The Things They Carried

Question 1

War is…

Answer 1

War is nasty; war is fun.

Question 2

Lies

Answer 2

He wanted to heat up the truth

Question 3

I was a coward

Answer 3

I was a coward. I went to war

Question 4

Men killed

Answer 4

Men killed, and died, because they were embarassed not to.

Question 5

To avoid

Answer 5

To avoid the blush of dishonor

Question 6

save her body…

Answer 6

And as a writer now, I want to save Linda’s life. Not her body-her life.

Question 7

Teeth incident

Answer 7

Curt lemon - faints when getting his teeth pulled and pretends to have another problem just to prove to himself that he is strong enough
- the irony of his death from playing catch with a grenade - he fears getting his tooth pulled but fearlessly tossed around a grenade. Shows the uselessness of bravery and that the small triumphs such as proving himself are important in war

Question 8

Baby buffalo

Answer 8

Rat Kiley shoots at and tortures a baby buffalo after lemon’s death, the buffalo refuses to die until they dump it in a well.

O’Brien explains the difficulty of telling a true war story - he says “war is hell” but that means nothing as it is so generalized - the buffalo story on the other hand illustrates this more vividly

Question 9

They were afraid…

Answer 9

They were afraid of dying, but they were even more afraid to show it”

Question 10

I want you to…

Answer 10

I want you to feel what I felt. I want you to know why story-truth is truer sometimes than happening-truth.

Question 11

I feared…

Answer 11

I feared ridicule and censure

Question 12

Words were

Answer 12

Words were insufficient

• in minnesota when he fleas, staying with an old man, at Elroy’s cabin, and appreciates that he doesn’t ask questions bc he understands that words are insufficient