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-Cross looks at a photo of Lavender
-He confesses he's never forgiven himself for Lavender's death
-He continues on to have a conversation with O'brien about Martha
-This reveals how obsessed he is with Martha
-It shows how he still carries lots of grief and blame on his shoulders
-It shows how Martha was a distraction to Cross on the field
-Which is why  he wasn't able to do his job
- Or save Lavender
- Revealing why he feels this guilt
-And showing how heavy the things Cross carries are

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Notice:
-Jimmy never forgave himself for Lavender’s death
-Martha gave another volleyball picture after Jimmy burned the first one
-Jimmy met Martha at a school reunion in 1979
-I wonder how long that was after the war and how long it has been from the reunion to now
-Martha is a nurse that had served in Ethiopia, Guatemala, and Mexico
-She intends to never get married, which I’m guessing upset Jimmy
-Jimmy loves her to this day even after Martha has shown no interest in him
-Even in the end, Jimmy is expecting Martha to come back to him: “‘Maybe she’ll read it and come begging. There’s always hope, right?’”

Focus:
-Jimmy still is carrying the weight of Lavender’s death, after years he is carrying the emotional baggage of war, and I think that will be something he will never be able to change
-Jimmy is holding onto to useless hope of Martha coming back for him, maybe it’s like one of those dreams in Of Mice and Men where that’s one thing that keeps them going

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in this chapter, O'brien uses personal narrative and flashbacks to give the reader insight into what his life is now. He tells stories and distant memories of the war, and the flashes forward to present day to tell about how he is a writer and how the memories still haunt them. this gives the book a much more personal touch, and we see how war still affects veterans years later.

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This focuses on one of the major topics throughout the book. The feeling of "Shame".

O'brien uses this chapter to tell the story in which he has not even told to his family. He speaks of the time he went to the Canadian border and cried because he had to go to war because he was embarrassed not to. This reveals that guilt and shame are motivating factors in going to war, and that O'brien is upset about going to war against his principles.

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This chapter puts a close on the "story" of Cross and Martha, as Cross burns the letters from her, and her picture. All of those things are things he clung to, until Lavender died, which is when he started to blame himself. He decided that Martha was a distraction, and eliminated it. This decision makes the title of the chapter a little ironic, as he let go of his love for a girl that probably never really loved him back. There is a possibility that Cross never actually believed in love, and that Martha's letters allowed him to hope it existed. He allowed his guilt to replace that hope, and attempted to move on.

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This chapter shows how even men on the same side can turn on each other when Jensen and Strunk get into a fist fight.

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"Spin" is a lot less upsetting than the chapters before it, revealing a more mellow side to the war, at least as much as possible. Until, of course, it's not. Dobbins and Bowker play checkers every night they can, Azar gives a kid with a plastic leg some candy, and Sanders sends his lice as a message to the draft board. But then the puppy Lavender adopts is killed, Curt Lemon is killed, et cetera. Spin bounces between these semi-pleasant memories and these not-so-pleasant memories, and while the bouncing around is normal, the change in tone mid-chapter isn't quite as normal.

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"Symbols:

- The first major symbol that is seen in the story is the

meat packing plant. It is here that Tim works, out of any other possible job. The plant represents the brutality of the real world, and is the area where Tim first begins to lose his innocence. It is also a metaphor for the Vietnam War, and the brutal environment it takes place in. Because of this, it ultimately foreshadows Tim’s choice of conforming and going to the war. The odor that

the meat-packing plant leaves on Tim’s clothes symbolizes the permanent psychological

mark that will be left on his character after going to war, as well as the harsh experiences

that one will have as they proceed through the path of life." (Quote from link below)

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Symbols The first major symbol that is seen in the story is the meat packing

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Symbols The first major symbol that is seen in the story is the meat packing from ENGLISH 30 at Sir Winston Churchill High School

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- O'Brien's narration has a detached and casual tone to it
- He probably didn't care much about the fight
- Maybe because it's not his problem?
- Or maybe because these fights are normal?
- If they're normal, O'Brien was probably in a fight about something similar at one point

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In this chapter, Jensen and Strunk make up and create a pact that if either of them gets injured, the other will put him out of his misery. This is telling that even though they may disagree, soldiers who fight together are bonded together for life.

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In a combined analysis of "Enemies" and "Friends" (both very interconnected), SparkNotes discusses how the war affected social codes and contracts, and how O'Brien most likely meant for these two chapters to convey the distortion of those two things in wartime.

