THE THINGS THEY CARRIED

Tim O’Brien

NOVEL CONVENTIONS

THEMES
the futility of war *** the coexistence of guilt and fear *** fear and imagination *** love and longing *** the collateral damage of war *** loneliness
and isolation *** savagery and civility *** the dehumanizing effects of war *** storytelling as an act of healing *** the lasting effects of war
experiences *** the physical and emotional burdens of war *** the individual’s vulnerability in traumatic situations *** the inability to communicate
*** the fear of the unknown *** the damaging effects of social and emotional isolation *** trauma as a redefining factor in one’s identity *** shame
as a motivator *** the glorification of war *** the role of truth in storytelling *** patriotic duty and responsibility *** the misguided glorification of
war *** the clash between reality and fantasy *** imagination as a coping mechanism *** the ambiguity of morality *** the disconnect between
the political class and the civilian population *** the alienating effects of war on the individual *** ritual and superstition *** the act of killing as a
redefining factor in one’s identity *** the inescapability of trauma *** the loss of identity *** the limits of sympathy *** the individual’s ability to
adapt *** the importance of human solidarity *** the unreliability of memory *** dignity and humanity *** the problematic aspects of patriotic duty
*** other

LINKS TO ODLID: SIMILARITIES AND DIFFERENCES

Individuals' vulnerability in traumatic situations/Inescapability of
trauma : Both stories showcase the characters going through very
difficult times and how much of an effect these situations have taken
on them emotionally. In TTTC, the psychological burdens that the men
carry through the war continue to follow them. Those who survived feel
extremely guilty, carrying grief. For example in the chapter called love
Jimmy Cross confesses that he has never forgiven himself for Ted
Lavender’s death. Norman Bowker also admits in his letter in chapter
“Speaking of Courage”, that he has never felt good after the war and
even in chapter “Notes” hangs himself in a YMCA. His death
symbolizes the fact that he was never able to escape the trauma that
he accumulated in the war no matter how hard he tried. Further Tim
O’brien even says himself that “ the terrible and beautiful things he
saw in Vietnam will be with him forever.”. In ODLIT we can also see
these two themes as Ivan and the other soldiers are extremely
vulnerable and could die at any moment/be punished. They feel
extremely unprotected and unsafe. (quote)
Damaging effects of social and emotional isolation/ Loneliness
Dehumanizing effects of war/Collateral damage of war: These two
themes can be seen in both texts however in different ways. In TTTC
we can see the dehumanizing effects of war on the soldiers (the way in
which the soldiers do things in the war and also the long lasting effects
of the war on the soldiers). We can see how much trauma and
mental/emotional damage the war has had on the different soldiers. In
terms of collateral damage it not only shows the mental damage but
also damage to the families back home, their relationships, and also
how many soldiers have died due to the war. For example, Mary Anne
was only in Vietnam for a few months but she lost herself completely.
Rat Kiley even described that she almost became an animal. In ODLIT,
this can be seen in a smaller scope but Ivan is collateral damage of
the war as he has been accused of becoming a spy after being
captured briefly by the Germans as a prisoner of war during World War
II, them being in prison and not really this side effect of war.
Lasting effects of war experiences/physical and emotional
burdens of the war: TTTC discusses the trauma that the soldiers
have experienced, and how this has stayed with them forever. For
and isolation: In ODLIT all the prisoners are isolated from society as
they have been placed in the middle of nowhere. They are hardly able
to communicate with their families and are not allowed to express/deal
with their emotions. For example, Ivan as an effect of his isolation feels
a loss of his identity and this separation from his family. He admits that
“Nowadays you had more to say to Kildigs, the Latvian, than to the
folks at home. They wrote twice a year as well, and there was no way
in which he could understand how things were with them. (224-5)”.
Due to his isolation he has become disconnected to his family and his
home. There is a huge distance between himself and his idea of home.
Fetyukov also represents this disconnect from his family as “ had
three children on the outside, but when he was jailed they’d all turned
their backs on him and his wife had married somebody else” (262).
In TTTC, similarly they are isolated in vietnam from civilization fighting
in the woods while also having to leave their families/friends behind
back home, they are also not able to express or deal with these
emotions. The soldiers miss their families and loved ones so much
(quote). The environments/setting of both stories shows us how
isolated the characters are. This causes them lots of sadness, and
also makes them feel very lonely. It creates a very tense mood in all
the characters.
Loss of identity/Trauma as a redefining factor in one's identity: In
both stories, the characters lose themselves and experience this
feeling of losing their identity through the traumatic experiences they
have been through. This is presented in ODLIT as Ivan has lost his
sense of home/connection to his family. “Nowadays you had more to
say to Kildigs, the Latvian, than to the folks at home. They wrote twice
a year as well, and there was no way in which he could understand
how things were with them. (224-5)”. The book explains that Ivan no
longer wishes to return home or is motivated to go back to his old life
almost as if he no longer can understand who he is. In TTTC, many of
the soldiers discuss the difficulty they have experienced since the war
and how they lost themselves. Norman Bowker admits in his letter in
chapter “Speaking of Courage”, that he has never felt good after the
war and even in chapter “Notes” hangs himself in a YMCA. His death
symbolizes the fact that he was never able to escape the trauma that
he accumulated in the war no matter how hard he tried. He lost himself
and wasn’t able to get back to his old life which ultimately led him to
example, Rat Kiley is driven crazy by the war. He believes that the
country is full of ghosts and believes that every sound the men hear is
haunted. When they are traveling solely by night, they can hardly tell if
their own bodies still exist. Rat cannot handle this. He sees visions of
himself as dead. He views the other men as just so many anatomical
parts. He loses his sense of reality. Although OLDIT does have an
element of war, it doesn’t discuss the effects of the war on Ivan. We
are aware that Ivan was a part of the war and was accused of being a
spy for the Russians however, the book does not mention how the war
impacted him.
Role of truth in storytelling: In TTTC one of the most important if not
the most important theme presented is the role of truth in storytelling.
This can be seen throughout many parts of the story such as how the
characters' names are the names of real soldiers he fought with in
Vietnam which blurs the distinction between fact and fiction
(sparknotes). Meaning it makes it difficult to know if the events told in
the story happened or not. To add on to this, the characters contradict
themselves several times in the story. By blending fact and fiction,
O’brien makes the point that objective truth in a war story is much less
important than the act of telling a story. In other words its much more
important to understand what the war meant to the soldiers and how it
changed them. This allows him to explore the ways that speaking
about war experiences establishes or fails to establish bonds between
a soldier and his audience. Rat Kile and Sanders work to expose the
horrendous wars which are so intense that they don’t require the
stories to be fact. Such statements as “This is true,” which opens “How
to Tell a True War Story,” do not establish that the events recounted in
the story actually occurred but the stylistic and thematic elements of
the story is true to the experience that the soldiers had in the war.
Act of killing as a redfefing factor in one’s identity: One of the
major struggles that Tim O’brien goes through is having to try and get
past the killing that he committed in Vietnam. In “The Lives of the
Dead”, Tim remembers having killed 27 enemy combatants after
Mitchelle tells him “death sucks”. He mentions many times throughout
the book that he has struggled to get past and accept the fact that he
has had to murder people. It continues to shape and change his
perspective and his outlook on life. One of the motivations for his
killing himself. making of this story is to keep the memory of the people who lost their
lives alive. Writing about people who have died, the book implies, is
Individuals ability to adapt: In both stories, the characters survival the only way to conquer death.
depends on their ability to adapt to the harsh conditions in which they
experience. If they are psychically and emotionally not able to adapt Patriotic duty and responsibility:
they would not survive. This is expressed in both stories. We see the
characters change their identity and lose themselves as a means of ● Futility of war
survival. The characters that were not able to adapt ultimately ended ● Fear of the unknown
up dying or killing themselves. ● The misguided/ Glorification of war
● Clash between reality and fantasy
Storytelling as an act of healing: Both authors have written from ● Alienating effects of war on the individual
their experiences. TTTC, he was a ventrine who fought in the vietnam ● Act of killing as a redfefing factor in one's identity
war and in ODIT, Solzhenitsyn was also locked in a gulag much like ● Loss of sympathy
his character Ivan. We can see that both authors have used ● patriotic duty and responsibility
writing/storytelling as a way to deal with their trauma and heal from
their experiences. This can also be seen in TTTC as Tim uses writing
about the war to link his past to his future, he says.

