam War
Blurs line between genres because it is both fact and fiction
More important than fact or fiction is what emotion the story elicits in the reader
If it brings out a strong emotion, there must be some truth to it (power/art of storytelling)
Much has been drawn from O’Brien’s experiences
O’Brien felt so close to his stories that he dedicated the work to his characters
The most striking elimination of the boundary between fact and fiction is the narrator and protagonist’s name, Tim O’Brien (narrator but not necessarily the author)
O’Brien inserts himself into his stories for 2 reasons:
to anchor his narratives to a larger world
he is unable to escape the memories of his war experience.
Reliability of narrator is challenged throughout the novel
theme of chaos leads to the tone of uncertainty - mimics feeling of the generation

6. Themes Physical and emotional burdens
Fear of shame and guilt as a motivator
Patriotism, masculinity, etc.
The subjugation of truth to storytelling
storytelling takes precedent over the need to be absolutely truthful or loyal to facts
Storytelling becomes an expression of memory and a catharsis of the past
Many characters in the novel seek resolution of some kind

7. Motifs Storytelling Social obligation Ambiguous morality
Characters lose their sense of morality as they struggle with their emotions as a result of war
Loneliness and isolation
Soldiers struggle with these feelings while in war and when they return home

8. Symbols Dead young Vietnamese soldier
Humanity’s guilt over horrific actions in wartime
Kathleen
the gap in communication between one who tells a story and one who receives a story
Linda
represents elements of the past that can be brought back through imagination and storytelling