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Summary: "Enemies"

One morning on patrol Dave Jensen and Lee Strunk get into a fistfight over a missing jackknife that Jensen thinks Strunk has stolen. Jensen breaks Strunk's nose, hitting him repeatedly and without mercy. Afterward, Jensen is nervous that Strunk will try to get revenge and pays special attention to Strunk's whereabouts. Finally, crazed by apprehension, Jensen fires his gun into the air and calls out Strunk's name. Later that night, he borrows a pistol and uses it to break his own nose in order to even the score. The next morning, Strunk is amused by the news, admitting that he did steal Jensen's jackknife.

Summary: "Friends"

Dave Jensen and Lee Strunk learn to trust each other. They resolve that if one gets seriously wounded, the other will kill him to put him out of his misery. In October, Strunk's lower leg gets blown off by a mortar round. Jensen kneels at his side and Strunk repeatedly begs not to be killed. Strunk is loaded into a helicopter, and later Jensen is relieved to learn that Strunk didn't survive the trip.

Analysis: "Enemies" & "Friends"

In these two brief stories, the pressures of war distort social codes, causing two men on the same side to act violently toward one another for no real reason. O'Brien explains that this behavior results from the immaturity of Jensen and Strunk, and of the immaturity of grunts in general. Amid the chaotic war in Vietnam, soldiers often battled one another, to relieve the tension of waiting and because such close confines inspired contentious relationships.

In this story, social codes and contracts become arbitrary. In most societies, those who steal are punished by others in order to inspire guilt about, and fear of, committing wrongs. However, in "Enemies," the lack of an attempt by Jensen and Strunk to resolve their conflict using peaceful dialogue demonstrates that social contracts have begun to break down. While Jensen assumes that Strunk will inflict eye-for-an-eye revenge on him for breaking his nose, Strunk assumes Jensen was somewhat justified in his rash action and in the end Strunk feels that he's gotten what he deserved, since he did steal Jensen's jackknife. Strunk's acceptance of the matter and the relief Jensen takes in his exaggerated gesture of settling the score show that both men are willing to take responsibility for their actions. Unfortunately, with the breakdown of the social code, each is taking responsibility out of guilt rather than integrity.

The irony in these two stories is expressed by their titles. At the beginning of "Enemies," Jensen and Strunk are violently opposed to one another although they are fighting on the same side of a brutal war. At the end of "Friends," Jensen is relieved rather than aggrieved to learn of Strunk's death, although the two are supposed to be friends. These titles emphasize a wartime distortion of the notion of friendship, especially when compared with the notion of fidelity and promises. Jensen's relief at Strunk's death signals that he operates under a strict code of right and wrong, putting more stock in fidelity and promises than in friendship. Just as he assumes, in "Enemies," that he has broken a social code by wronging Strunk and must therefore feel bad, so too in "Friends" does he feel he has broken a social code by not honoring the terms of his pact with Strunk, even though Strunk is the one who waves off the pact.

O'Brien contends that war is a time when fantasies are shattered and notions of honor are rendered obsolete in the frightening face of death. When Jensen and Strunk make their pact, they are thinking of both grave injury and death as abstract, distant things, remnants of their notions of heroism from before the war, that have yet to become real because of their relative inexperience with death since their arrival. But when Strunk is actually injured, he immediately wants to rescind the agreement made in a time when the prospect of its being enacted seemed unlikely. Being alive and injured is better than being dead, he realizes. As Strunk begs for his life, Jensen is forced to grant an escape clause to the pact. Still, although Jensen doesn't take action to kill Strunk, the relief he feels upon hearing of Strunk's death suggests he believes that there was a right-honoring the pact-and a wrong-honoring Strunk's revised wishes-in this situation.

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A summary of "Enemies" & "Friends" in Tim O'Brien's The Things They Carried. Learn exactly what happened in this chapter, scene, or section of The Things They Carried and what it means. Perfect for acing essays, tests, and quizzes, as well as for writing lesson plans.

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1. They switch from drinking coffee over regular conversation to gin
So what? This must be a difficult topic for both of them to discuss.
2. It was assumed that Jimmy burned the photograph of Martha
So what? The burning indicates strong negative feelings. If he still has it in his possession, he must have gotten it back somehow and made amends.
3. Martha was uneasy the duration of the flashback after being reunited with Jimmy.
So what? Most people are happy or relieved to see someone they like back from the war. Then why was Martha so enthused?
4. Martha rejects Jimmy's advances.
So what? Martha must not have liked him after all, and the reasons for Jimmy burning the photo were proven to be justified.
5. Jimmy want's O'Brien to omit something from the book.
So what? Jimmy is hiding something he is ashamed of.

