Summary Of Tim O Brien's The Things They Carried

The Things They Carried, written by Tim O’Brien, is a unique account of some of the devastating stories and tragedies that occurred during the Vietnam War. O’Brien is no stranger to the war, which makes his novel that much more genuine. His tour of duty lasted from 1969 to 1970 as a foot soldier with the 46th Infantry in Quang Ngai province (Reed, 2008). One of the tragic stories found in The Things They Carried has to do with a man by the name of Kiowa who was the heart-felt member of the group around whom the novel focuses. To the demise of all of the members of the Alpha Company, Kiowa is slowly lost in a very long and harsh death that seemed to be unpreventable by any of his dearest friends. His death still follows those soldiers to this

The team had decided to camp out in a field, later discovered to be a waste field for the local village. One night while being bombed by the enemy Kiowa was hit. As he suffered his injuries and the filth of the land swallowed him up, Norman Bowker desperately tried to pull him out to save him. The smell was too much and the suction too strong and before Bowker knew it, Kiowa had disappeared in the field, becoming a part of it. As the book recalls on page 143, Norman Bowker pushed passed the wretched smell and did everything in his power to try and pull Kiowa out of the muck by his boot, but never managed to save him from the unforgiving field. Bowker was not the only one to feel guilty for Kiowa’s death. Jimmy Cross was also present. Although he may not have been there for the final moments, he was the one that ordered the company to camp out in the field for the time. For that reason he blames himself for the loss of Kiowa. Finally, O’Brien himself felt the death impact him. As found on page 154, Bowker was not the one who lost his bravery from the shock and horrid smell. It was O’Brien. While Norman Bowker was attempting to save Kiowa, O’Brien was paralyzed and not able to do anything about the death. If he had been braver, it may have been possible that Kiowa would be alive

In the end it is really just up to what you believe happened according to the given accounts you have already been told. What do I believe? I think that everyone froze just as O’Brien did, except for Bowker. I feel as though it was silent for those few minutes as Kiowa sunk into the waste, minus the moans of Bowker as he helplessly tried to pull him back to life. I believe everyone stood there watching with disbelief and no clue what to do. I think that even though Bowker blamed himself for the loss of Kiowa, it was everyone else’s fault. Of the three that I mentioned specifically, O’Brien was the most guilty for the loss of Kiowa. If O’Brien had not frozen, Kiowa may have lived. In a moment as devastating as that one, no one is ever prepared to do what they were trained to fulfill, as the company showed in the eye-opening loss they