THE THINGS THEY CARRIED - Essay Topics

The Things They Carried - length: approximately 800 words. (About 3 pages, 12 pt. font, MLA format)

1. The Importance of Storytelling to the Men of Alpha Company.
Storytelling is vital to all of the characters in Tim O’Brien’s The Things They Carried. What stories are told by Mitch Sanders, Rat Kiley, Jimmy Cross, Tim O’Brien (the soldier/character)? What benefit comes to each man from telling stories? In what way are these men “saved” by their stories? Who is the one man who is unable to tell stories? What happens to him? What does this suggest about the power of storytelling?

2. Guilt as a Motivating Factor in the Lives of the Men of Alpha Company.
How does guilt enter the lives of Jimmy Cross, Tim O’Brien, Norman Bowker, Rat Kiley, Dave Jensen, Curt Lemon? Why is shame or guilt so difficult? In what way does guilt compel each man to make emotional, rather than logical decisions? How does storytelling help relieve some of the guilt?

3. The Things They Carried as a Metaphor of Life.                                               Discuss the concept of war as a metaphor for life; that is, in what way is all life a war? How are they comparable? How do the female characters remind the reader that this is a novel about facing the struggles and obstacles of life? What happens to innocence? Which episodes from the novel best illustrate human nature and stress which are a part of all human life and not just war?

4. “Truth” in The Things They CarriedThe Greek philosopher and playwright Aeschylus said, “In war, truth is the first casualty.” Tim O’Brien’s novel, The Things They Carried is very much concerned with the truth of war. How does O’Brien distinguish between the “happening-truth” and the “story-truth”? Which is more important? Why? How does storytelling—the use of fiction—allow for a greater sense of truth than factual reporting might? What are the pervading truths of this novel? (Support with textual evidence.)

5. Paradox in The Things They Carried

How can a "war novel" NOT be about war? How can fiction be more "real" and more "truthful" than actual fact? At the end of "To Tell a True War Story" th enarrator suggests that people don't listen to the deeper meaning or the importance of stories and that often the story teller must spin a new yarn to convey the truth. Identify and explain the most profound paradoxes: O'Brien's situation at the conclusion of "On the Rainy River,"  the relationship between Lee Strunk and Dave Jensen; Azar's innocent cruelty, and the paradox of beauty and war, of life and death, to the narrator in "How to Tell a True War Story." What is O'Brien's point in using these paradoxes? In what way is trutgh itself, at least in O'Brien's work, an ironic paradox?