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From the beginning of the book, most of the main paragraphs begin with something along the lines of "they carried". This, despite being the name of the book, also sets up a type of rythm in the book. It often spent a paragraph focusing on a character or an idea, then go back to "they carried", which was most often literal. "They carried USO stationery and pencils and pens." This type of writing helps set up the image of what these men had on their backs, and helps one imagine being among them, carrying their own burden.

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On page thirteen, there is an interesting conversation that is put to light, one between Henry Dobbins and Mitchell Sanders. In it, Sanders had cut off the thumb of the charred corpse of a young Vietcong boy, about age sixteen, and had handed the thumb to another member of the company. He had said that there was a moral, and when asked by Dobbins about it, he answered with a cryptic message about an old TV show. Dobbins then comes to the conclusion that there is no moral, and Sanders simply replies: "There it is, man." What this implies is that their platoon was in a land where morals do not exist, a place where there is no right or wrong. A place such as this seemingly is a good place for Sanders, however Dobbins seems irritated with the idea, which shows that Dobbins tries to be a moral individual, and this shows Sanders to be a bit more psychotic than the others, as he seems to enjoy being in someplace where he can do no wrong.

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Throughout the first section of the book, The Things They Carried, the author uses flashbacks to help explain the setting and the soldiers’ attitudes before they were drafted into the Vietnam War. In one of the flashbacks, the narrator, Tim O’Brien receives his draft notice in the mail and decides to flee to Canada, although he never does go fully AWOL, this scene shows his anxiety and negative attitude towards the war. This part of the book also showcases what the author thinks of himself. The following quote takes place moments after he receives his draft notice. He thinks, to himself, “I was too good for this war. Too smart. Too compassionate, too everything...summa cum laude and president of the student body and a full-ride scholarship for grad studies at Harvard” (pg. 39). This scene indicates to the reader that he thinks very highly of himself and thinks he is too good to fight in a war he doesn’t even believe in. The use of flashbacks helps the reader better understand the character’s actions and motives throughout the rest of the book. 

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Throughout the first section of the book, The Things They Carried, the author uses flashbacks to help explain the setting and the soldiers’ attitudes before they were drafted into the Vietnam War. In one of the flashbacks, the narrator, Tim O’Brien receives his draft notice in the mail and decides to flee to Canada, although he never does go fully AWOL, this scene shows his anxiety and negative attitude towards the war. This part of the book also showcases what the author thinks of himself. The following quote takes place moments after he receives his draft notice. He thinks, to himself, “I was too good for this war. Too smart. Too compassionate, too everything...summa cum laude and president of the student body and a full-ride scholarship for grad studies at Harvard” (pg. 39). This scene indicates to the reader that he thinks very highly of himself and thinks he is too good to fight in a war he doesn’t even believe in. The use of flashbacks helps the reader better understand the character’s actions and motives throughout the rest of the book. 

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The "narrator" of the first few pages is a very interesting person, one Lieutenant Jimmy Cross, the CO of the seventeen man group those pages follow. The term narrator is very loose, due to the structure the book takes, but he is introduced in a conflicting light. Jimmy is introduced as obsessed with a girl back home who's picture he carries, Martha, and it is quickly established that he is obsessed with her, especially the part with licking the seals on the letters. Most of the internal dialogue or things stated when in Jimmy's mind make him out to be a stalker, or completely obsessed, and he certainly seems less than ideal as a person. However, when on the subject of Jimmy's men, he takes the weight of their lives on his shoulders, and the guilt he feels after losing one of them certainly does a small bit in redeeming him to the reader. However, it is still difficult to trust him, as the book goes out of its way to set up that Jimmy daydreams about Martha even on missions, so it is difficult to see Jimmy as a trustworthy character.

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The title of the book, The Things They Carried, fits very well into the storyline. In the beginning of the section, the narrator explains a lot about the things the soldiers carried--both mentally and literally. On page 2, he talks about the necessities that each person carried and how their rank and role in the platoon determined what things they were to carry. He states, “The things they carried were largely determined by necessity…” the descriptions of what each soldier carried prolongs for several more pages. Towards the end of the descriptions on page 7, the narrator adds, “They carried all they could bear, and then some, including a silent aw for the terrible power of the things they carried.” Tim O’Brien adds this statement to enhance the meaning of the title showing that they also carried the deaths of their fellow soldiers and the burden of carrying that has great influence over their actions--similar to PTSD. This may, later in the book, explain some of the character’s actions. 

