How did Mary Anne change in things they carried?
Mary Ann starts to transform when she helps out with the injured, seeing horrible, gory things. Then she starts going out on ambush in the middle of the night. She admits that it scares her but also makes her feel alive in a way that no one back home would understand.
How Does Rat Kiley change in the things they carried?
Rat is completely changed by the experience. He was always an emotional character, but he was able to channel those emotions into telling stories. But in the aftermath of Curt’s death he finds himself overwhelmed with emotions he simply can’t handle. We see this when he writes a letter of condolence to Curt’s sister.
How does Jimmy Cross change throughout the story?
After he burned Martha’s letters and photographs, he was changed. O’Brien said that, “He was now determined to perform his duties firmly and without negligence” (O’Brien 110). Jimmy Cross finally comported himself as a soldier.
How is Henry Dobbins different from the rest of the characters be specific?
Character Analysis Henry Dobbins O’Brien makes Dobbins a different model for a soldier than Azar, who is particularly savage and immature, and the others in Alpha Company: He is a great soldier, but he is neither bloodthirsty nor obnoxious. Dobbins represents the good intentions of middle America.
What is the significance of Mary Anne’s necklace of tongues?
Mary Anne’s tongue necklace represents her desire to be a part of Vietnamese culture. The tongues symbolize consumption, both literal and figurative. Mary Anne is willing to be consumed by the jungle and to become a consumer of Vietnamese culture.
Is Sweetheart of the Song Tra Bong a true war story?
Tim O’Brien’s novel The Things They Carried shows his and the experiences of many other soldiers in the Vietnam War. According to Tim O’Brien’s criteria, “The Sweetheart of the Song Tra Bong” is a true war story because it is hard to believe, it does not suggest proper human behavior, and it is not uplifting.
How Does Rat Kiley’s narrator impact the story?
He teaches “O’Brien” the power of the story. When O’Brien was shot the first time, Rat helped him, saved him. He is a combination of teller and doer, the man who could tell a story as well as patch a wound.
What is the moral of the dead KIAs in the things they carried?
The way he forces his dreams to be about Linda so he can see her again teaches him about storytelling. In “The Lives of the Dead,” what is the “moral” of the dead KIAs? He goes back and forth because when he sees death he automatically thinks of Linda and so he tries to take his mind off of the war and on her.
What does Dave Jensen symbolize?
Dave Jensen A minor character whose guilt over his injury of Lee Strunk causes him to break his own nose. Jensen’s relief after Strunk’s death is an illustration of the perspective soldiers are forced to assume.
What do we learn about Azar’s character in the story?
What do we learn about Azar’s character in this story? He is sympathetic. 2. How was the war NOT like a game of checkers?
What happens to Henry Dobbins in the things they carried?
O’Brien relates that on ambushes, and sometimes in bed, Henry Dobbins wears his girlfriend’s pantyhose around his neck. With the pantyhose around his neck, Dobbins survives tripping over a land mine, and a week later he survives a firefight. In October, Dobbins’s girlfriend dumps him.
Why was it important for the soldiers to believe that Henry Dobbins stockings still have power after his girlfriend breaks up with him?
Stockings recall memories of more pleasant times when Dobbins was with his girlfriend, away from the war and the jungle. So powerful are the stockings that they become a talisman, giving Dobbins real power to stay healthy and injury-free.
Who are the characters in the things they carried?
O’Brien the writer/narrator, “O’Brien” the soldier, and Timmy O’Brien the young boy all possess different thoughts and emotional understandings, each of which are in tension with the others. Part of O’Brien’s goal as writer/narrator is to emphasize these tensions.
What are the qualities of Tim O’Brien in the things they carried?
The reader learns the history of the character, and therefore develops a sort of hindsight in interpreting “O’Brien’s” actions. The quality that best describes O’Brien is his capacity for introspection and reflective thought, leading directly to his use of memory in the novel.
How did lemon die in the things they carried?
A childish and careless member of the Alpha Company who is killed when he steps on a rigged mortar round. Though O’Brien does not particularly like Lemon, Lemon’s death is something O’Brien continually contemplates with sadness and regret.
Who is Mary Anne Bell in the things they carried?
Unlike Martha and Henry Dobbins’s girlfriend, who only serve as fantasy reminders of a world removed from Vietnam, Mary Anne is a strong and realized character who shatters Fossie’s fantasy of finding comfort in his docile girlfriend. Read an in-depth analysis of Mary Anne Bell.