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Leah- Ch. "How to Tell a True War Story"

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Leah- Ch. "How to Tell a True War Story"

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Literary element: Imagery

Imagery is a literary element that O'brien uses throughout the book to immerse the reader into the war experience. In this chapter he shows how his storytelling can change the perception of a scene. He uses imagery to describe Curt Lemon's death as a much more beautiful narrative. Although gruesome and graphic, he never mentions these things and rather focuses on the sun, light, and setting around which the story takes place. He uses imagery in many other chapters as well by using juxtaposing images to bring beauty into an otherwise horrendous scene.

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Is it possible that O'Brien's war stories aren't true, and that none of this happened? It seems strange that he would address the factuality of war stories in the middle of his collection of war stories.

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The motif of shame plays a large role in this chapter. In an earlier chapter O'Brien states people kill, and die because they're too embarrassed not to. This is addressed throughout the book. Curt Lemon has the dentist pull out a healthy tooth because of the shame he feels for not being the big strong soldier he's been trying to be during this war. He feels his fear of the dentist is causing him to not be the soldier he wants everyone to believe he is.

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Alaina: "Sweetheart of the Song Tra Bong"

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Alaina: "Sweetheart of the Song Tra Bong"

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Mary Anne is not the soft, feminine, female character you expect her to be. She was brought in to be for that reason, but quickly defied stereotypes, preferring to adapt to Vietnamese culture and run wild.

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Contrary to the portrayal of Mary Anne, the portrayal of Dobbins' girlfriend is an enforcement of the use of girls as comfort.

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"Even though there is a cultural gap, and a war is going on, the respect of a church still remains—particularly for Kiowa who doesn't feel right about using the pagoda as a base because it is a holy place for the monks. Even so, the monks bond with the platoon and show signs of respect in ways they can without language, by recognizing Jimmy Cross as the highest in command and giving him the chair. They feel, in some sense, obligated to show kindness to these soldiers, and the soldiers feel the same way in return." (LitCharts)

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Need help with Church in Tim O'Brien's The Things They Carried? Check out our revolutionary side-by-side summary and analysis.

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1. "All that peace, man, it felt so good it hurt. I want to hurt it back."
So what? Once you get a taste of what war is like, it's hard to return to a peaceful life. A part of you will always feel that innate savagery of war.
2. The average age of the men in the platoon is nineteen or twenty.
So what? These are kids who are going to war. Their basic concept of reality has just barely come into form, and now it is going to be warped through their experiences at war.

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1. "If you support a war, if you think it's worth the price, that's fine, but you have to put your own precious fluids on the line."
So what? People are so willing to say their opinions without considering the consequences of their words. Policymakers and higher-ups who make these decisions for the general populous are so far detached from reality, it would be refreshing to see them put their money where their mouth is and take up the war effort if they so strongly support it, not innocent young men and women.

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1. Jensen couldn't relax over the scuffle between him and Strunk.
So what? The camaraderie built by war can just as easily turn sour and frightening. Nobody wants to make enemies with their bunk buddy, especially if their bunk buddy is equipped with a gun.

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1. Jensen and Strunk make a pact to end each other's suffering should worse come to worse
So what? The reality of war and it's brutalities put a perspective into place. When stuff hit the fan, even though Strunk and Jensen were so confident in their pact, deep down, Strunk was still afraid of death. Afraid of the consequence. And Jensen was also afraid of the consequence, the permanence of their agreement.

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Sophia- "How to tell a true war story" So what

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Sophia- "How to tell a true war story" So what

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1. The chapter takes on a scrambled effect in its narration.
So what? This scrambled nature mirrors the effect of a real story being told to a group of people. It emulates the rambling nature of a story with so much material and backstory and context needing to be packed in. These things cannot be described linearly, because so many events need to be told in order for the next to make sense.
2. There is no definite answer of how to tell a good war story.
So what? There are no good war stories, only the truth.

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1. Curt Lemon does anything to get his tooth pulled.
So what? Curt Lemon does anything to prove that he is a rigid man filled with strength to assert himself among the others, even if it means undertaking a great fear of his to do so. He does not allow himself to feel vulnerable, no matter how scared he gets. It did not save him from death.

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Sophia- "The Sweetheart of Song Tra Bong" Analysis

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Sophia- "The Sweetheart of Song Tra Bong" Analysis

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This chapter was by far the most interesting to read in the entire book. It subverts your expectations of stereotypes and instead takes on a whole new character and personality. The introduction of a female into a males only world, and having her integrate not only flawlessly, but to a fault in which she is completely absorbed into the wild nature of Vietnam casts a great insight into how all humans can succumb to the overwhelming nature of war and its primitiveness. I think that there are a great deal of lessons to be learned in this chapter, not only by the classic man vs woman roles debate, but also on the role of humans in this world as a whole.

