Ch. 1: The Things They Carried

Chris OConnor · Posted: Tue Oct 07, 2008 12:29 am Post subject: Ch. 1: The Things They Carried

Ch. 1: The Things They Carried

Please use this thread for discussing this chapter.

Saffron · Posted: Thu Oct 09, 2008 8:15 am Post subject:

The opening line of this novel includes the word carried. O'Brien digs right in and begins to list all the things the young men carried with them in Vietnam; figuratively and literally. The repetition of the word carry is powerful and instructive. We all walk around with our personal burdens, our own histories, our generations history, and our own version of the larger culture into which we were born.

Note: For unsuspecting readers it is sometimes hard to remember this is a novel because Tim O'Brien names the narrator Tim O'Brien. I believe he does this intentionally to blur the line between fiction and memoir (non-fiction) in an attempt to get nearer the truth.

Chris OConnor · Posted: Sat Oct 11, 2008 11:45 pm Post subject:

O'Brien has certainly blurred the line between fiction and memoir. I'm glad you pointed this out because I have been struggling with this fact all along as I move from one war story to the next. It sure reads like a memoir.

Maybe we can uncover a little about the author to see how he came up with the ideas for some of these stories. Is there real truth to some of these or is he simply using creative writing to teach us about the Vietnamese war?

Chris OConnor · Posted: Sat Oct 11, 2008 11:53 pm Post subject:

If someone finds the answer to this question before me please post it here. But what does O'Brien mean when he dedicates this book to the men of Alpha Company? Aren't those men fictitious? Is he trying to tell us that those soldiers became very real to him over the course of writing these stories or were they real and the stories are about them?

Saffron · Posted: Sun Oct 12, 2008 5:41 am Post subject:

Tim O'Brien really was in the Vietnam War and some of the stories are true or fictionalized version of real things that happened to him. Later today I will find more information about O'Brien with citations (if I can).

shawnrohrbach · Posted: Mon Oct 13, 2008 3:00 pm Post subject:

The book is often used as an example of a technique for preparing to write a novel. Aside from the previously noted insights in this thread, the "lists" are pretty standard fare for writing students as they build their characters. An instructor might ask a student to take one character and make five different lists; 1) what is in their medicine cabinet 2) what is in thr trunk of their car 3) what is in the box under their bed and so on to create in the writer's mind some sense of what this person collects, hides, uses or whatever. I read the book before having it assigned for this purpose and after the second time through I began to really appreciate the use of lists. As you read the book, notice the difference in the things each soldier carries and see if it says anything about how they fit into the story.

Jeremy · Posted: Mon Oct 20, 2008 9:02 pm Post subject:

The most important thing carried by each of the soldier is the psychological and emotional burden that comes with fighting in a war. O'Brien does an excellent job by seemingly just tossing these issues on the list with everything else that is standard issue for the soldier, he shows that no one walks away from war unscathed.

Saffron · Posted: Thu Oct 23, 2008 11:17 am Post subject:

Saffron · Posted: Fri Nov 07, 2008 9:54 am Post subject:

I copied the following from Wikipedia:

Saffron · Posted: Fri Nov 07, 2008 10:19 am Post subject: Aletheia

I know I have posted on the Greek concept of truth before, but it seem very relevant to the discussion of O'Brien's novel.

Aletheia (ἀλήθεια) is the Greek word for "truth", and like the English word implies sincerity as well as factuality or reality. The literal meaning of the word ἀ–λήθεια is, "the state of not being hidden; the state of being evident".

Aletheia

Aletheia is the idea that the entire truth can not be known. In the very act of revealing a truth is the undoing of truth. As the words are used to proclaim a truth, the very words maim it. We can not see all sides at once. As human beings we are limited; limited by our brains, our senses, and our psyches.

Damifino · Posted: Thu Nov 20, 2008 6:07 am Post subject: 1st Chapter

Hello

Picked up The Things They Carried yesterday from the library and read the first chapter this morning.

I enjoyed it. Starting to get a feel for Lieutenant Jimmy Cross. What I am grateful for is that he got rid of what he was carrying. The pictures and the letters from Martha. He has too much to carry as it is, and to me that was an extra burden. He was creating illusions in his head and it was affecting his men as well as himself in a negative way. I think by unloading like he did in that foxhole he can focus better on his men.

Sound insensitive? I don't think so.

Barb

realiz · Posted: Thu Nov 20, 2008 4:52 pm Post subject:

I finally got my copy of this book in the mail and started it this morning. I am very impressed with the writing style of this book and the talent O'Brien has by using these repetitive phrases and lists without it getting tedious or boring. Even his use of many short, simple sentences almost seems poetic.

He effortlessly weaves the emotions and stories into the lists and I did start to wonder if the story was partially biographical.

Saffron, I was very interested in the Greek concept of truth. I think the word truth is very misused by our society, or very misunderstood.

giselle · Posted: Thu Nov 20, 2008 5:20 pm Post subject:

Saffron said ..

"I really like this explanation of the mixing of truth and fiction in a novel. The bold is of course mine. O'Brien uses metafiction masterfully. He opens the door on a philosophical discussion that is activity being debated in History departments everywhere. Who's version of history gets recorded? Who gets to do the recording? What exactly is the truth? Who's version of what happened are we going to record as history? And the biggest question of all, can any one person actually tell the factual "truth"? And his question: Are the facts the only, the whole truth? In later chapters O'Brien illustrates the problem of truth telling beautifully."

I started Things They Carried last night and the first thing I noticed was this weaving of truth and fiction. Reminded me of another book I read recently, Colony of Unrequited Dreams which is posted here under the Additional Fiction section, and is similar in his respect.

Thinking back to the Vietnam war, one of the public themes of that conflict was truth versus fiction, disclosure versus cover up. One of the most graphic examples of this element of the Vietnam war was the deliberate manipulation of the 'truth' by government and media, "Manufacturing Consent" as it were.

Saffron · Posted: Fri Nov 21, 2008 10:01 am Post subject: Re: 1st Chapter

realiz · Posted: Fri Nov 21, 2008 12:58 pm Post subject:


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