Elena Amirhasani B4 Haunting Memories Wreck Lives In the novel The Things They Carried by Tim O’Brien, numerous short stories reveal aching truths about a group of Vietnam soldiers. One of the characters, Norman Bowker, although mentioned sporadically throughout the book, becomes very significant in the chapters “Speaking of Courage,” and “Notes”. Norman walks the readers through the full experience of trying to hold on to past memories, being a part of the army, and returning home yet feeling out of place. As the book progresses, the author reveals more of this character’s personality through the four different roles he plays: a soldier, a son, a friend, and a Vietnam veteran. Through these four identities, and O’Brien’s use of fragmentation and symbolism, …show more content…
Therefore, the second element that deteriorates Norman’s state of mind, is his own unreasonable expectations. Lastly, as a Vietnam veteran, when Norman is back, and months have passed, the author describes how Norman’s hometown no longer holds a sense of nostalgia. O’Brien clearly demonstrates Norman’s confusion and loss of hope at the beginning of the chapter “Speaking of Courage,” where Norman spends a few long paragraphs introducing plenty of characters who had a strong effect on him during his childhood. Norman’s description of life for those people now compared to the beginning of the war stresses the lack of a story regarding his own future. The reader here notices that there is no set path for Norman, and that the author, has only left fragments of Norman’s old peers and how they have their lives all put together, now: “Before the war they'd driven around the lake as friends, but now Max was just an idea, and most of Norman Bowker's other friends were living in Des Moines or Sioux City, or going to school somewhere, or holding down