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When the last thing that connects you to civilization is your girlfriend's pair of stockings, it's not hard to believe that you would carry them with you everywhere. A means of grounding oneself in reality, especially among wars, is invaluable.

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I wonder how man's relationship with religion changes when they see war and what man is capable of in terms of atrocity? If one believes that were are created in God's image, does that mean that God is capable of disgraceful acts as well? How does one's opinion of morality get altered once they enter the war?

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This entire chapter is basically based on the metaphor that war is like a ping pong ball, and it can have a spin to it. This chapter includes different stories within it to portray how war is not all horrible and once a soldier gets used to it some parts can become sweet. Many times O’Brien brings up the fact that he is forty-three years old and that he was at war almost twenty years ago but he can’t forget the stories and memories even if he tries. And he is still analyzing them till today since a lot of his memories about war are not complete.

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10:
Lee Strunk and Dave Jensen hated each other They got into fights, and there was a lot of tension between them
Jensen almost felt that he was fighting two wars
But after the tension eased they become best friends They made a pact that if one of them gets in a state where they have to be in a wheelchair the other would relieve and shoot them They spent a lot of time together
Lee Strunk hurt his leg
Lee was very worried that Dave would kill him to keep their pact intact
Lee ends up dying somewhere in Chu Lai Dave is relieved that he didn’t have to kill Lee and it just happened

1:
I think this story was told to show how two soldiers can become best friends even if they had a rough start. Going through war and spending most of the time with other comrades brings everyone really close, even people who originally may not have been friends.

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Many times over the course of this chapter O’Brien says to never trust war stories. He brings up the fact that a lot of the normal stuff is usually made up while the crazy things were true, which is kind of ironic. He repeats that a person should never trust war stories and be skeptical about them. This makes me wonder if all his stories are completely true, or if he kind of made up some parts of them.

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In this chapter, it’s quite ironic how Curt Lemon, the person who usually up plays himself and is very confident is afraid to go to the dentist. At first, he faints and feels very embarrassed, so he insisted that he had a horrible toothache and got a perfectly good tooth removed. This shows how many times soldiers are afraid of shame and getting embarrassed and it’s one of the weights that is always being carried by them.

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Rishita: Sweetheart of the Song Tra Bong

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Rishita: Sweetheart of the Song Tra Bong

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I really like a woman character is brought into the book. It really shows a different perspective of how a woman interacts with men in a war setting. Also, Mary Ann is expected to be some sort of sweet child and very weak, but we later realize that she is strong and joins the Greenies.

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Right after showing how strong Mary Ann, Dobbins’ girlfriend was the regular girl all people though girls should be. Dobbins always carried his girlfriend’s pantyhose with him as good luck, even after his girlfriend breaks up with him, he still believes that it’s good luck and there’s still magic.

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Imagery is used throughout the book, but I feel that this chapter has got into a lot more detail about how the man was after he got killed . This may be because he remembers every detail about how it was when he killed a man.  This was probably one memory he has that grained into him and that he'll never forget.

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This chapter well displays the idea of "bravery" in war.  When the dentist pulls Curt's tooth  he is proud because it shows "strength and maliness" which is something  that I think a lot of soldiers have always hoped to appear to have.

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In this chapter Dobbins expresses that he just wants to be nice, he wants to join the pagoda not because he's religious, but just so he can be kind. I feel that since he's spent so much time in war he just wants to kind to everyone.

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Leah- Ch. "Church"- (In response to Sophia)
I think this is a really good question and something that I was wondering throughout the book as well. I feel like Dobbins' and Kiowa's questioning in their presence at the church is very representative of the questioning Americans had about the Vietnam war.

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O’Brien reveals a story that he has never told anyone before. He ran away from home to run away to Canada since he was getting drafted to the war. This shows how hard it is to know that they’re getting drafted for war, and there’s a possibility that he may never return. Again I feel like this was to show that even though it may be something he wants to do, it’s not possible, he goes all the way to the Canadian border, cries, and goes back home.

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Leah -Ch. "Sweetheart of the song Tra Bong"

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Leah -Ch. "Sweetheart of the song Tra Bong"

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This chapter does a good job at contradicting the typical way women are portrayed and introduces a strong female character that we have yet to see. She is characterized as adventurous and more invigorated by the war, and although she was brought there to provide comfort, she ends up being more interested than the man who brought her there.