Disconnect between political class and civilian population: In both

stories we can see the disconnect between what the government
wants and what the civilians want. In TTTC, this is expressed through
the representation of soldiers who did not want to fight in the war. The
story in the chapter “On the Rainy River” explains that as O’brien
receives his draft notice, he expresses his discontent for fighting in the
war and believes it is unjust. O’brien also even tries to flee to Canada.
In ODLIT the disconnect between civilians such as the men in the
gulag and Stalin's political ideologies is presented. The prisoners have
been locked up as they have been accused of defying Stalin. For
example Ivan was locked up as he was accused of becoming a spy
after being captured briefly by the Germans as a prisoner of war during
WW2I.

Faith as a survival mechanism: Kiowa is a character in TTTC that

represents how vital religion is as he carries the new testament of the
bible with him to the war. He uses religion as a way to get through the
trauma he experiences through his time in the war. This can be seen in
the quote, “Kiowa, a devout Baptist, carried an illustrated New
Testament that had been presented to him by his father, who taught
Sunday school in Oklahoma City, Oklahoma. As a hedge against bad
times, however, Kiowa also carried his grandmother's distrust of the
white man, his grandfather's old hunting hatchet.''. He survives by
keeping part of his traditional belief system alive within him and taking
moments to honor that part of who he is, even though he alone among
the soldiers carries that heritage. He uses his roots as shelter to
protect him (study.com). However, unlike One day in the life of Ivan
Denisovich, Tim O'Brien shows that even religion, god can’t save you
from the horrors of war (Kiowa dies drowning under the muck of a
sewage field). One day in the life of Ivan Denisovich, Shukhov finds it
preposterous that fellow inmate Alyosha finds solace in God; hence he
frequently makes it clear that he does not believe in God. “The guard
recited the “morning prayer,” which every prisoner was heartily sick of.”
The quote symbolizes that it is not only Shukhov, but the majority of
the camp who have long since on entrance to the camp, deserted their
faiths. However, we encounter him relying on God when he fears being
sent to the cells. “And an urgent prayer rose in his heart: “Oh lord,
save me! Don’t let them send me to the cells.” The quote leads the
reader to believe that deep down, perhaps Shukhov does still have
faith left that can be rekindled, but he maintains a brave position to get
him through the camp rather than hope for a future that may not
happen, considering how much faith has let him down so far. Alyosha
is an extremely religious Baptist who has a completely different view
on the gulag system than the others. This is presented in the quote ““..
“Oh, you mustn’t pray for that either,” said Alyoshka, horrified. “Why do
you want freedom? In freedom your last grain of faith will be choked
with weeds. You should rejoice that you’re in prison. Here you have
time to think about your soul.”. Alyosha uses Religion as a way to
change his perspective on the gulag system and uses religion to have
a positive perspective on the horrible gulag system.

The importance of friendship: Both stories contain this element of

how important friendship is to get you through the tough times. This
can be seen in TTTC as the soldiers provide support to each other. For
example when Tim has a hard time after he committed his murder in
“The man I killed” Kiowa was there to support him and provide him
comfort by saying “You feel terrible, I know that”. Even after the war
has ended the soldiers still provided friendship to each other which can
be seen when Luttendent Cross tells Tim to write about their
experience and when Norman writes a long letter about his work.
Additionally, Tim’s relationship with his daughter is another
reinforcement of this theme. This can also be seen in ODLIT as Many
of the soldiers rely on each other to get through the tough days in the
gulag. For example Ivan even says “Stared at the fire, huddled
together in the half dark. Like a big family. That's what a work gang is -
a family. (512)”. The men heavily rely on each other to get through the
dark times. The two Estonians depict this idea very clearly. This can be
explored through the quote “The two Estonians sat like two brothers on
a low concrete slab, sharing half a cigarette in a holder. [...] They clung
together as though neither would have air enough to breathe without
the other. [...] On the march, on work parade, or going to bed at night,
they never stopped talking to each other in their slow, quiet way. Yet
they weren't brothers at all - they'd met for the first time in Gang 104.
(260)”. The two Estonians have found much comfort in each other and
have made a brother-like friendship to help them survive the gulag.

MOTIFS
death *** memory *** fear *** love *** longing *** masculinity *** femininity *** duty *** savagery *** guilt*** imagination*** sympathy *** truth ***
trauma *** violence *** isolation *** identity *** friendship *** solidarity *** survival *** courage *** loyalty *** sacrifice *** cruelty *** forgiveness
*** helplessness *** home *** other

