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The Things They Carried
Tim O’Brien
Study Guide
Summary
Plot Overview
Five Key Questions
What Does the Ending Mean?
Summary & Analysis
“The Things They Carried”
“Love”
“Spin”
“On the Rainy River”
“Enemies” & “Friends”
“How to Tell a True War Story”
“The Dentist”
“Sweetheart of the Song Tra Bong”
“Stockings”
“Church”
“The Man I Killed”
“Ambush”
“Style”
“Speaking of Courage”
“Notes”
“In the Field”
“Good Form”
“Field Trip”
“The Ghost Soldiers”
“Night Life”
“The Lives of the Dead”
Characters
Character List
Tim O’Brien
Jimmy Cross
Mitchell Sanders
Kiowa
Mary Ann Foster
Norman Bowker
Elroy Berdahl
Main Ideas
Themes
Plot Analysis
Protagonist
Antagonist
Setting
Motifs
Symbols
Genre
Style
Point of View
Tone
Foreshadowing
Key Facts
Is The Things They Carried fiction or memoir?
Quotes
Important Quotations Explained
Further Study
Context
Protests Against the Vietnam War
The Things They Carried and American War Novels
Movie Adaptations
Full Book Quiz
Section Quizzes
Character List
Analysis of Major Characters
Themes, Motifs, and Symbols
"The Things They Carried"
"Love"
"Spin"
"On the Rainy River"
"Enemies" and "Friends"
"How to Tell a True War Story"
"The Dentist"
"Sweetheart of the Song Tra Bong"
"Stockings"
"Church"
"The Man I Killed"
"Ambush"
"Style"
"Speaking of Courage"
"Notes"
"In the Field"
"Good Form"
"Field Trip"
"Ghost Soldiers'
"Night Life"
"The Lives of the Dead"
Study Questions
Suggestions for Further Reading
Companion Texts
Writing Help
How to Write Literary Analysis
Suggested Essay Topics
How to Cite This SparkNote
Further study
"Good Form" Quiz
"Good Form" Quiz
1
of 5
What does O’Brien compare?
Life and death
Moral and immoral actions
Real truth and story truth
Golf and baseball
2
of 5
What did O’Brien say he saw on the trail near My Khe?
A man die
Kids at play
A napalm bombing
A vision of Jesus
3
of 5
What does O’Brien say he wants to accomplish by not being truthful?
He wants to mess with the reader’s mind.
He wants to distort reality.
He wants to display the craziness of Vietnam.
He wants to elicit emotional truth.
4
of 5
What does O’Brien imagine his daughter asking him?
How he survived the war
If he killed someone
How the war affected him
If Martha and Cross married
5
of 5
How does O’Brien imagine his response to his daughter’s question?
He refuses to answer her question.
He chides her for asking.
He tells the truth, then lies.
He wishes she did not ask him.
Previous section
"In the Field" Quick Quiz
Next section
"Field Trip" Quick Quiz
The Things They Carried: Popular pages
CHARACTERS
Character List
CHARACTERS
Tim O’Brien: Character Analysis
MAIN IDEAS
Plot Analysis
MAIN IDEAS
Is The Things They Carried fiction or memoir?
MAIN IDEAS
Important Quotations Explained
MAIN IDEAS
Themes
FURTHER STUDY
Review Quiz
