the things they carried

A detailed Summary of the things they carried

The Things They Carried is written from the perspective of the author, Tim O'Brien. The book is a compilation of his stories and experiences relating to the Vietnam War. It encompasses the events and lives of himself, the other members of his company, and the war as a whole. Tim O'Brien, of no important rank, is a solider in the Alpha Company that heads out most operations of Nam. They are the first troop to stake out land, the first to raid the villages, the trailblazers through the minefields. They are the best of the best. As the story is told, First Lieutenant Jimmy Cross heads his troops across the marshes and paddies of Vietnam. It is in him the men must trust.

As war for me goes, I had no foundation for what to expect. Being that I have never seen any war movies or read anything like this before, this, in essence, was my first realistic exposure to war. In my choosing this book, what I did expect was to have a book that I could relate to, as well as one that was written about someone's personal experience. And that is exactly what I got.

Many stories, written as second-hand experience of O'Brien, take place before many soldiers are placed in or called to Alpha. They also reflect on how O'Brien interprets them. No wa

"Later, higher in the mountains, we came across a baby VC water buffalo. What it was doing there, I don't know-but we chased it down and got a rope around it, and led it along to a deserted village where we set up for the night. After supper, Rat Kiley went over and stroked its nose.

"In many cases a true war story cannot be believed. If you believe it, be skeptical. It's a question of credibility. Often the crazy stuff is true, and the normal stuff isn't, because the normal stuff is necessary to make you believe the truly incredible craziness." (O'Brien, pg. 71)

How could such a thing be done? I was so moved, so shocked. I wanted to close the book and go no further, but at the same time I wanted to read more. The story wrapped itself up and I continued.

He opened up a can of C rations, pork and beans, but the baby buffalo wasn't interested.

"They would often discard things along the route of march. Purely for comfort, they would throw away rations, blow their Claymores and grenades, no matter, because by nightfall the resupply choppers would arrive with more of the same... and for all the ambiguities of Vietnam, all the mysteries and unknowns, there was at least a single abiding certainty that they would never be at a loss for things to carry." (O'Brien, pg. 15,16)

He stepped back and shot it through the right front knee. The animal did not make a sound. It we

Some common words found in the essay are:
Jimmy Cross, Rat Kiley, Alpha Company, Tim O'Brien, Vietnam War, o'brien pg, , war story, tim o'brien, normal stuff, story told,

Approximate Word count = 934
Approximate Pages = 4 (250 words per page double spaced)

Category: Novels