LINKS TO ODLID: SIMILARITIES AND DIFFERENCES

Fear: In both stories, fear is the main feeling/attribute discussed as
both the settings are scary gruesome places in which the characters
experience very dreadful and scary things. In TTTC O’Brien shows the
fear of being shamed is a motivating factor of the war. In “On the Rainy
River” he explains the conflict he feels after receiving his draft notice
as he doesn’t want to fight but doesn’t want to be a coward. What
keeps him from fleeing to Canada is not patriotism but rather concern
over what people will think if he doesn’t fight. Fear also affects the
relationship between the characters while they are in vietnam. Social
acceptance leads O’Briens character to engage in absurd and
dangerous actions. For example, Curt Lemon decides to have his
tooth pulled in “The Dentist” to get rid of the shame he feels about
fainting during the earlier encounter with the dentist. Additionally,
Jimmy Cross becomes confused and uncertain which untimely puts his
soldiers lives in danger. O’Brien uses the characters to show that fear
Death: In TTTC death is a major part of this story as the soldiers
discuss the trauma they carry from the death of their
friends/colleagues. OLD IT doesn’t really discuss death at all.
Masculinity /Femininity: In ODLIT we only hear from male
perspectives and the way relationships are spoken about is very
pessimistic. In TTTC there is an element of relationships and being so
in love with a woman.
Love: Love and relationship between two partners is presented very
differently, between the two stories. In ODLIT presents a pessimistic
view on love for a partner however TTTC discusses this
obsession/infatuation element of love. In ODLIT, Ivan speaks about
the disconnect he feels between his wife. In TTTC love is a motif that
keeps the soldiers like Lieutenant Jimmy Cross to still wake up every
of shame is a misguided but unavoidable motivation for going to war.
Then in ODLIT,
Love/friendship: Both books discuss love in similar and different
ways. Similarly, Both discuss the love you feel for the people going
through this experience with you. Both stories explain the love for
friends/companions that you make during the tuff experiences they
have been through. In TTTC the soldiers provide support to each
other. For example when Tim has a hard time after he committed his
murder in “The man I killed” Kiowa was there to support him and
provide him comfort by saying “You feel terrible, I know that”. Even
after the war has ended the soldiers still provided friendship to each
other which can be seen when Luttendent Cross tells Tim to write
about their experience and when Norman writes a long letter about his
work. Additionally, Tim’s relationship with his daughter is another
reinforcement of this theme. This can also be seen in ODLIT as Many
of the soldiers rely on each other to get through the tough days in the
gulag. For example Ivan even says “Stared at the fire, huddled
together in the half dark. Like a big family. That's what a work gang is -
a family. (512)”. The men heavily rely on each other to get through the
dark times. The two Estonians depict this idea very clearly. This can be
explored through the quote “The two Estonians sat like two brothers on
a low concrete slab, sharing half a cigarette in a holder. [...] They clung
together as though neither would have air enough to breathe without
the other. [...] On the march, on work parade, or going to bed at night,
they never stopped talking to each other in their slow, quiet way. Yet
they weren't brothers at all - they'd met for the first time in Gang 104.
(260)”. The two Estonians have found much comfort in each other and
have made a brother-like friendship to help them survive the gulag.
Isolation: Both stories have an element of isolation. In ODLIT all the
prisoners are isolated from society as they have been placed in the
middle of nowhere. They are hardly able to communicate with their
families and are not allowed to express/deal with their emotions. For
example, Ivan is isolated from his family. He admits that “Nowadays
you had more to say to Kildigs, the Latvian, than to the folks at home.
They wrote twice a year as well, and there was no way in which he
could understand how things were with them. (224-5)”. Due to his
isolation he has become disconnected to his family and his home.
single day and fight in the tremendous war with the sole purpose of
seeing the woman he is in love with. This motivation and the idea of
love is a driving force in the midst of the darkness that pushes him to
keep going. Compared to ODLID love is not a strong motif as this
affectionate feeling has been worn down by the many years of staying
under the tremendous camp conditions.Both authors include these
motifs in order to reinforce their themes. This also helps to create a
mood that alludes to the themes in the stories.
Forgiveness: There is also a lack of forgiveness in One Day, because
they are in prison, and they haven’t been forgiven by the state for their
actions while in The Things, forgiveness comes from within the
soldiers (forgive yourself for killing, etc.).
Guilt/Sympathy: In One Day we see an absence of guilt on behalf of
both the guards who don’t care about the prisoners and also from the
prisoners themselves since they don’t feel guilty about their crimes
because they are crimes that wouldn’t have necessarily been
considered as crimes nowadays. While in The Things they do feel
guilty about the atrocities they are committing (the killing, the
massacres).
Home: In TTTC, American soldiers deployed in Vietnam are
characterized as longing for home by carrying reminders of their
previous life. For example, Lieutenant Cross carries a photograph of
his crush, Marta, and Henry Dobbins carries his girlfriend’s stockings.
O’Brien presents the motif of home as a goal for the soldiers to
accomplish in order to emphasize the tragedy of the Vietnam War, as
many characters mentioned perish and don’t return home, fostering
sympathy in the reader. In, ODLIT Solzhenitsyn presents home as
something which has been lost; Ivan Denisovich Shukhov has been in
labor camps for 7 years of his 10-year sentence, contrary to O’Brien
who serves a year overseas. Shukhov internalizes home as
unattainable, as oppressive Soviet influence would follow him even
after he is released from the camp– if he were to ever get released. He
explains many times that his sense of feeling home has been lost and
he doesn’t long to return home like many of the soldiers do in TTTC.
Both authors also mention a disconnect between those who
Fetyukov also represents this disconnect from his family as “ had experienced tragedy and those at home, exemplifying how life-altering
three children on the outside, but when he was jailed they’d all turned traumatic experiences such as war and forced labor are.
their backs on him and his wife had married somebody else” (262).
In TTTC, similarly they are isolated in vietnam from civilization fighting
in the woods while also having to leave their families/friends behind
back home, they are also not able to express or deal with these
emotions. The soldiers miss their families and loved ones so much
(quote). The environments/setting of both stories shows us how
isolated the characters are. This causes them lots of sadness, and
also makes them feel very lonely. It creates a very tense mood in all
the characters.

Identity: In both stories, the characters lose themselves and

experience this feeling of losing their identity through the traumatic
experiences they have been through. This is presented in ODLIT as
Ivan has lost his sense of home/connection to his family. “Nowadays
you had more to say to Kildigs, the Latvian, than to the folks at home.
They wrote twice a year as well, and there was no way in which he
could understand how things were with them. (224-5)”. The book
explains that Ivan no longer wishes to return home or is motivated to
go back to his old life almost as if he no longer can understand who he
is. In TTTC, many of the soldiers discuss the difficulty they have
experienced since the war and how they lost themselves. Norman
Bowker admits in his letter in chapter “Speaking of Courage”, that he
has never felt good after the war and even in chapter “Notes” hangs
himself in a YMCA. His death symbolizes the fact that he was never
able to escape the trauma that he accumulated in the war no matter
how hard he tried. He lost himself and wasn’t able to get back to his
old life which ultimately led him to killing himself.

Duty: In TTTC we see this element of duty towards your nation and to
fight for your country, while in ODLIT we can see this element of Duty
towards your group to do the work so that they don’t suffer. In TTTC
many of the soldiers feel this sense of pressure and duty to fight in the
war to stand up for their family. Some soldiers feel a sense of duty to
defend their country/nation while Tim doesn’t feel that way at all.

Truth: In ODL IT we can see this element of truth in the fact that
some of the prisoners have not done what they are being accuses-
while in TTTC we see this element of truth as the whole point is to
reveal the true experiences and tell real stories of what has happened
in the war (the non glorified version).

Survival: Both stories have this element of doing anything to survive.

Everyone's aim is to survive the experiences they are going through.

harshness of the conditions: which in ODLID is the cold, while in

TTTC is the muddy and humid conditions. In ODLID the cold is
represented as one of the main factors, if not the main, that make the
Gulag such a harsh and harmful place, and it constantly emphasized
to display to the reader the conditions in which these men, many
innocent, were punished and treated.

Fear: ODLID and TTTC. In the things they carried, the soldiers carried
their greatest fear, which was the fear of dishonor. Men killed, and
died, because they are embarrassed not to. It was what had brought
them to the war in the first place, nothing positive, no dreams of glory
or honor, just to avoid the blush of dishonor. On the other hand in the
ODLID, the motif of fear is explored as Ivan’s practical sense
conquers his fear, as in one scenario he hides the piece of steel in one
of his mittens. To conclude, both authors use the motif of fear to
showcase their approaches when handling the dehumanizing
conditions. The characters act based on fear.

BINARY OPPOSITES
hope vs despair *** humanity vs inhumanity *** lies vs truth *** bravery vs cowardice*** savagery vs civility *** reality vs fantasy *** purpose vs
aimlessness *** certainty vs ambiguity *** pain vs healing *** other