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The title of the book, The Things They Carried, fits very well into the storyline. In the beginning of the section, the narrator explains a lot about the things the soldiers carried--both mentally and literally. On page 2, he talks about the necessities that each person carried and how their rank and role in the platoon determined what things they were to carry. He states, “The things they carried were largely determined by necessity…” the descriptions of what each soldier carried prolongs for several more pages. Towards the end of the descriptions on page 7, the narrator adds, “They carried all they could bear, and then some, including a silent aw for the terrible power of the things they carried.” Tim O’Brien adds this statement to enhance the meaning of the title showing that they also carried the deaths of their fellow soldiers and the burden of carrying that has great influence over their actions--similar to PTSD. This may, later in the book, explain some of the character’s actions. 

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Throughout this section of the reading, the author uses Lt. Jimmy Cross’s flashbacks and dreams to help explain something about humankind. In many of these flashbacks and dreams, Lt. Cross always seems to wish he acted differently at that moment, most of the time these actions have to do with Martha. For example, on page 4, Jimmy flashes back to a moment with Martha, “He remembered kissing her good night at the dorm door. Right then, he thought, he should’ve done something brave. He should’ve…” Always dwelling on the past and wanting to change your previous actions seems to be a common trait among humans. Many people wish they could go back and change something they said or did. This theme goes well with the story so far because it talks a lot about the past and how the soldiers carry around the actions of the past while in war and after the war. 

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Throughout this section of the reading, the author uses Lt. Jimmy Cross’s flashbacks and dreams to help explain something about humankind. In many of these flashbacks and dreams, Lt. Cross always seems to wish he acted differently at that moment, most of the time these actions have to do with Martha. For example, on page 4, Jimmy flashes back to a moment with Martha, “He remembered kissing her good night at the dorm door. Right then, he thought, he should’ve done something brave. He should’ve…” Always dwelling on the past and wanting to change your previous actions seems to be a common trait among humans. Many people wish they could go back and change something they said or did. This theme goes well with the story so far because it talks a lot about the past and how the soldiers carry around the actions of the past while in war and after the war. 

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O'brien uses his description about what the soldiers carried as a way to introduce them to the reader. For example, we read a lot about Lieutenant Jimmy Cross carrying letters and memorabilia from a girl he loves named Martha. We can clearly see that these thoughts and memories distract him from the reality he lives in. O'Brien oftentimes repeats the phrase, "the things they carried", which is also the title of the book. In the beginning of the section, he writes about the physical things each soldier carries with them, but as the section progresses he moves into more emotional or mental concepts. On page 21 he writes, "By and large they carried these things inside, maintaining the masks of composure." He also writes a similar quote on page 24, "It was very sad, he thought. The things men carried inside. The things men did or felt they had to do." From there, he explains how he decided to enlist in the war only because he didn't want to be judged. He thought that if he didn't join the war, he would be seen as a coward to his family and community. O'Brien hints at this a lot throughout the section with multiple people.

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The first section of the things they carried does a good job at setting up the stage and characters of the book. The title is heavily referenced throughout the first section, and it becomes easier to understand the characters motives while looking at the things they carry. While they are in a war, their actions are oftentimes life or death. This makes their motives and personal drive a very important factor of survival. "On the morning after Ted Lavender died, First Lieutenant Jimmy Cross crouched at the bottom of his foxhole and burned Martha's letters. Then he burned the two photographs. There was a steady rain falling, which made it difficult, but he used heat tabs and Sterno to build a small fire, screening it with his body, holding the photographs over the tight blue flame with the tips of his fingers.
He realized it was only a gesture. Stupid, he thought. Sentimental, too, but mostly just stupid.
Lavender was dead. You couldn't burn the blame." Jimmy Cross feels that because he was too caught in his daydream of Martha, that Ted Lavender died because of him.

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This section often focuses on the lack of morals in war. The cut off thumb of a young soldier found burned in a ditch, or the abandoned puppy Azar strapped to a mine. However, the author mentions it wasn't all that way. He writes, "And like the time we enlisted an old poppa-san to guide us though the mine fields out on the Batangan peninsula... It was a sad scene when the choppers came to take us away. Jimmy Cross gave the old poppa-san a hug. Mitchell Sanders and  Lee Strunk loaded him up with boxes of C rations
There were actually tears in the old guy's eyes." This shows that despite the horrors of war, these people we still able to experience some kindness.

