69 pages • 2-hour read
The Things They Carried
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General Impressions
Gather initial thoughts and broad opinions about the book.
1. Unlike a traditional novel, the book contains a series of interconnected short stories. How did this structure impact your understanding of the narrative? Did you find it effective? Why or why not?
2. Discuss O’Brien’s blending of fact and fiction. How did this influence your reading experience?
3. Have you read other books about the Vietnam War, whether fiction or nonfiction? How did this account match your prior knowledge about the conflict?
Personal Reflection and Connection
Encourage readers to connect the book’s themes and characters with their personal experiences.
1. Discuss the questions the book raises about truth and memory, particularly with storytelling. Have you ever told a story and altered the details to make it more impactful? How do you think memory shapes personal narratives?
2. Reflect on the title and O’Brien’s exploration of soldiers’ psychological burdens. Do you see parallels to the soldiers’ responses to guilt, grief, and fear in your life? How do you handle difficult emotions and traumatic experiences?
3. Analyze the way the novel examines war as an act of courage and cowardice. Did reading the book challenge or reinforce your preconceived notions of soldiers and war?
4. Just as the novel depicts the value of talking through traumatic events, how have you experienced healing in verbalizing pain as a part of the healing process?
Societal and Cultural Context
Examine the book’s relevance to societal issues, historical events, or cultural themes.
1. Discuss the way O’Brien portrays the intense political and social divisions sparked by the Vietnam War in America. How do these divisions impact soldiers during and after the war in The Things They Carried?
2. How does O’Brien explore the psychological impact of war, society’s current understanding of PTSD, and soldiers’ mental health in the novel?
3. What is the novel’s message about the traditional American narrative regarding patriotism and its intersection with societal expectations for masculinity?
Literary Analysis
Dive into the book’s structure, characters, themes, and symbolism.
1. How does O’Brien use repetition and fragmented storytelling to reflect the nature of memory?
2. Why does O’Brien use a nonlinear timeline to show the characters’ lives before, during, and after Vietnam?
3. In what ways does the novel challenge traditional war narratives? How does O’Brien approach the idea of heroism, and to what effect?
4. Where and how does the author use vivid sensory imagery to convey the immediacy and tension of war?
5. What role do physical and emotional burdens play throughout the stories? How do these burdens shape both the characters and their journeys?
6. Consider Norman Bowker as a character. How does he depict the difficulties of returning to civilian life after the war?
Creative Engagement
Encourage imaginative and creative connections to the book.
1. View The Vietnam War: A Film by Ken Burns in which O’Brien reads from The Things They Carried. What thematic parallels do you see between the film and the novel?
2. Read the poem “Kissing in Vietnamese” by Ocean Vuong. How does it portray the war and how it affected Vietnamese families?
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