Characters who lived
Mary Anne Bell wore this.
What is a sweater? or What are culottes? or What is a necklace made of human tongues?
Norman Bowker, who drove for hours around the lake, couldn't keep a job or get past the war or PTSD. This is how we lost him.
What is hanged himself at the YMCA?
"You're in place, where you don't belong."
Who is Mary Anne Bell?
Henry Dobbins carried these.
What are extra rations? or What are pantyhose? or What are peaches?
This term is a hint at later events, like Tim's bloody summer job is a hint at the blood he will see in the war.
What is foreshadowing?
Something that Lee Strunk and Dave Jensen had in common from a fight and then what guilt made Dave do.
What are broken noses?
A little fourth grade girl, bald under her red hat from chemo, she was the sweetheart of little Tim.
Who is Linda?
After Tim shot the young Vietnamese man, this mean character said, "You scrambled his sorry self, look at that, you did, you laid him out like Shredded...Wheat."
Who is Azar?
Jimmy Cross sometimes carried this in his mouth.
What is a pebble?
When you get the opposite of what you expected--like Tim saying, "I was a coward. I went to war."
What is irony?
The true identity of the young soldier, which he calls himself because it's hard for him to accept the guilt of drawing attention with his flashlight, so Kiowa got shot.
Who is Tim O'Brien?
Kiowa died here, and they had to recover his body.
What is the mud and muck of the waste field?
Trying to talk Tim through the shock of killing the Vietnamese man, this character says, "No choice, Tim. What else could you do? Right? Talk to me."
Who is Kiowa?
Mitchell Sanders had to carry this.
What is the radio?
The highest point of dramatic intensity, or the moment when you know the outcome
What is climax?
Elroy Berdahl, the old man, offered this to Tim.
What is $200.00? or What is the opportunity to think quietly through what he would do next without judgment?
His remains were in the tree.
Who is Curt Lemon?
"Ain't biting?"
Who is Elroy Berdahl? or Who is the Old Man?
Kiowa carried this.
What is a hatchet? or What is the New Testament bible?
an object that represents a larger thing or idea, the way that the pantyhose represent good luck and a connection to home
What is a symbol?
The medic whose real name is Bob, he told a wild story about a girl who came to 'Nam.
Who is Rat Kiley?
Who is Ted Lavender?
Jimmy Cross admitted to Martha that this is what he wanted to do to her.
What is, "I wanted to take her upstairs, tie her to the bed, and touch her knee all night long."
Dave Jensen was obsessed with hygiene, so he carried this.
What is a Toothbrush, or dental floss, or hotel-sized soap, or three pairs of socks, or a can of foot powder?
What is narration?