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In this section of the book, the bonds and the friendships the men made stood out to me. Despite being in an awful situation where survival was not guaranteed, the characters were still able to form relationships with their fellow soldiers. An example could be Jensen and Strunk, who at first didn’t get along but eventually learned to trust each other up until Strunk’s death. O’ Brien writes, “They covered each other on patrol, shared a foxhole, took turns pulling guard at night.” This shows that even in war people need to/can form friendships.

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Within the first few pages, O’ Brien emphasizes going back and forth between the mental and physical burdens, as well as what each individual character used to cope with the combat. For example, Jimmy Cross used Martha as a distraction and as a way to cope. Rat Kiley used comic books and candy. Kiowa used his illustrated New Testament as well as his grandfathers hatchet. And Ted Lavender “carried 6 or 7 ounces of premium dope, which for him was a necessity.” Each of the men must cling onto something in order deal with “the things they carried.”

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Within the first few pages, O’ Brien emphasizes going back and forth between the mental and physical burdens, as well as what each individual character used to cope with the combat. For example, Jimmy Cross used Martha as a distraction and as a way to cope. Rat Kiley used comic books and candy. Kiowa used his illustrated New Testament as well as his grandfathers hatchet. And Ted Lavender “carried 6 or 7 ounces of premium dope, which for him was a necessity.” Each of the men must cling onto something in order deal with “the things they carried.”

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At first within the first few pages, the author takes a more 3rd person POV but as the second chapter, Love, arrives, he switches to 1st person POV as himself, Tim, O’Brien. The first chapter seems to serve as an introduction into the characters and what burdens they carry mentally and physically. The second chapter begins in the (seemingly) present day, as Jimmy Cross visits O’ Brien in Massachusetts. Together they reflect on pictures and memories. He writes, “Spread out across the kitchen table were maybe a hundred old photographs. There were pictures of Rat Kiley and Kiowa and Mitchell Sanders, all of us, the faces incredibly soft and young.”

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At first within the first few pages, the author takes a more 3rd person POV but as the second chapter, Love, arrives, he switches to 1st person POV as himself, Tim, O’Brien. The first chapter seems to serve as an introduction into the characters and what burdens they carry mentally and physically. The second chapter begins in the (seemingly) present day, as Jimmy Cross visits O’ Brien in Massachusetts. Together they reflect on pictures and memories. He writes, “Spread out across the kitchen table were maybe a hundred old photographs. There were pictures of Rat Kiley and Kiowa and Mitchell Sanders, all of us, the faces incredibly soft and young.”

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This section started off by explaining how to tell if a war story is true. The narrator does this to clue in the reader to the following chapters. In each chapter, the narrator seems to focus in on one character with a war story about them. For example, in the chapter titled, “The Dentist” the narrator mourns the death of Curt Lemon by telling a story about how he was afraid of the dentist and how he fainted once during the war while going to the dentist. With each story the narrator tells, he uses a war story to go deeper into the lives of each character. The narrator also goes back and forth between the events of the war and their lives after the war. An example of this can be seen in the chapter “Speaking of Courage” when Norman Bowker returns home to Iowa from the war and has a difficult time adjusting to life as a civilian. This type of storytelling by the narrator helps the reader to better understand the effects of the Vietnam war on veterans. 

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This section started off by explaining how to tell if a war story is true. The narrator does this to clue in the reader to the following chapters. In each chapter, the narrator seems to focus in on one character with a war story about them. For example, in the chapter titled, “The Dentist” the narrator mourns the death of Curt Lemon by telling a story about how he was afraid of the dentist and how he fainted once during the war while going to the dentist. With each story the narrator tells, he uses a war story to go deeper into the lives of each character. The narrator also goes back and forth between the events of the war and their lives after the war. An example of this can be seen in the chapter “Speaking of Courage” when Norman Bowker returns home to Iowa from the war and has a difficult time adjusting to life as a civilian. This type of storytelling by the narrator helps the reader to better understand the effects of the Vietnam war on veterans. 

