Things They Carried Chapter Summaries

Mary Anne adjusted to the life in Vietnam, as did the soldiers that were there, and as time progressed she began to enjoy or get a thrill out of being in Vietnam. "I mean when we first got here-all of us- we were real young and innocent, full of romantic bullshit, but we learned pretty damn quick. And so did Mary Anne,"(97). The learning curve in war is quickened by the fact that it is a matter of life or death when you are working in a war, and it did not matter who you were the you quickly learned how to operate in a battle field. Mary Anne did not fit in a first and did not know or understand her role in the war, and just like the fresh soldiers coming from America did know or understand their role in the war. As the soldiers, as well as Mary Anne, begin to realize the realities of the war they move their focus away from their homes in America and begin to focus on the work that needed to be accomplished in Vietnam. The physical changes that occur to Mary Anne as she begins to be assimilated into the Vietnam War are like night and day. She came as your typical American girl, but then becomes a fighting soldier looking and anticipating ugly war

In the short story, “Sweetheart of the Song Tra Bong,” by Tim O’Brien, the author shows that no matter what the circumstances were, the people that were exposed to the Vietnam War were affected greatly. A very young girl named Mary Anne Bell was brought by a boyfriend to the war in Vietnam. When she arrived she was a bubbly young girl, and after a few weeks, she was transformed into a hard, mean killer.

In The Things They Carried by Tim O’Brien, O’Brien uses many short stories to describe his experience in Vietnam. The story that captured many aspects of writing was “How to Tell a True War Story” because it acts as a guide to writing a true story. O’Brien uses many different rhetorical strategies, narrative techniques, and establishes a theme in this story to help develop his characters and story line.

Through The Things They Carried, Tim O’Brien moves beyond the horror of fighting in the Vietnam War to examine with sensitivity and insight the nature of courage and fear. Included, is a collection of interrelated stories. A few of the stories are brutal, while others are flawed, blurring the distinction between fact and fiction. All the stories, however, deal with one platoon. Some are about the wartime experiences of soldiers, and others are about a 43-year-old writer reminiscing about his platoon’s experiences. In the beginning chapter, O’Brien rambles about the items the soldiers carry into battle, ranging from can openers, pocketknives, and mosquito repellent o

In The Things They Carried, Tim O’Brien uses the art of fabricating stories as a coping mechanism. Trying to distinguish the difference between fictional and factual stories is a challenge in this book, but literal truth cannot capture the real violence that the soldiers dealt with in Vietnam, only “story truth” can. He explains, “If at the end of a war story you feel uplifted, or if you feel that some small bit of rectitude has been salvaged from the larger waste, then you have been made victim of a very old and terrible lie.” (O’Brien 65). The novel illustrates that storytelling is a way to keep the dead alive, even if it may not be a true story.

In a later discussion, O’Brien said the chapter “On The Rainy River” is not a true story. The chapter is a fictionalized account of what would’ve happened if he ran away to avoid the draft like he wanted to. This same strategy was applied when he wrote “The Sweetheart of the Song Tra Bong”. While O’Brien was in Vietnam, Someone likely joked about how easy it would be to bring a girl to their base. He takes the concept and makes uses it as a vehicle to discuss innocence. We are even told in the beginning to the chapter that the story comes from Rat Kiley who has a history of exaggeration and spicing up stories (Citation Needed for Paraphrase)

The text, ‘The Things They Carried', is an excellent example which reveals how individuals are changed for the worse through their first hand experience of war. Following the lives of the men both during and after the war in a series of short stories, the impact of the war is accurately portrayed, and provides a rare insight into the guilt stricken minds of soldiers. ‘The Things They Carried' shows the impact of the war in its many forms: the suicide of an ex-soldier upon his return home; the lessening sanity of a medic as the constant death surrounds him; the trauma and guilt of all the soldiers after seeing their friends die, and feeling as if they could have saved them; and the deaths of the soldiers, the most negative impact a war