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I like how this chapter touched on superstition. Throughout the book the things they carry are often for good luck or have sentimental value, and it seems to act almost as a religion for some of the soldiers.

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I think O'brien used detail really well in this chapter. When he opened up the scene with a description of the man he killed it shocked me and kept me hooked, but it also made me realize how vivid of an image is still stuck with him to this day.

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In this chapter the author tells the story in first person and uses the word "I". This is important because in "The Man I Killed", O'brien has a hard time confronting the fact that he killed a man, but in this chapter he seems to have much more control.

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1. the story is written from a post war perspective
So what? the dynamic of the story changes as the author is forced to reflect on his thoughts and actions from a detached perspective, causing O'Brien to analyse his regret, his fear, his autonomic nature of throwing the grenade, and what that implies as a change in his character as a result of the war.

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The girl dancing is an interesting way to display the human nature of finding a silver lining to life. Conversely, it could also be a reflection of the oblivious nature of a civilian as compared to the reality of atrocity going on in the world. O'Brien later laments on the lost cause of trying to explain his experiences to his daughter who cannot possibly comprehend war, which can be likened to the dancing girl's inexplicable indifference to the rubble around her.

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Sophia- "Speaking of Courage" Personification

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Sophia- "Speaking of Courage" Personification

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"The town could not talk, and would not listen." Again, we are met with the unfortunate reality that ignorance truly is bliss. The pristine traditional American small town is a sanitary environment that would never see the things the soldiers did, nor do they want to. Sometimes, people are happier with the simpler understandings of life. By personifying the town as an entity, you can give it the characteristic of naivete.

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The chapter, "Notes," is a complete divergence from the rest of the book. While previous chapters have all been part of a specific narrative, this chapter breaks the fourth wall and gives an intent to the author's choice of storytelling. It also adds a unique sense of uncertainty when it comes to the truthfulness and reliability of the narrator. By divulging that certain creative liberties were taken in order to write the story, our perception of the entire novel changes. Are we to take All of the previous chapters as factual events? Or just truths which stories were created around to convey a central message?

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This chapter is read much differently from the rest because of the previous information we received which challenges the narrator's reliability. Now, as readers, we choose to focus on the truths of the story rather than the plot. The truth that war leaves behind many faceless victims, the truth that not everyone can be saved.

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Once again, we are presented with another instance of a fabricated story, yet this time, it doesn't matter. It doesn't matter if O'Brien killed or did not kill, only that the stories are being told in the first place.

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The finality of bringing Kiowa's moccasins back to his place of death serves to end the loop in O'Brien's mind. The final page to a chapter, so to speak. What is most interesting is the exchange between the farmer and O'Brien in the water. The solidarity that is voiced in a simple raising of a shovel speaks volumes to the toll the war took on all of it's victims.

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"He was a slim, dead, almost dainty young man of about twenty. He lay with one leg bent beneath him, his jaw in his throat, his face neither expressive nor inexpressive. One eye was shut. The other was a star-shaped hole."

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Quote 2

He was a slim, dead, almost dainty young man of about twenty. He lay with one leg bent beneath him, his jaw in his throat, his face neither expressive nor inexpressive. One eye was shut. The other was a star-shaped hole.

This quotation, from "The Man I Killed," describes the corpse of a young Vietnamese soldier whom O'Brien killed with a grenade. In this story, the narration is from a third-person perspective, and is largely a series of unconnected observations and fantasies about the young, dead soldier. This particular passage is an example of the concrete description O'Brien uses to come to terms with his killing of the boy. He is blunt in these moments, perhaps because he thinks matter-of-factness is the only way to negotiate committing the unthinkable. But the observation that the man is dainty and the idea that his face might hold an expression speak to the humanity of both the dead young man and that of his killer-turned-observer. O'Brien's description of the star-shaped hole in the boy's eye is both a means of detaching himself and an idea that in death a body becomes mystical and beautiful. These particular words become a refrain for O'Brien-they are repeated several times in reference to this killing, to reinforce the notion that the memory of the young man's body is one still fresh in O'Brien's mind.

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He was a slim, dead, almost dainty young man of about twenty. He lay with one leg bent beneath him, his jaw in his throat, his face neither expressive nor inexpressive. One eye was shut. The other was a star-shaped hole.

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The retelling of this story is more clinical than the rest, choosing to take a step back emotionally. Unlike "The Man I Killed," which gets emotional and begins to form an attachment to the dead man, inventing stories for him, Ambush does not do anything of the sort.