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In this section of the reading, the setting changed every chapter. It moves from the war setting to back home. Although I don’t have a ton of knowledge about the Vietnam war, the chapter about Norman Bowker in Iowa I could relate to, and it helped me imagine myself in his life and living his experiences. The narrator goes very deep into his descriptions of the setting so the reader can imagine themselves there, “It was Sunday and it was summer...the lake lay flat and silvery against the sun...brightly painted, with docks jutting out into the lake...” (pg. 131). This scene, I can easily put myself into because it reminds me of all the time I spend at the lake in the summer. After reading this section I feel that I have a better understanding of the Vietnam war because of the narrator’s in-depth descriptions. 

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In this section of the reading, the setting changed every chapter. It moves from the war setting to back home. Although I don’t have a ton of knowledge about the Vietnam war, the chapter about Norman Bowker in Iowa I could relate to, and it helped me imagine myself in his life and living his experiences. The narrator goes very deep into his descriptions of the setting so the reader can imagine themselves there, “It was Sunday and it was summer...the lake lay flat and silvery against the sun...brightly painted, with docks jutting out into the lake...” (pg. 131). This scene, I can easily put myself into because it reminds me of all the time I spend at the lake in the summer. After reading this section I feel that I have a better understanding of the Vietnam war because of the narrator’s in-depth descriptions. 

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Now O’Brien is fleshing out the “things they carried” after the war, whereas the beginning of the book he talked about the things they carried during the war. He explains the burdens the war had on the characters as they try to adjust to their current average lifestyle. Norman tries to fit into his small home town, but finds it hard and repetitive, perhaps using his trips around the lake to hint at the monotonous repetition each day brings him. He also struggles with needing to talk to someone about Kiowa’s death, and how he almost got a silver star but didn’t. O’Brien writes, “He could not talk about it and never would.”

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The meaning of this section has shifted into finding purpose after the war. The characters struggle with keeping their thoughts to themselves and remembering the people whose lives were lost, like Kiowa and the man on the trail. Tim O’Brien is able to write out his thoughts into stories, but is unable to truly capture the scene of Norman’s story until after his death. This section reminds the reader that these characters are human just how badly the horrors of war can affect someone. “By telling stories, you objectify your own experience,” explains O’Brien. Norman finds that he no longer has an objective— something to make him feel useful compared to the lives of the townspeople.

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On top of the physical things they carry as mentioned in the first section, O'Brien extends the meaning to stories and memories. This section was dedicated to the stories that multiple men had shared with him, as well as his own. The section starts off with Rat Kiley's responses to the death of his friend. Through stories and memories, we are able to fully see his grief portrayed in his actions. The section moves on to talk about the death of Curt Lemon, the music in the mountains, and the water buffalo. He writes, "In a true war story, if there's a moral at all, its like the thread that makes the cloth. You can't tease it out. You cant extract the meaning without unraveling the deeper meaning. And in the end, really, there's nothing much to say about a true war story, except maybe 'Oh.'" O'Brien mentions throughout the section how war is much more than a simple generalization such as "war is hell". Like most things in life, its much more complex than it seems.

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The author uses repetition to make a big impact on the readers. For example, in the scene where Tim has just killed the man on the trail, he continues to stare at the corpse and observe the tiny, gruesome details. He points out the “star-shaped hole” in one eye and his missing upper mouth area. Later, he cannot admit his crimes to his own daughter, “It was a difficult moment, but I did what seemed right, which was to say, ‘Of course not,’ and then to take her onto my lap and hold her for a while.” Then, the author further drives into how the event happened, completing the circle of this particular event.

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O'Brien oftentimes repeats phrases to have an enhanced impact on the audience. When Curt Lemon dies, he repeats different snippets of the story three or so times. This portrays to the readers how it had a a jarring impact on both Tim and Rat Kiley. It explains Rat's later actions upon writing the letter and killing the water buffalo. Also, with Tim's own experience killing someone, he repeats the description of the man over and over again like a mantra. We see how killing a man who might not have killed him effected O'Brien, even long after the war. He writes, "Even now I haven't finished sorting it out. Sometimes I forgive myself, other times I don't. in the ordinary hours of life, i try not to dwell on it, but now and then, when I'm reading a newspaper or just sitting alone in a room, I'll look up and see the young man step out of the morning fog. I'll watch him walk towards me, his shoulders slightly stooped, his head cocked to the side, and he'll pass within a few yards of me and suddenly smile at some secret thought and then continue up the trail to where it bends back into the fog."