Our introduction stated that in “The Things They Carried,” author Tim O’Brien tells us not directly of the soldiers of Vietnam, or the situations they find themselves in, but about the things they carry on their shoulders and in their pockets. These “things” identify the characters and bring them to life."  I find that to be true as the author unfolds the stories about war and the uncommon things one carries in to war both inadvertently and on purpose.   As it was noted: "Stories about war – especially today – usually emphasize heroism and supporting our troops. Yet, these are completely absent in “The Things They Carried,” again I find this to be true also.  In attempting to Analyze why there is an absence of heroism and heroic acts in “The Things They Carried” I discovered that the author comes at his stories from a completely different view point and it is complex.  Example: he names himself as a fictional character and a Protagonist.  Although this is a fictional story it reads like a biography or a set of memory 's from the war in Vietnam, in which all the stories connect.  An unnamed narrator describes in third person the thoughts and actions of Lt. Jimmy Cross, a lieutenant in the Army.  Lt. Cross thoughts are of a woman named Martha, who he dated, her letters seem to serve somewhat as torture as he wonders if she feel the same way about him as he does about her, the letter give him no clue and make him wonder even more.   Lt. Cross is a inexperienced, somewhat

In “The Things They Carried” Tim O’Brien uses this story as a coping mechanism; to tell part of his stories and others that are fiction from the Vietnamese War. This is shown by using a fictions character’s voice, deeper meaning in what soldier’s carried, motivation in decision making, telling a war story, becoming a new person and the outcome of a war in one person. Tim O’ Brien uses a psychological approach to tell his sorrows, and some happiness from his stories from the war. Each part, each story is supposed to represent a deeper meaning on how O’Brien dealt, and will deal with his past. In war, a way to

          Those in the Vietnam war had many burdens to carry, both physically and mentally. In the book The Things They Carried  some people could not handle these burdens, and others found ways to cope with them. Tim O’Brien, the author of the book , ended up finding his coping mechanism which was writing out stories. In his story he writes about not only his burdens, but the burdens of others that were in Alpha Company while in Vietnam. Tim O’Brien states that Rat Kiley

Similar to the theme of morality, O’Brien discusses storytelling and memory in the chapter “Sweetheart of the Song Tra Bong.” Rat Kiley told the story of a man named Mark Foisse who flew his girl, Mary Anne, to visit him in Vietnam. The

Mary Anne was a young sweet innocent girl unaffected by the war at first. The speaker

"Twice/ she came in late at night. Very late. And then finally she did not come in at all." (99). Mark became worried that she might be sleeping with someone else. He woke up Rat and him go check out the barracks to see if Mary Anne was with any of the guys. "All accounted for. No extras." (101). Then they got the idea that she was with the "Greenies" and she was, in a way. Mary Anne was out on Ambush with the Green Beret's. Poor Mark Fossie tried to talk some sense into her, but it was to no avail. Before long Mary Anne was gone again, this time there would be no reckoning with her. She had made her decision to be where she felt she belonged. When Mark finally realized this, he was hit with an emotional artillery shell that could have taken

First, she cuts her hair short and puts in a bandana, stops wearing makeup and jewelry, and ceases to worry about personal hygiene. Then, Mark catches her on an ambush with a team of Green Berets and yells at her. He no longer recognizes her in her “bush hat and filthy green fatigues; she carried the standard M-16 automatic assault rifle; her face was black with charcoal” (98). In two weeks she has gone from someone with complexion as sweet as a strawberry and skin that was even untouched by the sun to a soldier that lays in the dirt holding a weapon to end someone's life, ignoring her innocence and covering it up with a black charcoal alter ego. After he yells at her, she leaves with the Green Berets for three weeks (94). This decision to leave is the final leap towards a new Mary Anne, as she has now decided that fighting with the Green Berets is more important to her than staying with the man she was engaged to marry. She returns once more, this time with “glowing jungle green” eyes instead of blue, symbolizing her complete entrance into war (101). She is now one with the green mountains of Vietnam. She has now decided that the war is more important than getting married, starting a family, or even going home. This decision was made time and time again by millions of young men who had gone to Vietnam as a consequence of having their birth on the wrong day. Only a few of these men exited Vietnam as the same person that

In this chapter Mark Fossie brings his girlfriend Mary Anne to the military compound where they are at. Mary Anne later becomes a different person than she was before and goes missing when she goes up to the mountains.