Norman Bowker Character Analysis in The Things They Carried

The Things They Carried Norman Bowker Character Analysis

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The main character of “Speaking of Courage” is Norman Bowker. This story is set after the war, and depicts Norman driving around a lake near his parents’ home on a lonely 4th of July evening in the 1970’s, longing for someone to talk to about the war. He replays several key events from his time in Vietnam, including the death of Kiowa, in his head, as if he was talking to his father or his ex-girlfriend. Norman shows the difficulty of returning home to a placid American existence after the violence and chaos of serving in Vietnam.

When Norman returns home, he finds that his Midwestern small town has moved on without him. Its rituals and technology are different, making him feel behind the times, and no one, including his father, is interested in hearing Norman talk about the war. Or, rather, this is what Norman believes. He fantasizes about opening up to multiple people and speaking about his experience in Vietnam, but he assumes that the people in his hometown will not only be horrified by his stories, but also that they simply wouldn’t be able to understand them. Thus, Norman has no outlet to articulate his emotions or thoughts. He increasingly relies on Tim to put a voice to his feelings through short stories, but when Tim, due to his own reluctance to face his past, fails to write a story that’s truthful to Norman’s experience, it becomes clear that Norman feels he’s entirely alone in his perspective. When he dies by suicide, his mother describes him as a quiet boy who wouldn’t have wanted to bother anyone with the severity of his mental struggles. In many ways, Norman represents the path Tim may have taken had he not been a writer. Although it’s difficult to do, Tim’s short stories help him work through his experiences and emotions from a slightly distanced place, allowing him to be vulnerable and honest. By facing his deeper feelings and letting his experiences be heard by other people, he avoids Norman’s fate.

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