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In this section of the reading, the narrator highlights the effects of the war on the soldiers’ lives when they come home. For example, when Norman Bowker came home from the war he had a difficult time adjusting to life outside of the war and ended up committing suicide because of it, but the narrator had a different situation. Bowker suffered from the effects of PTSD while Tim O’Brien’s writing helped him deal with his experiences of the war, he says, “I received Norman Bowker’s letter, it occurred to me that the act of writing had led me through a swirl of memories that had otherwise have ended in paralysis or worse” (pg. 152). He admits that writing about his experiences helped him objectify and separate those experiences from himself. This translates into today’s world of veterans and PTSD. According to the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs, 6,139 veterans committed suicide in 2017. This story helps show that veteran PTSD and suicide is a real problem that needs help solving. 

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In this section of the reading, the narrator highlights the effects of the war on the soldiers’ lives when they come home. For example, when Norman Bowker came home from the war he had a difficult time adjusting to life outside of the war and ended up committing suicide because of it, but the narrator had a different situation. Bowker suffered from the effects of PTSD while Tim O’Brien’s writing helped him deal with his experiences of the war, he says, “I received Norman Bowker’s letter, it occurred to me that the act of writing had led me through a swirl of memories that had otherwise have ended in paralysis or worse” (pg. 152). He admits that writing about his experiences helped him objectify and separate those experiences from himself. This translates into today’s world of veterans and PTSD. According to the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs, 6,139 veterans committed suicide in 2017. This story helps show that veteran PTSD and suicide is a real problem that needs help solving. 

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This section revolves around the mental things such as memories and stories, and how they effect them both in the past and the present. We see this with Norman Bowker, and Kiowa's death. Even long after the war, Kiowa's death still haunted Norman. He lost his sense of purpose after the war, and felt like he was responsible for what happened to his friend. O'brien mentions that he transitioned from the life of war to the civilian life easily, but seeing Normans struggle to do so brings this issue into the light. "I did not look on my work as therapy, and still don't. Yet when i received Norman Bowker's letter, it occurred to me that the act of writing had led me through a swirl of memories that might otherwise have ended in paralysis or worse. By telling stories, you objectify your own experience."

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I noticed during a large amount of the beginning of this section always returned to the death of Curt Lemon: "We crossed that river and marched west into the mountains. On the third day, Curt Lemon stepped on a booby-trapped 105 round. He was playing catch with Rat Kiley, laughing, and then he was dead." this constant repeating of the same details, over and over, constantly returning to the same ideas rails home the emotional trauma that it gave O'Brien, just like Chikowa in the first part of the book. This helps both metaphorically and quite literally show the effect that PTSD has on the minds of those in such traumatic events, and shows how jarring losing someone so suddenly is.

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One of the biggest pieces of this section is how the lives of those involved were affected. The whole thing begins with O'Brien meeting with Lieutenant Cross, the CO. They talk, laugh, and remember all the friends they have lost, which brings about a serene feel to the whole conversation, especially when Timmy brings up that he never forgave himself for the deaths of his men.  This kind of emotional weight that he will carry for the rest of his lives will certainly haunt him, and it helps drive home how traumatizing the war was for so many people.

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In this section of the book, there is a very jarring scene, in which Rat Kiley drags a Vietnamese water buffalo calf into the center of a barren town. Kiley, already grief-stricken by the death of Curt Lemon, takes his anger on the animal. He shot off parts of its body with his rifle, such as the ears, the tail, the feet. Then, somethings seems to snap: "Rat went to automatic. He shot randomly, almost casually, quick little spurts in the belly and butt." this systematic torture almost is described in brutal detail, and you get a feel for what Rat is feeling in the whole thing.

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War can break someone down and shatter their reality and minds. Crawling through thick jungle underbrush while being shot at by unknown and unseen hostiles can wear on the mind. Therefore the little things are appreciated. These can include things such as letters from loved ones as the author so eloquently uses. The author goes on by describing everything the character Jimmy Cross loves about the letters from Martha. The letters are appreciated for every final detail. To emphasize how powerful these letters were the author ends off with the simple sentence, "The letters weighed 10 ounces.". Emphasizing how such a little and insignificant item can impact someone so greatly in this situation.

