Discussion Questions
This man is the narrator of the novel.
Who is Tim O'Brien?
To come before.
What is to precede?
To put off until a later time.
What is defer?
The name of the lieutenant who continuously blamed himself for things that went wrong.
Who is Jimmy Cross?
Because The Things They Carried was written about real people and real events, we could easily analyze the novel through this lens.
What is biographical lens?
This group of special operative soldiers would vanish for weeks at a time; Mary Anne became one of them.
Who are the Greenies?
Directly and without evasion.
What is forthrightly?
To behave in a certain manner.
What is comport?
This religious man drowned in a field of fecal matter.
Who is Kiowa?
Mary Anne's decision to "find herself" in Vietnam and break away from expected conventions could be read through this lens.
What is the feminist lens?
This concept comes in two versions to O'Brien: "happening", and "story"
What is truth?
Righteousness as a consequence of being honorable and honest
What is rectitude?
What is aesthetic?
This soldier got blown up, and bits of him were found in a tree; Lt. Cross also blamed himself for this man's death because he was obsessed with Martha.
Who is Curt Lemon?
When Norman Bowker is driving through his hometown, we could read his description of the lake homes on either side of the lake through this lens.
What is the Marxist lens?
O'Brien says his choice not to go here is more cowardly than deciding to enter the draft.
Where is Canada?
The trait of being uncommunicative.
What is reticence?
Discrimination between two things as different.
What is distinction?
The medic who replaced Rat Kiley and failed to treat O'Brien for shock.
Who is Bobby Jorgenson?
What is the historical lens?
What are moccasins (also acceptable: Kiowa's moccasins)?
Unclearness by virtue of having more than one meaning.
What is ambiguity?
To be near someone.
What is proximity?
The RTO who sent home his lice in an envelope to the draft board.
Who is Mitchell Sanders?
Norman Bowker also discusses his family's reaction on this drive circling the lake; his concern for his father's opinion could be read through this lens.
What is the psychoanalytic lens? (Also acceptable: Freudian)