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Two Notable Stories Within The Things They Carried

Summary:   An analysis of two particularly good stories in Tim O'Brien's novel The Things They Carried. "Speaking of Courage" tells of Norman's conversation with himself as he drives around the seven-mile lake, reflecting on the past and thinking of hypothetical situations. "The Ghost Soldiers" revolves around the two times Tim was wounded, how he was treated by different medics, and his reaction to the medic who treated his second wound.

Speaking of Courage

by Stacy A. Padula 2001

Tim O'Brien's The Things they Carried put both my logic and emotions to great test. As it is a novel composed of war stories, one may automatically assume that reading The Things They Carried would be an enlightening endeavor, and an educational experience. However, I never thought that a book could captivate me the way that the stories in this novel have.

Speaking of Courage, is a featured story in The Things They Carried. This particular story is a post-war insight into the life of a young Vietnam Veteran. The main character Norman Bowker returns to his hometown after the war had ended. With himself he brings home countless amounts of experiences, memories, and thoughts that place him in a setting abstract from what he remembered as "home." Norman finds himself driving around the seven-mile lake in his father's Chevy reflecting on the past and thinking of hypothetical situations. He drives twelve times around this lake, thus eighty-four miles of thoughts ran through his head.

He remembers the times before the war. When he used to drive around the same lake with his friends from high school. He recalls the girl he once dated, Sally Kramer, and the carefree fun they used to have. That was before the war, before he won seven medals, and before he almost won the Silver Star. Now Sally Kramer was Sally Gustafson, married with her own house set on that lake. He thought of what he would say to her if she were to listen to what he would like to say. He thought of how she would react to what was said, as if things were as they had once been before he had gone off to war. He thought of his best friend Max who had drowned in the lake before the war. Imagining what Max would have said if he was there to listen to Norman tell the tales he would like to tell. He would have told about how he almost won the Silver Star. Norman would have told this to his father too, if his father hadn't been so into baseball. There is so much he would have said...

Norman begins having the hypothetical conversation with himself as he continues to drive around the lake. He tells the story the way he would tell his father, and Max, and Sally. He even includes their reactions, hypothetically of course. Norman tells of the horrible smelling "shit field" and how its odor had prevented him from earning the Silver Star. He goes on to tell about how he tried to rescue his friend Kiowa, but then let go when he felt himself being engulfed by the muck as well. There was so much that he would have liked to say... if there was someone to listen. Max was now only an idea, as real as the conversations he had just held inside his head. The war that had been fought so many miles away had even changed everything so close at hand. The past would remain only in memories, nothing Norman could ever go back to.

Speaking of Courage is an insightful story told in a way that brings the character's emotions to life. The way that he tells the story in his head, imagining how the people that were in his life before the experience would react if they only knew shows the lasting impact that the war has left on mind. I could almost feel inside Norman's mindset. It was as though he was trying to bring his past back to life just to get it out of his system. Obviously Norman was emotionally twisted with thoughts he couldn't even fully grasp. The effect of the war became so vivid to me just reading how alone this veteran felt.

I know the story is titled Speaking of Courage based upon the main story it tells. Norman says that he was more courageous than he ever thought he could be, yet not as courageous as he wished he had been. It clearly bothers him that he did not save Kiowa. I think that is why he refers to it as when he almost won the Silver Star, rather than when his friend was killed. Obviously it isn't the medal that matters. Neither the medals earned nor the ones not earned held any value within itself, but there is so much value in the stories that lie behind them.

I thought about my own father, a veteran of Vietnam. How sometimes he could be so silent, never speaking of the war, yet that let me know so many scenes and memories were running through his mind. It was like the past had lived on in some abstract world of his that I could never know.

When I first read this story, it did not touch me in the same way that it has the second time through. Now my country is at War and I found myself relating on a much more personal level to everything written. When Norman reflected on his life before the war, my mind ran wild with thoughts on my own life. It made me think about the carefree fun I am having now with my friends, and how frivolous the world seems to me. Tonight we may be choosing which club we're going to dance at, but in three months the kids I am hanging out with now may be overseas fighting in the war... just thinking about how innocent life was three months prior. Everything can change so much in war, and now I think about that all the time.