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One thing I find very interesting is the contrasting descriptions of the items that they carry. Each man is described in the beginning simply by the items in which they carry. It didn't matter what they carried, be it a moral or physical burden. Through this we can see how the author describes these men as sort of empty shells being filled by the items and mental baggage that belong to them. They don't have any other way of expressing their personality as they did at home. They are so robotic that they simply can be described by what they carry. More importantly described is the relationship between Jimmy Cross and Martha. Jimmy becomes fixated on her as he grabs for something to hold onto and hope for when he gets home. He becomes detached from reality as shown in the quote on page 8 which reads, "and now Ted Lavender was dead because he loved her so much and could not stop thinking about her.". This style of summarizing the characters personalities through "what they carried", effectively shows their faults as well.

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During the first 10 pages the author jumps back and forth between the "things they carried" and the morbid events that the characters experienced. Its interesting to note how little dialogue is used between the characters. The only dialogue can be found after Ted Lavenders death to bring some morbid life to these characters socials lives. Kiowa incessantly describes how he saw Ted drop to the ground after he had been killed. Bringing a sordid tone to the text as it's only dialogue in the first ten pages contains descriptions of how a man died. It complements the rhythm of the book's description of "what they carried". Splicing in a disturbing situation to really show the gravity of the situation in Vietnam.

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This section now focuses on the end of the war, and how Tim remembers the death of his friends. He compares their deaths to moments in his old life as “Timmy”. He reminisces about Linda and how she had been the first dead body he had ever seen. This section also explains how the soldiers deal with death/dead people. They try to make the corpses appear to be alive still by shaking their hands, talking to them, and moving them.

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These pages in the book put the way the characters view death into perspective. If the body does not seem dead, or does not seem human, the death isn’t as bad to cope with. But sometimes, the characters get too caught up in the death and the harsh lifestyle of Vietnam and go crazy like Rat Kiley. Or, another example could be the way O’ Brien continues to think about Linda even though she had only been nine and had died many years before. In the eloquent words of Mitchell Sanders, “death sucks.”

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As with most of the book, in this section O’ Brien jumps back and forth between the war and his childhood. He (despite the differences between the two aforementioned lifestyles, O’ Brien is able to expertly connect the two in ways that make the book much more interesting and fluid to read. For example, after seeing Linda’s dead body in the casket his father says, “Come on now...Let’s get some ice cream.”  Right after that moment Tim puts the reader back into the war zone as he talks about all the dead bodies he had seen. These two scenes are connected by the prospect of Tim realizing what it’s like to see a dead body.

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This section compares and contrasts his past life as a child and his life in the war. O’Brien bridges the gap by writing about Linda, a girl he liked when he was young. He saw her corpse, and compares it to a corpse he saw in Vietnam. He mentions how dead people sometimes seem as if they’re alive. After he saw Linda, he started dreaming about her, and when the platoon came across the dead soldiers body in the village, they shook the corpses hand and gave him high-fives.

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In this section he’s constantly comparing different moments of his life. He mentions his childhood, and he also mentions taking his daughter to Vietnam, and seeing the place where Kiowa died. He uses this writing to explore mortality and what it means to die. He blends the transitions between these three memories, explaining more about Tim’s motives and character. We can see that writing and telling stories helps keep memories of deceased people alive.

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Overall, I think the things they carry extends further than just physical objects. Throughout the whole book, the characters are constantly effected by the mental things they have going on inside their head. In this section, Tim carries stories that he writes into books. The stories that he carries help him cope with the things he’s seen, and deal with the death of his friends. Through stories, the deceased aren’t actually dead, and you can relive their memory.

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In this section of the book, the author uses flashbacks from his childhood and the war to help connect stories about his life. For example, in the last chapter, “The Lives of the Dead,” O’Brien connects his experiences of death in his childhood and throughout the war. On page 229, O’Brien has a difficult time accepting the fact that Linda is dead, he says, It didn’t seem real. A mistake, I thought. The girl lying in the casket wasn’t Linda.” Later, on page 230, he remembers his worst day of the war, he says, It was my worst day at the war. For three hours we carried the bodies down the mountain to a clearing alongside a narrow dirt road.” By connecting these stories, O’Brien shows how difficult it is for people to cope with death no matter their age. This continues to be shown in the way O’Brien lyes awake at night, making up stories and dreaming of Linda. 

