interprtation on the book THE things they carry
- By: kellon1993
- Created on: 10/24/2009
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The central theme of this vignette is time. "O'Brien" the soldier is frozen in a moment in time, recalling the entire history of the dead Vietnamese man while the American troop of soldiers are all moving forward, preparing for another day at war. The one word that best describes the mood of this vignette is shock. "O'Brien" is in shock from killing the man, and the rest of the world is moving around him, all in speech and imagination.
O'Brien has his two American comrades, Azar and Kiowa, try to move around "O'Brien." Azar sees only a fallen enemy and compliments "O'Brien" on a thorough job — he cannot understand what "O'Brien" is feeling. Kiowa is more sympathetic, offering textbook comments, such as switching places with the dead man and that he would have been killed anyway, in order to console "O'Brien" whom he believes regrets his action. The fact is that "O'Brien" never expresses what he is feeling — joy, regret, pain, confusion, or any specific emotion. He never says a word throughout the story. His shock is all that we can really know, expressed through his silence.
Much of this vignette is full of the personal history of the Vietnamese soldier, beginning with his birthplace, moving through his career, love life, and eventual enlisting in the army. It also details some of his hopes and ambitions. O'Brien uses this history to make the dead man more realistic — the audience cannot simply dismiss him as a body or an enemy, but must think of him as a man. This is yet another way O'Brien makes the Vietnam War more personal than historical or political.
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