The Ghost Soldiers

The Ghost Soldiers, another war story that makes up The Things They Carried, brings a lot of characters and different perspectives of the war to life. The story revolves around how Tim was shot twice, once when his friend Rat was the medic, and the other time when the new medic, Bobby Jorgenson, was in action.

Tim experienced no pain or suffering from his first shot wound because Rat had rushed right to him on the spot. Rat knew his job well, he knew how to act in the situation at hand, and he had the courage to step forth under-fire to act as the medic and aid his men.

The second time that Tim was shot he endeavored much pain, hospitalization, suffering, semi-long-term effects, and he almost dies of shock. This time when he was shot, there was no medic that rushed over to him. Bobby froze under pressure, taking nearly ten minutes to approach Tim after he was struck. On top of that, Bobby bungled the bandage job and Tim's skin later began to rot away. He was borderline gangrene!

Tim held so much against Bobby Jorgenson. He absolutely hated him! To make matters worse, when Tim was released from the hospital and returned back to his men, Bobby had seen to take his place. These men had once been like Tim's brothers...and now Bobby was "with them"? Bobby, the one who was to blame for all Tim's suffering was now one of them, and Tim felt like an outsider. The men shared stories of how Bobby did take the responsibility of his job, saving the life of Morty Phillips after an unfortunate encounter with infectious water. They said that Bobby now did do his job, and he did it well. That was not satisfying to Tim at all, he had so much against the new medic. Who cared if he had saved someone's life? He had almost taken Tim's own!

There were times when Bobby would try to talk to and apologize to Tim. The apologies were a lost cause... but it did make Tim stop hating Bobby. That however made Tim hate him even more for making him stop hating him. There would be no truce between them Tim wanted revenge!

This is one part of the book that reminded me of the soldiers' young age. Under such serious circumstances the boys were forced to grow up on the spot at war. The immaturity behind his need for revenge screamed out "little boy!" The plot that Tim came up with to seek revenge on Bobby was as childish as they come. One night Tim and another soldier, as two faced as they come, Azar hid out near Bobby's bunker with trick after trick up their sleeves.

Tim opted to take advantage of the nighttime, knowing that everything seemed scarier at night, in the dark, when all the creeps and chills come out! With flares, ropes, and other devices, Tim and Azar set out to creep Bobby out beyond his own wits. The plan was to make Bobby freak out and embarrass himself when he heard the noises and saw the images that they were going to create. Bobby would think that it was the enemy. It would be a priceless form of revenge. So like little boys playing a trick on a naïve girl, the two soldiers set up the ropes and props and began their game. Tim says that this made him feel like a part of the night. He as though he was Nam.

Tim's plan totally backfired on him. After trick after trick Bobby caught on, approached Tim, kicked him in the head, and then helped him aid the wound from that kick. Sure Tim was embarrassed, but he felt as though he had gotten even. At that point Tim and Bobby made a truce. They both apologized, and both let go of the tribulation of the past. Azar on the other hand tried to play it off as though he had no part in the tricks, saying that Tim was disgusting! So then Tim and Bobby decided that he would be the next one to get what he deserved...

I found The Ghost Soldiers enjoyable to read and insightful to the characters. It was a more lighthearted story than many of the others that make up this novel. There was humor and irony present, as well as a full explanation of what Tim was thinking and why he was thinking such thoughts. Even though Tim had stopped hating Bobby a little while back in the story, he still found it necessary to seek revenge. After his plot kicked him in his own face (no pun intended) he was able to let go of the grudge he had held so firmly on Bobby. Tim had to get the thrill out of each action before he would let a matter resolve itself. By Bobby catching on to Tim's trick I think that he earned an amount of respect from Tim. I personally value respect very highly. When Tim and Bobby made peace between them I felt much more respect towards Tim. I thought he had been acting very childish and stubborn previously. It's funny how war can change so much, yet still allow a boy to live on inside of a man. He comes out every so often, I even see him in my own father. Veterans were forced to grow up so quickly that I sometimes wonder if they were ever able to grow up fully.

This story really got me thinking, as did Speaking of Courage and the other stories that made up The Things They Carried. The book gives out an abundance of objective information. The best part is that each fact subjectively could write a book.