LINKS TO ODLID: SIMILARITIES AND DIFFERENCES

Freedom vs. captivity: In ODLIT, This is explored as the prisoners
are all held captive, with little to no chances of them ever being
completely free again. For example the time was changed so there
would be more time in the day and ultimately, soldiers were then
required to do more work, thus their freedom is taken away from them
Reality vs fantasy: Since in ODLID this topic is not truly explored as
the main focus is on reality, as it recounts the life of the Gulag
prisoners on a relatively good day, and does not attempt to dig into the
fantasy side of the story. Alternatively, TTTC turns fantasy into an
important aspect of the story, with an example being Cross constantly
as the government has the power of changing the time of the day.Even
when they are released from the camps, there is a very high chance
that they will be exiled, which will be another few years living alone,
without family or friends or any resemblance of hope. In TTTC we see
this idea of the Soldiers being forced to represent the nation and fight
in the army despite the fact that they don’t want to. They are not
metaphorically captive however in some sense because they have no
choice but to fight in the war. There is also this element of them still
being captive to the war despite the fact that they finished their
service. It never fully leaves them and their minds are still captive to
Vietnam and the experiences that they have been through. Both
authors criticize the respective regimes, showing how oppression can
take various forms.
Corruption vs. dignity: In ODLIT, we see this element of corruption
vs dignity as the guards and authorities themselves are corrupt and
untrustworthy. They completely abused their power and treated the
prisoners as inferior. For example the prisoners such as Volkovoi
abused their position of power to torture the prisoners. This can be
seen in the quote “You have no right to make people undress in the
freezing cold! You don’t know Article 9 of the Criminal Code! . . . But
they did have. They did know. It’s you, brother, who doesn't know
anything yet!”- This shows us that the prisoners were made to freeze
outside despite the fact that it breaks a law. Many of the prisoners on
the other hand, are trying to maintain their dignity and survive with
dignity in the camp. The gulags were designed to try and strip the Zeks
of their identities and dignity. The prisoners' names were replaced with
numbers and prisoners were strip searched for personal possessions.
The effects of stripping their identity and shredding their dignity many
of the prisoners are emotionally destroyed such as Fetyukov. This can
be seen as the guards beat Fetyukov for licking bowls, showing how
losing one’s dignity has a destructive effect on the Zeks. However,
despite this effort many of the Prisoners try to maintain their identities
and dignity. Shukhov even says that “from the outside, everyone in
the squad looked the same—their numbered black coats were
identical—but within the squad there were great distinctions.” As the
prisoners' materials and external markers of identity are taken away,
maintaining strong principals/dignity becomes a method which some
characters use to survive and maintain their identity. For example,
fantasizing about a postwar life in which he and Martha could live a
happy life in love, although Martha showed no particular interest to
Cross. This emphasizes the need for the soldiers to ‘hide’ in their
positive and joyful fantasies in order to hide from the horrors and
depression of the war they are currently fighting.
Bravery vs cowardice: Bravery is shown within the characters of Curt
Lemon, Ted Lavender, and Kiowa as they were brave enough to
sacrifice their own lives for the lives of the other soldiers. Cowardice is
shown through the soldiers turning their back to the war or being afraid
of fighting in it and going through what every other soldier has to but
still dreaming and fantasizing about what it would be like to be brave
and strong. Between the texts in terms of binary opposites one text
explores certain binary opposites a lot more than the other.
Humanity vs. Inhumanity: Explored to different degrees. In ODLIT
the prisoners were controlled and treated like animals. They were
caged into the gulag, not allowed to leave and their only form of
communication was through letters which were always opened,
checked and read. “Ivan wrote to his wife not to send him anymore
because nothing much’d be left for him” (p.109). In the novel it is clear
that the prisoners are not even referred to as human- . “Beat the dog
once and you have to show him the whip next time” (p.48). The term
‘whipping’ them whenever they do something bad clearly highlights the
mistreatment the camp prisoners faced every day. Many of the soldiers
were stripped of their identity and their humanity as they lost
themselves. When you are treated like an animal ultimately many of
the prisoners began to act like it. Despite this, many prisoners such as
Ivan try to hold onto their humanity and this is one of the only ways in
which they survive in the gulag. This is also present in TTTC but in a
very different way. It could easily be said that the inhumane treatment
internally was much less when compared to Shukhov’s novel. Clearly
the mistreatment the zek’s faced in their prison camp included how the
other prisoners treated one another and also how the superiors treated
the lower class workers. In O’Brian’s novel, the mistreatment comes
from the war condition rather than the literal mistreatment of the
warriors and their superiorsThe setting in “The Things They Carried
provides conflict. They are in a war zone, which provides plenty of
physical conflict, such as men being shot and killed. To overcome this
Shukhov is very principled and does not degrade like the other
characters. This can be seen as he still takes his hat off before he eats
even though it's cold, he doesn’t eat the fish eyes in his soup despite
his extreme hunger and he never begs for anything that is out of his
needs. Work also provides many of the prisoners an opportunity to
gain a sense of identity and dignity. Despite the fact that they do not
get paid for their work, the skills and work ethic allow them to feel
ownership over it. He gains a lot of satisfaction for working hard and
even notes that this made his day “an almost happy one”. This final
moment shows that maintaining one’s dignity through a principled life
makes living in the camp slightly more bearable. TTTC:
Lies and truth: In TTTC, lies are presented as sometimes necessary
in telling the truth in storytelling, as they exaggerate details that could
elicit a mood in the reader that would best help them grasp the
message of a story. For example, O’Brien tells a story about Norman
Bowker that never actually happened, but him driving around in circles
and thinking to himself helped exemplify the disconnect between
veterans and other citizens due to the tragedies of war. In ODLIT, lies
are presented as a way of life through the social setting of the novel.
Prisoners regularly steal food portions, and squad leaders, such as
Tiurin, lie on their work reports for better treatment of their squad.
Lying becomes such a commonality in the novel that it can be
interpreted as the zeks’ truth by the reader. This demonstrates the
corrupt nature of the novel to the reader. Both authors demonstrate
how lying can be used as a tool: one for explaining the unexplainable
and one for obtaining sustenance; however, the use of lies and truth in
TTTC shows how lying can help with mental processes whereas
ODLIT demonstrates how it can help with physical sustenance.
SYMBOLS
the Rainy River *** Vietnam itself *** the dead Vietnamese soldier *** the sewage field*** the things the soldiers carry *** the baby water buffalo
*** other
LINKS TO ODLID: SIMILARITIES AND DIFFERENCES
darkness surrounding war, the soldiers develop a numbness to the
situation. For example, “they kicked corpses. They cut off thumbs
(O’Brien. 1990, Para. 65).” For anyone to have the stomach to be able
to cut off the thumb of a corpse and laugh about it, that person
probably does not allow themselves to feel their emotions. Instead, he
or she will put up a guard against emotion so that they can be
surrounded by horror and feel nothing. The inhumanity is highlighted
here. The soldiers need to disassociate themselves from the situation
and their feelings, dehumanize themselves, in order to cope with
inhumane conditions that they have to live in everyday.
Purpose vs. aimlessness: In TTTC, some of the soldiers have a
great sense of patriotism, and they feel as though they are fighting the
war for a cause that they believe in and think is right. However, most of
the soldiers are in Vietnam against their will, because the government
forced them to enlist in the army. Because of this, they may feel
aimless in the sense that they do not believe in what they are being
forced to fight for, and that causes them to lack the motivation and the
drive that some of the more patriotic soldiers may have. This is a very
important concept presented in TTTC and is presented in ODLIT
however in a different way. One of the ways in which the prisoners
survive is by creating purpose for their life and keeping motivated this
way. The people who have no purpose aren’t able to survive through
the prison system as well as the others. For example, in Alyoshka’s
case, his religion gives him purpose to keep going and continue to
thrive in the camp. Everything he does is to become more connected
to god and this is how he finds purpose in such oppressing conditions.
Ivan also is able to find purpose through his work as it makes it “almost
a good day” for him. His work gives him a reason to keep going and
motivated.
Solzhenitsyn and O’brien explore symbols to discuss the value
associated with carrying objects with them. In ODLIT, Shukhov’s
spoon that's always in his boot represents his journey throughout the
gulags. In TTTC, O’Brien discusses the different objects that all the
characters carry with them. For example, Michelle Sanders carries a
Yo-yo symbolizing the tensions the group is under. It represents the
balance and back-and-forth the company strikes by constantly joking
throughout the seriousness of the war. The starched fatigue and
condoms which he carries represent the respectable and optimistic
side of sanders. It also represents the more childish side to him. By
carrying around Condoms it could mean that he’s still holding on to his
previous life back home when he had time for women. It also
insinuates he believes he will have time to spend with Women in
Vietnam. The radio provides the Alpha company a way to stay in touch
with the outside world. The fact that Sanders carries the radio is very
fitting for his character as his ability to communicate and describe the
intangible effects of war brings the whole group together. The men of
Alpha company carry different things that represent a bit of their
personability, values and also things that remind them of their home. It
illustrates the value of material items and how they are a coping
mechanism. Furthermore their objects showcase aspects of their
identity. Shukhov's spoon represents his motivation to maintain his
dignity while in TTTC the soldiers carry the objects with them to bring a
sense of their identity with them to the battlefield. Through the use of
these symbols, the readers are able to understand the character's life
outside of being a soldier and prisoner. However they differ as In
TTTC, O'Brien uses the things they carry to symbolize the
psychological and emotional weight the soldiers carry as a
consequence of the war while not just the identity/motivation like in
ODLIT.
Packages or letters they receive: In both stories we can see that the
packages or letters symbolize the same thing. In ODLIT, if a prisoner
receives a package it means they are connected from the outside and
it provides them with a better living condition within the camp. They are
often sent food, and other necessities. It also comes from their loved
ones so it symbolizes their lasting connection with their loved ones
back home, which is very similar to the letter which the soldiers receive
The dog in the camp and the Water Buffalo: The young water
buffalo stands for purity and innocence as well as the dog for the
naivety in that. O'Brien then remembers a time when a military friend
named Azar fastened a dog to a mine and squeezed the explosive.
Azar enjoys the animal's bloody death because it makes him feel like
he has some control over his own situation. Rat Kiley later kills a water
buffalo to exact revenge for their friend Curt Lemon's death. The
animal is entirely defenseless against Rat's assault. The troops in the
platoon had lost their sense of humanity as a result of experiencing the
horrible effects of war, which is reinforced here. The guys are
reminded of their lost innocence as children by the animals, which they
can never regain.
TTTC and ODLIT both use setting as a symbol however it plays more
of a crucial role in ODLIT. This may be because in ODLIT, the setting is
constant while in TTTC the setting changes constantly. The packages
from home and the bread in One Day represent nourishment for the
prisoners that are always stuck in the same continuous cycle, but in
The Things, there is rarely talk about food or nourishment which may
mean that the war has made them lose their appetite (blood, detached
arms, etc.) or that they are more concerned with killing the opposite
side in order to keep going and hopefully go home (there is a lack of
hope in going home in One Day because of the unfair Soviet gulag
system). Symbols in TTTC include the Rainy river and the mud field.
The rainy river represents a moral dilemma, as O’Brien didn’t know
whether to escape to Canada to evade the draft. The mud field
represents hopelessness and loss, as the soldiers were unable to save
their friend Kiowa from death. O’Brien uses settings as symbols to
emphasize the gravity of the stories he tells and the influence of
traumatic events on soldiers as a whole.
in TTTC. The letters and packages are the way that the characters
stay connected with their loved ones and home.
TEXTUAL EVIDENCE
Norman Bowker drives around and around
the lake in his hometown (which, according
to O'Brien in "Notes," is O'Brien's
hometown), and every time he goes around,
the town is still the same. Before the war, in
"The Lives of the Dead," the stasis of the
town seems comforting, but after, in
"Speaking of Courage," it's
frustrating.Everything is absolutely, fixedly
real.
SETTING
DISCUSSION & THEMATIC LINKS
GEOGRAPHICAL SETTING
United States: A small-town in America is one
of the settings explored in this novel before and
after they return from the war. America was
painted as a place all about reliability (quite the
opposite of Vietnam). The small town features
listed (such as movie theaters, skating rinks)
appear in both pre and post war stories which
shows the reader how little the place has
changed.
Land of Vietnam: On the other hand, to
contrast their home setting, the primary setting
of the book is Vietnam. O’brien uses the setting
to show that the men fighting in the jungle there
are uncertain and the Viet Cong could be
watching them at any time, it almost seems like
the land is watching them. The Viet Cong had
the advantage as they were much more
accustomed to the jungle so they were able to
play out Guerrilla warfare much more efficiently.
Tim O’Brien however describes Vietnam as a
very beautiful but unknown country. On one side
it is described as hostile for the Americans
(bobby-traps everywhere). It's described as a
very creepy place which has many
psychological effects on the soldiers (they run
away, go crazy) However, the beaches of
Vietnam are described as scenic and a place of
LINKS TO ODLID:
SIMILARITIES & DIFFERENCES
Both take place in two climax environments
but the way they are presented is very
different. They are similar as both places pose
a threat to the lives of the characters.
However ODLIT is located in Siberia which is
freezing/cold. It is described as “Bare white
snow stretched to the horizon, to the left, to
the right, and not a single tree could be seen
on the whole expanse of steppe”
(Solzhenitsyn, 32). Its completely isolated
from society. The harsh geographical setting
acts as an antagonizing force in the novel. In
TTTC, the characters are mostly located in
Vietnam fighting in an area where their
enemy is more familiar than then, terrain and
its ups and downs (diseases, natural
disasters, animals, etc.). This gives the setting
a sense of uncertainty of survival and an
unknown landscape. In TTTC, the uncertainty
described by the narrator paints Vietnam’s
landscape with the danger of moving from
place to place without a real purpose.
Nevertheless, Vietnam has a much warmer
climate that also has its own personal issues.
For example, when they slept and fought in
the lake full of feces. Here, the geographical
setting plays a huge role in the development
of the plot. The warmer climate accentuates