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The dancing girl is mocked, but it is a tad ironic. The girl's dancing is similar to a lot of the things carried by the men- especially the stockings Dobbin carries around his neck. Both the stockings and the dancing are seemingly used to fill a hole, or patch a hole created by the war, but also seem rather absurd to others.

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The lake in this chapter serves to remind Norman of the sewage field, allowing it to act as a metaphor for the power to kill. While walking around the lake in the town he grew up in, he can only think about what was taken away from him- his ability to communicate with his friends and family, his motivation to succeed, his best friend, and his relationship with his hometown. He finds himself unable to leave the lake, and ends up trapped in an endless cycle of these thoughts.

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So this isn't necessarily what I'm supposed to be doing, but this is all I can think about as far as this chapter goes, so I apologize in advance. A few times in this chapter, O'Brien mentions that he writes because of the need to talk about what went on around him before and after the war, and even compares it to the simple clearing of the throat. While I've never fought in a war, or done anything even close to similar, I look at my writing a similar way. I really don't like this book, in any way shape or form, but I do appreciate that it's now given me the means to communicate why I write.

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The third telling of Kiowa's death still manages to be different, as the perspective changes and those in the scene change. The different reactions to him being dead tell you a lot about the other company members, and it's really interesting.

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Kathleen, while only a small part of this chapter and this book, is an extremely important person in the context of this book. His relationship with her mirrors the one he has with the readers of the books, wanting to convey the same emotions without conveying the exact truth- just as Kathleen encouraged him to.

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Kathleen's boredom and inability to understand the war is actually highly relatable, and essentially mirrors my thought process while reading this book. Knowing what I know about the Vietnam War, it's extremely hard for me to understand the point. While a sense of comradery may have been developed between certain people during the course of the war, I don't understand how anyone could see any other benefits, especially ones that outweigh the costs.

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Quote 2

He was a slim, dead, almost dainty young man of about twenty. He lay with one leg bent beneath him, his jaw in his throat, his face neither expressive nor inexpressive. One eye was shut. The other was a star-shaped hole.

This quotation, from "The Man I Killed," describes the corpse of a young Vietnamese soldier whom O'Brien killed with a grenade. In this story, the narration is from a third-person perspective, and is largely a series of unconnected observations and fantasies about the young, dead soldier. This particular passage is an example of the concrete description O'Brien uses to come to terms with his killing of the boy. He is blunt in these moments, perhaps because he thinks matter-of-factness is the only way to negotiate committing the unthinkable. But the observation that the man is dainty and the idea that his face might hold an expression speak to the humanity of both the dead young man and that of his killer-turned-observer. O'Brien's description of the star-shaped hole in the boy's eye is both a means of detaching himself and an idea that in death a body becomes mystical and beautiful. These particular words become a refrain for O'Brien-they are repeated several times in reference to this killing, to reinforce the notion that the memory of the young man's body is one still fresh in O'Brien's mind.

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He was a slim, dead, almost dainty young man of about twenty. He lay with one leg bent beneath him, his jaw in his throat, his face neither expressive nor inexpressive. One eye was shut. The other was a star-shaped hole.

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1. “I wanted to warn him. The grenade made a popping noise—not soft but not loud either…  a huge star-shaped hole.”

2. “I was terrified. There were no thoughts about killing. The grenade was to make him go away—just evaporate—and I leaned back and felt my mind go empty and then felt it fill up again. I had already thrown the

grenade before telling myself to throw it.”

3. “None of it mattered. The words seemed far too complicated. All I could do was gape at the fact of the young man's body.”

4. “Even now I haven't finished sorting it out. Sometimes I forgive myself, other times I don't. In the ordinary hours of life … the young man coming out of the morning fog. I'll watch him

walk toward 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.”

All of these quotes used imagery and they really helped me picture these events. I could understand how O'Brien was feeling.

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In this chapter, there is heavy use of repetition, as if to emphasize the paralyzing state of mind O'Brien is in. We get a glimpse into how he is processing the death of this man, and how he uses storytelling as a way to cope. This mechanism comes into play much later on in the book and is the crux of the progression of the book.

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This chapter is in contrast to "The Man I Killed," and serves to allow the reader to see not only how O'Brien processes trauma in the immediate sense, but also long after events have passed. His stories are integral to communicating his message, and he tells them in a way so that the message of them is what is truly important, rather than the details of what exactly happened.

