The Things They Carried Group at eNotes

Cross's thoughts about Martha sustain him through the tough times. Even...

Fri, 3 Jul 2009 07:58:02 PST

Cross's thoughts about Martha sustain him through the tough times. Even though Martha has clearly established that the feelings of love are not mutual, Cross still holds on to them as sort of a buoy, a way to lift himself up; they are fantasies,which help him escape from the horrors of war. After a while Cross becomes more negative and begins to face reality, citing the fact that their worlds are simply just too different. Her letters are are...

First off, the setting: not just Vietnam, but the very remote setting of...

Tue, 23 Jun 2009 13:44:12 PST

First off, the setting: not just Vietnam, but the very remote setting of this particular set of forces within Vietnam. The setting is isolated and oftentimes isolation is connected to insanity or delusion. Secondly, Kiley's story is believable because it involves Special Ops soldiers. These men are known for performing the most secretive, dangerous and strenuous operations. Because O'Brien combines isolation and stress, he is able to create a...

What makes Kiley's "sweetheart of the song tra bong" believable?

Tue, 9 Jun 2009 12:47:36 PST

What makes Kiley's "sweetheart of the song tra bong" believable?

awww no one =[

Tue, 21 Apr 2009 16:02:31 PST

awww no one =[

Can someone help me come up with five short answer questions with...

Tue, 21 Apr 2009 15:34:44 PST

Can someone help me come up with five short answer questions with answers and page numbers from the book the things they carried with tim o brien

The younger monk makes a washing motion with his hands. The men in the...

Thu, 19 Mar 2009 21:12:08 PST

The younger monk makes a washing motion with his hands. The men in the Company first notice the peculiar motion the younger monk makes when they are digging their foxholes in the yard of the "almost abandoned" pagoda and shrine. The monks speak "almost no English", and although the soldiers do not feel right about establishing their camp on sacred grounds, the monks do not seem particularly displeased. Each morning the monks bring the...

What kind of motion did the younger monk perform in The Things They...

Thu, 19 Mar 2009 17:54:16 PST

What kind of motion did the younger monk perform in The Things They Carried?

Henry Dobbins carries his girlfriend's pantyhose. He keeps them tied...

Wed, 18 Mar 2009 12:01:00 PST

Henry Dobbins carries his girlfriend's pantyhose. He keeps them tied around his neck, supposedly for good luck. Ironically, he continues wearing the pantyhose even after she dumps him, saying that they're still lucky. Maybe he likes the way they feel around his neck. Or maybe he the pantyhose are simply his strongest connection to home, and he is unwilling to let go of how they have made him feel.

For one thing, O'Brien describes his job as a pig declotter in the most...

Wed, 18 Mar 2009 11:56:10 PST

For one thing, O'Brien describes his job as a pig declotter in the most gory manner possible. This is because he wants the reader to know why he does not want to go to Vietnam. It is not because he is afraid of blood. Blood is something he works with every day. Also, because of his summer job, he comes home every day smelling like a pig. Therefore, his reason for not wanting to go to the war is also not because he is afraid to get his hands...

What does Henry Dobbins use? What does he do with it, and why does he...

Tue, 3 Mar 2009 22:57:00 PST

What does Henry Dobbins use? What does he do with it, and why does he still keep it even after his girlfriend dumps him?

In "The Things They Carried", why does O'Brien relate his experience as...

Sat, 14 Feb 2009 07:09:44 PST

In "The Things They Carried", why does O'Brien relate his experience as a pig declotter?

How were the soldiers treated after returning from the Vietnam War in...

Thu, 30 Oct 2008 19:45:46 PST

How were the soldiers treated after returning from the Vietnam War in The Things They Carried?

O'Brien uses the repetition of these words to create an unmistakable...

Tue, 21 Oct 2008 15:25:09 PST

O'Brien uses the repetition of these words to create an unmistakable realization that the men are always carrying “things,” whether it is a physical weight or an emotional weight. The repetitiveness of the words lets the reader, in a sense, feel how the soldiers feel. The soldiers are unable to forget the weight of the “things they carry,” and by repeating the words, the reader is not able to forget the weight either. The sense of...

What is the point of the insistent repetition of the words "the...

Tue, 21 Oct 2008 13:18:27 PST

What is the point of the insistent repetition of the words "the things they carried"?

That's a complicated question, and the answer would have to be, some of...

Wed, 15 Oct 2008 16:39:14 PST

That's a complicated question, and the answer would have to be, some of them do, but not all. It matters that the story opens with Jimmy carrying Martha's letters. They are the burden that weighs most heavily on him, and he is the main character; this matters, so they are put first. Later, when he burns the pictures and the letters, it is a marker that he has crossed some significant boundary. There too the order matters; it is near the end of...

Does the order in which the physical objects and intangible objects that...

Tue, 14 Oct 2008 21:21:39 PST

Does the order in which the physical objects and intangible objects that are carried have significance?

The chapter does not state why the girl is dancing. The soldiers do...

Mon, 22 Sep 2008 09:15:34 PST

The chapter does not state why the girl is dancing. The soldiers do not know, but offer their own theories; Azar says, "probably some weird ritual", and Henry Dobbins says "no, the girl just liked to dance". It is clear, though, that her dancing is a response to trauma beyond understanding, as she dances in the smoke and ruins of her destroyed hamlet, the bodies of her small family nearby. The girl's dancing allows...

Why was the girl dancing in Chapter 14 of "The Things They...

Mon, 22 Sep 2008 05:53:35 PST

Why was the girl dancing in Chapter 14 of "The Things They Carried"?

Mary Anne's character serves two purposes. One, her character...

Thu, 14 Aug 2008 09:43:04 PST

Mary Anne's character serves two purposes. One, her character exemplifies the dehumanization of war. The more time the soldiers spent in the war, the more desensitized they became to the sights and horrors of war, such as death, murder, violence, etc. In losing this sensitivity, the soldiers also lost some of their humanity in that they began to lose the moral elements that make us human, such as sympathy, compassion, respect for life,...

An additionl technique he employs is actually repetition. He often...

Thu, 14 Aug 2008 09:32:08 PST

An additionl technique he employs is actually repetition. He often repeats a phrase, or at times entire sentences or even passages, to achieve a few purposes. First, in the case of "The Man I Killed" he repeats the description of the dead body to perhaps demonstrate to the reader how this image is affecting him. It gives the reader the sense that this is an image that will be forever burned in his memory, and by repeating the...