Page 10- ‘The whole atmosphere, they
carried it, the humidity, the monsoons, the
stink of fungus and decay, all of it, they
carried gravity.’
relaxation. This presents this idea of vietnam
being beautiful.
Vietnam villages:
the Rainy River that separates the United
States from Canada:
PHYSICAL SETTING
Used to portray the harsh conditions that the
characters have to go through physically.
(Quote 1)- The atmosphere is described as
humid, while also the smell of fungus and decay
being present.
Olfactory imagery in the quote allows the
speaker to expose the nature of his physical
setting which appears to be near decaying
organisms. If we take into consideration that
they are in Vietnam during the time of the war
we could conclude that it could be dead rotting
bodies. This depicts the harsh conditions of the
characters as they are described to be in a
rough environment which is humid, with the
the smell coming from the field and affects the
soldiers' abilities to fight and also leads to one
of the men dying due to the conditions not
being suitable for survival.
Compared to the prisoners in ODLID, the
warriors in Vietnam have plenty of supplies
but when faced with geographical conditions
that they can not change with physical objects
a similar pain is reflected on them just as how
in ODLID the prisoners are in pain due to the
harsh weather conditions which they do not
have the proper clothing for. So when the
situations are compared it could be argued as
ironic since one condition is in place because
the soldiers do not have enough clothing and
supplies to keep them warm, and in Vietnam
the warriors have all the supplies they need
but can not change their geographical
condition through the use of materialistic
things.
ODLID the physical setting portrays the
conditions with the lack of warmth and shelter
showing the reader how not only do the
prisoners struggle physically but also the lack
of material objects represents the lack of
stability in their mind and how they are not
able to properly cope with their life actions or
decisions. This can be seen with a character
like Alyosha and how he makes up for his lack
of physical security and comfort with his bible.
On page 24 the narrator says, ‘And on a top
bunk the Baptist Alyoshka, Shukhov’s
neighbor, neat and cleanly washed, was
reading his notebook in which he had half the
Gospels copied down.’ These aspects can be
‘stink of fungus and decay’ which is normally
used to describe unsanitary conditions and
conflicted environments.
the meatpacking plant
the Tip Top Lodge
the soldiers’ outposts in various locations
across Vietnam
the Vitenamese pagoda as a universal place of
worship
seen when it says ‘neat and cleanly washed.’
where characters try to make up for the lack of
a humane physical setting with what they can
control, like hygiene, in order to save their
sanity. However this is countered when
Fetiukov, a less stable prisoner is introduced.
This can be seen in page 41 when it says,
‘Fetiukov, the jackal, had been collecting
cigarette butts (he even fished them out of the
spittoons, he wasn’t fussy), and now he was
breaking them up and filtering the un smoked
tobacco onto a piece of paper.’ Here he is
depicted as a degraded human being who has
been dehumanized. This can be seen when
he is called a ‘jackal’ and also when it is said
in an ironic tone ‘He wasn’t fussy’, while he
was doing a degrading task which people
would normally be fussy about. Hence, we see
the lack of respect he has for himself. He has
no stability within the prison. Furthermore this
is similar to ODLID as both narrators describe
the physical setting of the characters in order
to depict the harsh conditions they are
experiencing.
However the differences between both
narrators is that in TTTC O’Brian uses
Olfactory and tactile imagery in order to
portray this setting whereas in ODLID the
speaker uses more visual imagery. Both
novels use a physical setting to help portray
the emotions and mood of the characters
since it is used as a justification for their
actions. ODLID has a physical setting that
portrays the prisoners current mood whereas
TTTC has the physical setting showing the
strain that is put onto the soldiers.
 SOCIAL SETTING
TTTC:
Social hierarchy: there is a distinct social
hierarchy in terms of figures of authority being
respected and highly regarded, ensuring that
they hold all the power over the soldiers, and
that whatever they say goes.
The disconnect between the wants of the
government and the wants of the people is
shown as the government drafts normal male
civilians to enlist in the army and fight in the war
even if it's not what they want to do. Even
though the soldiers don’t necessarily want to
fight such as Tim Cross, as the government is
higher in the social hierarchy so they get to
make all the decisions and abuse their power.
in TTTC they are given orders and expected to
follow them.
In TTTC, Soldiers use their family are friends as
motivation to get through everyday and return
home to their loved ones. They communicate
frequently and stay in touch such as when Mary
Anne comes to visit Lieutenant, and Henry
Dobbins keeps his girlfriend's panty hose with
him wherever he goes around his neck. While in
ODLID, Ivan expresses his disconnection from
his family and wife as he has told her to marry
another man. He expresses that he hardly
keeps in touch with his family and this goes for
Both The things they carry by Tim O’Brien and
One day in the life of Ivan Denesovick by
Soldensicho both explore the element of
social setting to accentuate the theme of
Disconnect between political class and civilian
population. This can be seen through the
element of social hierarchy. In TTTC, there is
a distinct social hierarchy in terms of figures of
authority being respected and highly regarded,
ensuring that they hold all the power over the
soldiers, and that whatever they say goes.
The disconnect between the wants of the
government and the wants of the people is
shown as the government drafts normal male
civilians to enlist in the army and fight in the
war even if it's not what they want to do. Even
though the soldiers don’t necessarily want to
fight such as Tim Cross, as the government is
higher in the social hierarchy so they get to
make all the decisions and abuse their power.
Similarly, in ODLID, Solzhenitsyn illustrates
the social hierarchy between the prisoners
who were also referred to as the Zeks, and the
wardens, commandments, and guards who
have authority over the prisoners. This can be
revealed through the quote: “From the outside,
everyone looked the same - their numbered
black coats looked identical - but within the
squad there were great distinctions. Everyone
had his grade.” (13). The word “grade”
suggests ranking, which dehumanizes anyone
under than another person. This idea relates
to the theme of humiliation as a form of control
because everyone. Although theyre not
prisoners in both books, both groups have a
sense of loss of control. Loss of control was
also portrayed in the quote” “... prisoners were
most of the other prisoners as well. Ivan even
alludes to the idea that he is not longing to go
home to his family as he makes references to
the prisoners being his family now. He says
there is nothing waiting for him at home.
explore the various forms of social dynamics
between the soldiers during their time in
Vietnam and upon their return to the US
consider the social dynamics between the
American soldiers and the Vietnamese soldiers
and civilian population
CULTURAL SETTING
The cultural setting in TTTC mostly revolves
around typical war traditions. O’Brien lists the
physical necessities (Rifles, machine guns,
grenade launchers, etc.), mentioning that the
soldiers carry this equipment in order to stay
alive during war and to win. However, he also
adds that soldiers carry emotional baggage with
them, such as grief, terror, love, and other
memories in order to maintain their sanity. The
idea of fear culture isn’t necessarily about death
not allowed to carry watches; the authorities
knew the time for them.” (17). It is
dehumanizing as there was no need to know
the time, and arguably worse than the
conditions of TTTC however it connects to the
fact that in TTTC they are given orders and
expected to follow them. However, the novels
express different social dynamics between the
main characters (soldiers or prisoners) and
their relationships with their friends and family
back home. In TTTC, Soldiers use their family
are friends as motivation to get through
everyday and return home to their loved ones.
They communicate frequently and stay in
touch such as when Mary Anne comes to visit
Lieutenant, and Henry Dobbins keeps his
girlfriend's panty hose with him wherever he
goes around his neck. While in ODLID, Ivan
expresses his disconnection from his family
and wife as he has told her to marry another
man. He expresses that he hardly keeps in
touch with his family and this goes for most of
the other prisoners as well. Ivan even alludes
to the idea that he is not longing to go home to
his family as he makes references to the
prisoners being his family now. He says
or losing, but rather fear of appearing less
masculine. The soldiers are afraid of blushing,
let alone standing up for themselves, but are
still expected to cope with their respective
circumstance because not doing so would make
them shameful in the eyes of society, despite
the extent of the trauma and terror that comes
with.