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In this section of the book, the author uses flashbacks from his childhood and the war to help connect stories about his life. For example, in the last chapter, “The Lives of the Dead,” O’Brien connects his experiences of death in his childhood and throughout the war. On page 229, O’Brien has a difficult time accepting the fact that Linda is dead, he says, It didn’t seem real. A mistake, I thought. The girl lying in the casket wasn’t Linda.” Later, on page 230, he remembers his worst day of the war, he says, It was my worst day at the war. For three hours we carried the bodies down the mountain to a clearing alongside a narrow dirt road.” By connecting these stories, O’Brien shows how difficult it is for people to cope with death no matter their age. This continues to be shown in the way O’Brien lyes awake at night, making up stories and dreaming of Linda. 

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One main theme that is shown throughout this book and specifically in this section is guilt and regret and how people deal with it. Some examples of this in this section are, Veenhof feeling guilty for hurting Linda, O’Brien felt guilty for not standing up for Linda and Kiowa’s death, and Cross felt guilty for putting his soldiers in the “shit field.” People deal with guilt in different ways: Some are unable to live with the feeling of guilt and commit suicide like Norman Bowker, and some dream of the dead and wish they did things differently like O’Brien. 

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One main theme that is shown throughout this book and specifically in this section is guilt and regret and how people deal with it. Some examples of this in this section are, Veenhof feeling guilty for hurting Linda, O’Brien felt guilty for not standing up for Linda and Kiowa’s death, and Cross felt guilty for putting his soldiers in the “shit field.” People deal with guilt in different ways: Some are unable to live with the feeling of guilt and commit suicide like Norman Bowker, and some dream of the dead and wish they did things differently like O’Brien. 

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I noticed throughout this final stretch of the book and even before that, there was a large emphasis put into brotherhood. O'Brien's reaction to Kiowa's death, the way that his soul kinda shattered when his squad was called back from the field and there was a sense that they weren't his brothers anymore. Throughout the whole book, there is the feeling that the group isn't solely a unit, but a band of human beings that stick together because they have no one else to be with, no one to share their experiences. So, they share their pain, their fears, everything with each other and become more than friends. They become brothers.

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In the section that we read, closer to the beginning, there was a certain part that caught my eye. Specifically, the instance during which O'Brien is telling how Kiowa died, using the 'nameless soldier' aspect of war to show the grief of the character, which was O'Brien, so the readers could get an idea of the fact that everyone took the death hard: "The young soldier was trying hard not to cry. He, too, blamed himself. Bent forward at the waist, groping with both hands, he seemed to be chasing some creature just beyond reach, something elusive, a fish or a frog." (Pg 162). Later, it is revealed to the reader that the 'nameless' soldier watched Kiowa be sucked under, and in just the way it is written, it tells how he blames himself.

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Closer to the beginning of this section, there was an interesting part, involving O'Brien's daughter and how he brought her to Vietnam to help her see the world. During this, O'Brien writes that he arranged a trip to Kiowa's resting place, the field where he died. Throughout the page, his daughter expresses confusion at what he was doing, as he searched the watery field and found the spot where his friend's knapsack was found. He wades into the water, pulling out Kiowa's moccasins, and buries them into the muck. Then, he looks up to see an older man staring at him. It is heavily implied that the other man fought on the other side of the war, and the two old soldiers just walk away. This section, through it's writing, conveys both the shared experience of old soldiers, and the naivety of younger souls to the horrors of war, showing that those who are too young can never understand the true pain and loss that the soldiers who fought know.

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One story in this final section of reading that stood out to me was in the chapter, “Ghost Soldiers.” The part that stood out to me followed the events of O’Brien getting shot while Bobby Jorgenson was the replacement medic for Rat Kiley. Since Jorgenson was terrified and lacked the skills needed to be a medic, O’Brien suffered the consequences. After O’Brien was shot, it took Jorgenson ten minutes to crawl over and help him, as a result of this, O’Brien was close to dying of shock. As if this wasn’t enough, Jorgenson did a terrible of patching up O’Brien, and his skin around the wound began to rot off. On page 181, O’Brien describes in great depth the consequences he suffered from a bullet wound, he explains, “ he bungled the patch job and a couple of weeks later my ass started to rot away. You could actually peel off fillets of meat with your fingernail.” This description was really well written, in my opinion, because I could actually picture the scene and it even made me scrunch my nose at the thought of the pain he must have felt. This type of in-depth description throughout the entire book helps to engage the reader and put the audience in that scene and actually picture yourself in the jungle of Vietnam. 