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This chapter is unique because we get O'Brien's perspective from once he has already left the war. Once we see the interaction with the old man, we are affirmed that even though the war is never forgotten, it can at least be laid to rest in their minds. The importance of returning Kiowa's items signifies the respect that the soldiers have for each other, and their dedication to the pack. This camaraderie is a driving theme in the book.

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This chapter discusses two important things: the concept of shell shock and how war is a temptation. the first half discusses the events of O'Brien being shot, the toll it takes on his body. This can be likened to the mental alterations of war, how it changes the way you have to interact, how it is the pain which stops you from living normally and adjusting, just like how he couldn't sleep the way he used to in bed. Then, the second half is all about how his discharge ripped the only good thing about the war from him; his friends. The mob mentality, some could argue as well. This discipline of "I have your back and you have mine" leaves O'Brien vulnerable, because he no longer has shared trauma with the rest of the guys to keep him relevant, so he is left behind. This leaves him to grow resentment and hate for the man that inadvertently caused this loss.

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The imagery of gore is very prevalent in this chapter, and shocks the reader immediately. For Rat Kiley, his world is shaped by bio-metrics and organs and blood. This desensitizing takes a toll on his mind and eventually drives him to madness. The most devastating part of this chapter, however, is how the rest of the troop treats his breakdown as just business and continue as normal. One could say that Rat's reaction was even more sane than the rest of theirs.

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A lot of characterization is used in this chapter. The girl is dancing when her family just died and most of her village is burned down. The men found this obscure as many people would. But it kind of makes sense, the girl knows that there’s no going back and it can’t be changed and dancing maybe her instinct. I do that too, I express my emotions through dance, whenever I’m sad, angry, happy, etc. I feel like dancing and I do.

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This chapter is about how Norman Bowker. He is back at home and everything feels different to him. People he knew back in school are all settled and all the places just have a different feeling. Then he is just thinking about Kiowa’s death, he really wants to talk about it. He feels extremely guilty for Kiowa’s death and is still carrying all of that guilt.

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This chapter is in Tim O'Brien's perspective, and it is about Norman Bowker’s letter. Norman Bowker dies less than ten years after the war. In the letter, he explains how he doesn’t have a purpose to live anymore, he’s tried different jobs, and going back to education but he doesn’t feel right. It’s seen that O’Brien and Bowker have taken life after the war in different ways. Bowker just didn’t feel a purpose of living, and we see from previous chapters that he doesn’t like to talk about the war too much. O’Brien really expresses himself and how he feels about the war through writing and he’s kind of moved on, although the war still plays a huge part in is his life.

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This chapter is taken place in a field that is used as a sewage disposal for the village nearby. This chapter is also one of the only chapters in a third-person point of view. We see different people’s points of view about Kiowa’s death. Jimmy Cross feels guilty that he let his men stay in the riverbank. Another soldier is also feeling guilt for Kiowa’s death since he wasn’t able to save him when he was drowning in the muck, he also wants to find Kiowa’s body since he felt guilty and Kiowa has the only picture of the soldier’s ex-girlfriend.

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This chapter is really weird since at first O’Brien is explaining a man he saw that was dying but that he didn’t kill the man. Later on, he also says that that was a lie. He explains that sometimes lying is easier and better than the truth. He recalls when his daughter Kathleen asks if he has ever killed anyone, as much as he wants to say yes, his answer is always no. This is weird because I start to question how much of the rest of his stories are made up and what’s true.

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Tim O’Brien takes his daughter Kathleen back to the place where Kiowa has died. This trip is a tenth birthday gift for Kathleen. O’Brien notices the place is definitely different, but he is really connected to this place. He swims in what was barely a river and places Kiowa’s moccasins to where he thought Kiowa may be. But on the other hand, Kathleen doesn’t connect to the land at all, it’s just another field for her. This really shows how a lot of the time people don’t know the story behind land, like what happened there, but there’s a story for every person and place.

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O’Brien describes the two times he has been shot. The first time he is shot Rat Kiley takes care of him and gives him treatments for his wounds. The second time he is shot he is given treatment from a new medic Bobby Jorgenson. Jorgenson had a hard time treating O’Brien and helping him get out of shock, so O’Brien feels that Jorgenson is the reason he has suffered so much and wants revenge. The imagery in this chapter very detailed. O’Brien describes very closely the environment around him when he was shot and couldn’t move, he goes through the thoughts in his mind about how the blade of grass may be the last thing he sees. He also describes in detail how his life became after he gets transferred to the battalion supply section. He wasn’t able to lay on his back for months after the injury. He also describes how he felt that he wasn’t in the action. As much as he hated killing and fighting, he misses it after he is transferred to a more safe less dangerous place. He feels empty and just isn’t the same person as he was before.