the culture of camaraderie within the Alpha

Company
the culture of survival within the Alpha Company
the culture of fear within the Alpha Company
the glorification of war amongst the civilian
population in the US

TEMPORAL SETTING

Solzhenitsyn and O’Brien have some similarities

when it comes to temporal setting, but,
ultimately, their approaches to time are very
distinct in nature. The novel ODLID is very
clearly set over the time period of one day,
however, TTTC is based on accounts of
memory and there is no clear timestamp. In
ODLID, time is more concrete and the reader is
aware of the timeline, since the author’s main
purpose was to describe the atrocities of the
Soviet government. This was done through a
representation of what a day looks like for
people who were in this system. However, in the
case of TTTC, the author’s main purpose isn’t to
describe extensively what happened in the
Vietnam war, but it is to illustrate the grave
effects of war on soldiers. Hence, the storyline
in TTTC seems to be based on memory, and
hence the timeline is blurry due to an unreliable
narrator. Another difference between ODLID
and TTTC is that time is viewed more as a
commodity in ODLID. The author wanted to
illustrate time as a precious thing that was
stolen from the Russian prisoners by the strict
regime. Hence, time is given more importance
in this novel and is a crucial motif that the novel
is centered around. However, in TTTC, time is
not placed on such a pedestal. Despite the
differences in the exact time that the novels
occurred in both take place during times of war
and hardship. TTTC takes place during the
Vietnam War and ODLID shows insight into the
Soviet's gulag system.

note the non-linear structure of the novel and

how the narrator navigates between the past
and the present
note how specific references to time are
sometimes blurred by memory:
“Forty-three years old, and the war occurred
half a lifetime ago, and yet the remembering
makes it now. And sometimes remembering will
lead to a story, which makes it forever. That's
what stories are for. Stories are for joining the
past to the future. Stories are for those late
hours in the night when you can't remember
how you got from where you were to where you
are. Stories are for eternity, when memory is
erased, when there is nothing to remember
except the story.” (Spin)
June 17, 1968 - the narrator receives the
drafting letter and the references to time in On
the Rainy River are more precise; why?
the nighttime time setting in Vietnam
he climate in Vietnam is hot and humid, and
jungles abound. The characters in the book are
often shown hacking their way through the
jungle, or taking refuge in the tropical foliage
during fighting. The beaches of Vietnam also
figure into the book, serving both as places to
relax and staging areas for battles.

The soldiers are often shown moving from one

area to another without a real understanding of
where they are going, mirroring the soldiers’
lack of clarity about the purpose of the war they
are fighting.