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One story in this final section of reading that stood out to me was in the chapter, “Ghost Soldiers.” The part that stood out to me followed the events of O’Brien getting shot while Bobby Jorgenson was the replacement medic for Rat Kiley. Since Jorgenson was terrified and lacked the skills needed to be a medic, O’Brien suffered the consequences. After O’Brien was shot, it took Jorgenson ten minutes to crawl over and help him, as a result of this, O’Brien was close to dying of shock. As if this wasn’t enough, Jorgenson did a terrible of patching up O’Brien, and his skin around the wound began to rot off. On page 181, O’Brien describes in great depth the consequences he suffered from a bullet wound, he explains, “ he bungled the patch job and a couple of weeks later my ass started to rot away. You could actually peel off fillets of meat with your fingernail.” This description was really well written, in my opinion, because I could actually picture the scene and it even made me scrunch my nose at the thought of the pain he must have felt. This type of in-depth description throughout the entire book helps to engage the reader and put the audience in that scene and actually picture yourself in the jungle of Vietnam. 

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One of the most interesting parts of this section in my opinion is the trip to Vietnam that O'Brien takes with his daughter. The area where Kiowa died for example is built up with tension and as O'Brien mentions, menacing. The setting O'Brien has in his head is simply gone. The area is no longer as traumatizing and imposing as it used to be. Then the author continues on by listing the other areas they had visited and his daughter's reactions. As she later says, "Like coming over here. Some dumb thing happens a long time ago and you can't ever forget it." (page 209). This section shows the contrast between O'Brien's memories and the actual areas he so vividly remembers in his memories. The trauma he experiences sort of hangs over the area. Until he finally reaches it and realizes it was all in his head. There he finally begins to get closure.

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The text structures used in the section are a pattern of interconnecting O'Brien's experiences of childhood and the war. Comparing and contrasting the trauma he would experience as a kid and the trauma he experienced as a soldier. The blows he experienced in childhood such as Linda's death are softened by his family and as mentioned his father saying, "Come on now, lets get some ice cream." (207). The text here is somber and depressing but not as bad compared to when right after the quote the reader is thrown back into the war. Where the blows O'Brien suffers are not softened by family. His only support comes from men who are experiencing the same thing. Effectively showing the difference between the trauma experienced during war and through regular life.

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To me the book seems to be a coping mechanism for O'Brien. All of these characters died unjust and tragic deaths while in Vietnam and throughout the story. Through the story O'Brien tries to bring his friends who died back to life. Even though they are dead and gone he can bring closure by bringing them back to life on the page. This is shown by how he describes his obsession with Linda. On page 265 O'Brien says, "I can revive, at least briefly, that which is absolute and unchanging.". Without this book barely anyone would have known of Kiowa or Ted Lavender, but O'Brien can bring them and their stories back to life for a brief time.

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One piece of writing during this section I really enjoyed was when O'Brien was describing a true war story. The fact that most don't have a point. This seemed like a metaphor for how pointless war is and how it affects the people in it. By describing how the point of the story is even lost on the one telling and their persistence to the find the point it showcases the mental stress they are undergoing. They want to justify why they experienced those events and that there was a genuine good reason for that to have happened. But in the end they cannot find this closure and as O'Brien perfectly writes, "The war's over. You close your eyes. You smile and think, Christ, what's the point?'. I think this is how O'Brien himself finally found closure when realizing it was pointless to think about the a long gone war.

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One interesting text structure O'Brien uses is when describing Curt Lemon's death. Specifically the repetition of the event further and further to drive home the point. To me O'Brien was trying to drive home how in an instant he was gone. The trauma came not from seeing him actually die but the events leading up to it and how peaceful it was before he was blown up. How safe it seemed and that they never can really be safe at any time during the war. I also found it interesting how no dialogue was used in the aftermath of his death. It almost seemed like O'Brien and Jensen just casually got up a cleaned the gore off of the tree. Jensen singing all the way during this time. I know that's probably not exactly what happened but it kinda shows that no one really reacted but just bottled it up inside. Then let it out like Rat Kiley did later.

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I think the meaning behind this section was really the aftermath of the war. Especially how it effected everyone who tried to settle back into normal lives. The whole section gave off a melancholy tone. Everyone was able to return home but what they experienced in the war followed them back home. Some people found closure through different activities like O'Brien and writing about it. But others unfortunately couldn't carry on like Bowker. In a sense the things he carried mentally weighed him down too much.