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In this chapter, the Vietnamese girl uses dancing in a similar way to how Henry Dobbins uses his girlfriend's stockings. Although pointless acts, both the dancing and the stockings act as a form of a "good luck charm" to help them get though the horrible reality of war. This shows the importance of superstition during war time.

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"Survivor's guilt" is something that is prevalent throughout the book. Kiowa's death is something that affected everybody, but in this chapter we can see hoe badly it affected Norman Bowker as he was left feeling responsible and feeling like he betrayed his friend.

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This chapter is about Rat Kiley, although O’Brien wasn’t there when Kiley got hurt, Mitchell Sanders filled in the essential facts for O’Brien. Many soldiers described the war as “night life” it was kind of like an ironic statement they all were going through rough times, but they would say it was like a big party. At this time the soldiers slept through the day and fought at night. They were at a point where everything was just so dark all the time they couldn’t even tell when they were blinking. Everyone had different ways of handling the tough time. Rat Kiley at first didn’t express himself, then she went to a stage where he would only talk, and soon he couldn’t handle it. Rat Kiley lost himself. Then he shot himself in the toe so he can move away from his post and be transferred.

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In the last chapter, O’Brien is asked if he had any experience with a dead body, and he goes into a flashback about Linda. Linda was a girl that O’Brien liked when he was in fourth grade. He says that after their first date he loved Linda. Later he describes that Linda had a brain tumor and she died. O’Brien continues to love her, and dream about “what ifs” and how she would be if she were still alive. This is a central theme in the book, he dreams about Linda even when he knows that it is not possible. This is similar to the Of Mice and Men theme. They dream about things that are not possible to keep going.

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Notes is written in first person and explores the idea of authenticity in story telling. O’Brien focuses on the guilt that he feels over his own attempts to represent death
in-authentically and explains that most of his writing is form of relief from mental anguish which contributes to his success as a storyteller.

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This chapter does a good job at showing the reaction to death from different perspectives. Compared to the other chapters that discuss Kiowa's death, this one shows how all the men cope with it differently rather than one person.

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In this chapter O'Brien provokes us to think about whether or not facts really matter. He shows that even if the stories he told were not true, he was able to make us feel and experience war and death, which counts for much more than pure truth.

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When O'brien brings his daughter Kathleen to Vietnam, she cannot connect to the land as he can. Although it addresses the issue of introducing children of veterans to the war experience, the impracticality of O’Brien’s attempt to connect with Kathleen about the field comes clear.

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This chapter explores the juxtaposition between camaraderie and the anger that comes with war.After being mistreated by Jorgenson, O’Brien finds a new evil lying within him and a desire to inflict pain on another human being and fellow soldier, which he had never shown before.

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The last chapter of the book is the most revealing. Describing the story of O'Brien's first love, Linda, we are shown into a world that O'Brien has carefully crafted to fit a manuscript of events. We see him detatch himself from the real event through telling his story, the point of which to illustrate how sometimes, its better for one to keep their memories as simply that, a memory. We can see both his growth through being able to let Linda be a facade and the war be just out of reach, and how he is still the little boy grieving over his lost love and the young man still fighting in the war. The events themselves are all facets to the larger story of his life, a story which may not be fact, but all truth.

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This chapter pins the drive for survival against the drive for social acceptance. O’Brien mentions that though most soldiers knew it was an option, they did not intentionally shoot themselves in the foot, out of a sense of shame because shooting oneself would be an act of a coward.

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This chapter has little to do with Vietnam but rather with the relationship between life and death. O'brien uses this chapter to show that his narrative was not just to let the reader experience war, but that he writes to make sense of his life and war. He expresses that his writing was a way for him to overcome loss and death.

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A major theme within this chapter is that fear and resentment change a person. When O'Brien was first shot, he's absolutely terrified. However, this fear turns into resentment as he realizes he was extremely close to death for no reason, and tells himself that he's going to get revenge. He let this fester until he could finally try to get revenge, but it didn't work. The chapter ended with O'Brien "joking" about murder, something he presumably wouldn't have done before the war.

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Much like Lemon in "The Dentist," Kiley seems to be more afraid of the things he doesn't know than he is of physical pain. His visions of bugs and death scared him so much that he would rather shoot himself in the toe than stay on duty, fighting in the war. And while many may describe this as cowardice, Cross, Kiley's biggest critic, seems understanding of his actions.

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To be completely honest, I don't think I can do something book related for this chapter. I stopped reading the moment cancer was discussed, because anything related to cancer kind of sets me off.