note the non-linear structure of the novel and

how the narrator navigates between the past
and the present
note how specific references to time are
sometimes blurred by memory:
“Forty-three years old, and the war occurred
half a lifetime ago, and yet the remembering
makes it now. And sometimes remembering will
lead to a story, which makes it forever. That's
what stories are for. Stories are for joining the
past to the future. Stories are for those late
hours in the night when you can't remember
how you got from where you were to where you
are. Stories are for eternity, when memory is
erased, when there is nothing to remember
except the story.” (Spin)
June 17, 1968 - the narrator receives the
drafting letter and the references to time in On
the Rainy River are more precise; why?
the nighttime time setting in Vietnam
 CHARACTERIZATION: TIM O’BRIEN (NARRATOR/PROTAGONIST)
TEXTUAL EVIDENCE
“At some point in mid-July I began thinking
seriously about Canada. The border lay a
few hundred miles north, an eight-hour
drive. Both my conscience and my instincts
were telling me to make a break for it, just
take off and run like hell and never stop. “
“The only certainty that summer was moral
confusion.” (O’Brien, 40)
“All of us, I suppose, like to believe that in a
moral emergency we will behave like the
heroes of our youth, bravely and forthrightly,
without thought of personal loss or
discredit.” (O’Brien, 29)
“Once people are dead, you can’t make
them undead.” (O’Brien, 41)
“In a moral emergency we will behave like
the heroes of our youth, bravely and
forthrightly, without thought of personal loss
or discredit.”
DISCUSSION & THEMATIC LINKS
CONFLICT
O’briens biggest internal conflict is he faces
trying to make a decision on whether he should
or shouldn’t fight in the war after he's received
his draft. He feels a great sense of pressure to
fight in the war and to be successful in stopping
the spread of communism. There is also
constant pressure to bring honor to the nation.
O’brien experiences an internal conflict of the
guilt he feels for the deal of Kiowa's death. He
blames himself for shooting the soldier. This
traumatic experience helps to accentuate the
futility of war. It also illustrates the dehumanizing
effects of war on the soldier.
LINKS TO ODLID:
SIMILARITIES & DIFFERENCES
Shukhov and O’Brien are similar as they are
both the storytellers and narrators. However,
in TTTC we also hear O’Brien speak from
various perspectives. However in TTTC we
also hear from first or third person
perspectives or even be an omnipresent
character ( Jimmy Cross). By contrast,
Solzhenytsin does not partake in the novel
and is motley an omniscient narrator. Yet the
two still share certain similarities. Shukhov,
like O'Brien, has a big regard for morals and
believes hard work is the key to success. Both
characters disagree with war and regime,
however they both experience brutal and cruel
combats.
O’Brien describes cowardice as the loss of
the sense of duty of a soldier, Shukhov
assimilates dignity into his work at the
GULAG. This is especially important since the
service of a soldier was considered one of the
noblest qualities at the time. So his cowardice
was a representation of his weakness.

“I feared the war, yes, but I also feared
exile. I was afraid of walking away from my
own life, my friends and my family, my
whole history, everything that mattered to
me. I feared losing the respect of my
parents. I feared the law. I feared ridicule
and censure. My hometown was a
conservative little spot on the prairie, a
place where tradition counted, and it was
easy to imagine people sitting around a
table down at the old Gobbler Cafe on Main
Street, coffee cups poised, the conversation
slowly zeroing in on the young O'Brien kid,
how the damned sissy had taken off for
Canada. “
“They were sending me off to fight a war
they didn't understand and didn't want to
understand. I held them responsible.”
Quote 1: “..saw no unity of purpose, no
consensus on matters of philosophy or
history or law.” of going to war. (O’Brien, 40)
MOTIVATION
Fear of shame is a big motivator for Tim
O’Brien, as this is what motivates him to choose
to fight in the war instead of running away. He
was afraid to disappoint his family and what
people would think of him if he didn’t fight. This
shows us that the majority of his motivation
comes from a place of fear. If it was not public
pressure O’Brien would not have participated in
the war, but he was very dependent on the
public opinion of people who did not fully
understand how dangerous it was.
ACTIONS
Tim O’Briens actions are unconsciously
determined by his opinions. He is a very moral
person. O’Brien main motivation to go to
Canada was that he saw no purpose in going to
disappoint his family so he goes to vietnam.

“I told him I’d like to write a story about
some of this. Jimmy thought it over and then
gave me a little smile.” (O’Brien, 29)
“I remember Norman Bowker and Henry
Dobbins playing checkers every evening
before dark.” (O’Brien, 32)
“On the dead test, this particular individual
gets A-plus.” (O’Brien, 126)
And so for a long while they'd talked about
their families and hometowns. At one point,
the boy remembered, he'd been showing
Kiowa a picture of his girlfriend. He
remembered switching on his flashlight. A
stupid thing to do, but he did it anyway, and
he remembered Kiowa leaning in for a look
at the picture—"Hey, she's cute," he'd
said— and then the field exploded all
O’brien has killed people, and he goes into
details about their part however he never
speaks about his feelings (no emotive diction).
However due to the hyperfixation we can
assume he had a strong emotional reaction. He
still doesn’t clearly recall what happened
indicating he has a lot of shame and guilt about
his actions that led to the death. We also get
insight from how much Ted Lavender’s and Curt
Lemon’s deaths affected him.
Kiowa attempts to offer to switch roles with
O’Brien as a way to provide comfort however
O’Brien chooses to ignore this showing us he is
hyper fixated on the fact that he killed a man.
CHARACTER RELATIONSHIPS
Throughout the book we see Tim O’Brien having
to deal with the death of various friends and
people he knew.
Tim has a very strong connection to his
daughter. He even brings her to Vietnam when
the war is over to revisit. He mentions it many
times…
Tim O’Brien’s best friend Kiowa: The fact that
O’Brien takes his daughter to visit the place
where Kiowa died shows us how affected Tim
was by his death due to how significant their
relationship was to him. Tim and Kiowa are foil
characters, they balance each other well and
were best friends. This is also why his death
was so much more significant.
Tim also has really good relations to a lot of the
around them. “
“When a man died, there had to be blame.
Jimmy Cross understood this. You could
blame the war, You could blame the idiots
who made the war. You could blame Kiowa
for going to it. You could blame the rain. You
could blame the river. You could blame the
field, the mud, the climate. You could blame
the enemy.”
other soldiers in the Alpha community as he
provides them comfort. For example he
comforts Jimmy Cross when he was sad about
Ted lavender’s death.
Tim O’Brien connects all of the characters in the
novel and helps link their memories to their
stories. For example, Lieutenant Jimmy Cross
and his memory of Martha is expressed through
O’Brien, also the memory of the two soldiers
playing checkers.
On the other hand, a few character
relationships are more complex, like the one
with Azar. He is highly insensitive and acts the
opposite of O’Brien. O’brien also has a
complicated relationship with J----
OTHER SIGNIFICANT ASPECTS
Although Tim didn't die due to the war, this was
not the case for everyone. Even after the war
was over he was still experiencing the
consequences of it through his own trauma and
through other peoples. O’Brien cannot seem to
escape death occurring around him.
Some of the most distinguishing characteristics
of Tim O’Brien include: his compassion towards
others, his ability to connect past and present
events and his ethical values.
O’Brien has a natural capacity for reflecting
and to use his memory. This is particularly
important to elicit emotions in the reader. His
storytelling helps to illustrate the coexistence of
guilt and fear in the soldiers as they fought “all
the ambiguities of Vietnam, all the mysteries

TEXTUAL EVIDENCE
The high school girls were mostly gone or
married. Sally Kramer, whose pictures he
had once carried in his wallet, was on who
had married”(139)
“For a moment, he’d almost pulled over, just
to talk… but there was nothing he could say
to her” (139)
“No doubt Max would have liked it,”
“...he heard somebody screaming, it was
Kiowa- he knew that.”(148)
and unknowns.” in the area.
He also has a strong moral compass and values
dignity
CHARACTERIZATION: NORMAN BOWKER
DISCUSSION & THEMATIC LINKS
CONFLICT
internal conflict: Bowker experiences the loss of
purpose after his return from Vietnam. He also
experiences a sense of isolation from all his
past friends and love interests after being away
for years. Links to Theme of loneliness and
isolation. Sally Kramer (love interest) has now
married someone else which represents her
moving on with her life and putting Norman in
the past creating this loss of identity for Bowker.
Another theme is the alienating effect of war
trauma as Bower ultimately kills himself due to
the fact that he suffered survivors guilt and
self-loathing. This relates to the conflict Bowker
faces when healing from the death of Kiowa, as
he blamed himself. This becomes a
psychological burden for Bowker. This relates to
the theme of the collateral damage of war.
He is not able to move past the experiences in
the war.
LINKS TO ODLID:
SIMILARITIES & DIFFERENCES
Norman Bowker is similar to Shukov as they
both could not plan ahead/see a future, but
instead focused on the trauma they are
experiencing. Shukov no longer longs to be
reunited with his family, losing his past/sense
of home. Bowker also loses touch with his
loved ones such as dad and girlfriend due to
the fact that as he was gone they moved on.
They both struggle to come to terms with their
past lives and envision it for the future.
However, the difference is Shukov is
physically trapped while Bowker is emotionally
and psychologically confined. The level of
importance of keeping those family
connections can be seen as for Bowker it
eventually leads to the end of his life due to
his isolation he feels and the fact that he is not
able to communicate his feelings with anyone.
Shukov knows he will not ever be able to go
home so there isn’t an element of needing to
stay connected to his loved ones. Both are not
able to have hope for a life after their situation
however, Shukhov has no choice as he is
lockd in the gulag and even when he gets out
he'll be sent to exile but Bowker mentally
cannot move past it despite being physically in
a place he could heal from.

It is revealed that his greatest desire was to
attain the silver star. The chapter this is
illustrated in is named “Speaking of
Courage”, which, to him, shows how if he
had courage, he would have attained the
Silver Star award. However, he is unable to
tell others about how he ‘almost won the
Silver Star’ because it meant he ‘almost’ but
ultimately did not save Kiowa. He continues
to blame himself, which leads us to wonder
whether he really wanted the silver star.
(Natalie)
In page 146, the imaginary conversation
with his father regarding medals and
MOTIVATION
Bowkers biggest motivation for joining the war
ws to driven by his idea of purpose. He wanted
to bring purpose to others. His father was also a
soldier and Norman felt like he had to earn
medals as a soldier to prove his courage and
willingness to take risks with his life. The desire
to get a medal is a source of motivation and
pressure by his dad because he feels he will be
a disappointment if he doesn’t come home with
a medal. He feels this constant pressure of
being perceived as the ‘antagonist’. His greates
desire was to attain the silver star so this
motivated him.
Both however try to preserve their dignity.
Shykhov is attempting to preserve his dignity
by working hard and staying moral, Bowker
holds great pride for his medals and other
achievements. They have different views on
what true dignity is as Bowker thinks it has to
do with medals while Shukov puts emphasis
on being moral. Shukhov has the courage to
truly hold onto this dignity while Bowker fears
the consequences and undermines his own
value.
Another character that shares some
similarities are Alyoshka and Norman. They
are both considered gentle but for different
reasons. Norman is gentle due to his
personality while Alyoshka is mainly gentle
due to his religion.
Shukhov and Bowker ‘s motivations are
completely different. Shukhov’s motivation is
to survive for himself with dignity while
Norman’s motivation is to achieve his medals
to prove his worthiness.
awards; How some people deserve but do
not earn medals while others who don’t do
anything earn them instead.
“I will tell you something O’Brien if I could
have one wish, anything, I would wish for
my dad to write me a letter and say “it’s
okay if you don’t win any medals” that’s all
my old man talks about, nothing else how
he can’t wait to see my goddamn medal.”
“Norman Bowker otherwise a very gentle
person carried a thumb that had been
presented to him as a gift by Mitchell
Sanders”
ACTIONS
He carries the burden of grief, trauma,
alienation, and familiarity all at once while
maintaining the image of a ‘gentle soldier’. The
physical items he carries (diary and thumb)
each symbolize these concepts.
Him driving around the lake several times
represents his constant attempts to tell his story.
His hometown went from a place of comfort to a
place unfamiliar to him. Driving around, he looks
for a place to belong, for someone to talk to, for
what else the future has in store for him. He
describes his town as remote, that the people of
his hometown are unaware of the impacts and
events of the war, and he believes that because
of this, they are playing down his efforts.
This firstly relates to the theme of storytelling as
an act of healing, which is his own healing, that
he is unable to do properly due to the fact he
has no one to talk to.
Norman Bowker in Vietnam carries the thumb
that was a gift from Mitchelle sanders.
CHARACTER RELATIONSHIPS
“If Sally had not been married, or his father
not such a baseball fan, it would have been
a good time to talk.”
Carrying a diary
Mitchell Sanders cut off the thumb of a dead,
young VC soldier and gave it to Bowker.
Sanders tells them that there is a moral in the
thumb, and ever since, Bowker carries the
thumb with him throughout the war.
. He recognizes and acknowledges the brutality
of his own and his peers’ actions, which shows
his humanity/gentleness at war.
Bowker suffers from extreme distress after his
friend Kiowa’s death. He blames himself as he
thinks he could have saved him. Bowker was
holding onto Kiowa’s boot as Kiowa was sinking
into sewage but, unable to handle the smells of
the waste, he let go, leaving Kiowa to float with
the rest of the waste.
His dad and him have a very complicated
relationship as his dad never showed him much
love. After returning from the war, he wants to
talk to his dad about how he almost won a silver
star, but his dad is too preoccupied to listen.He’s
constantly imagining his father in the chapter
Speaking of Courage as someone who is caring
and loving because they lack that kind of
relationship in reality.
Jimmy Cross, Norman Bowker’s
lieutenant/leader, burns the pictures of Martha
after Kiowa’s death because she was becoming
too distracting for him and wanted to save
Bowker (and the other soldiers) from the
damaging effects of loss, guilt, and grief.
OTHER SIGNIFICANT ASPECTS
Norman Bowker is known to carry items that
would otherwise be considered unnecessary for

Almost winning the medal but not being
successful
TEXTUAL EVIDENCE
“He felt shame. He hated himself. He had
loved Martha more than his men, and as a
consequence Lavender was now dead, and
this was something he would have to carry
war such as a diary and a boy’s thumb.
Bowker also carries a diary to document his
experiences at war. The cultural setting of the
novel shows that men were not necessarily
allowed to express their emotions because it
made them seem less manly/masculine. The
diary symbolizes his suffering as a result of
these norms. However, the diary also adds an
element of realism to the idea of toxic
masculinity as a whole. While other soldiers
carry their lovers’ pantyhoses and pictures,
comics, and candy, Bowker unexpectedly
carries a diary.
By carrying a diary it further shows how
Norman is very reflective and is aware of his
thoughts. This also provides some irony as
his highly conscious regarding his thoughts
is why he ends up taking his life as he can’t
clear his mind from all the PTSD.
He feels like he failed in his sense of gender
identity as he didn’t get the medal for
bravery and the other seven medals that he
won shows insignificant status in contrast to
the bravery medal.
CHARACTERIZATION: JIMMY CROSS
DISCUSSION & THEMATIC LINKS LINKS TO ODLID:
SIMILARITIES & DIFFERENCES
CONFLICT
Internal conflict: He has to deal with intense Jimmy Cross is very similar to Tiurin in ODLIT
feelings of guilt. Guilt as a motif is seen through as they both have similar motivations.
Cross’s character- he blames himself for the Both feel motivated to protect their inferiors
death of Ted lavender (prisoners and soldiers). They both have to let
like a stone in his stomach for the rest of the
war.” (16)
“In part, he was grieving for Ted Lavender,
but mostly it was for Martha, and for himself,
because she belonged to another world,
which was not quite real, and because she
was a junior at Mount Sebastian College in
New Jersey, a poet and a virgin and
uninvolved, and because he realized she
did not love him and never would.” (17)
“No more fantasies, he told himself.” (24)
“He would accept the blame for what had
happened to Ted Lavender. He would be a
man about it.” (25)
“When he told her he still loved her, she
kept walking and didn’t answer and then
after several minutes looked at her
wristwatch and said it was getting late.” (29
“His mind wandered. He had difficulty
keeping his attention on the war. On
occasion he would yell at his men to spread
out the column, to keep their eyes open, but
then he would slip away into daydreams,
just pretending, walking barefoot along the
Jersey shore, with Martha, carrying
nothing.” (9)
“He was now determined to perform his
duties firmly and without
negligence…but from this point on he
would comport himself as an officer.”
Another internal conflict that Cross deals with is
trying to focus despite his fantasies about
Martha. He spends a lot of time debating if his
love with Martha is one sided. He often thinks
about Martha during the war and sometimes at
crucial moments, which cause his men to get
hurt as he’s distracted. This connects to the
binary opposite of reality vs fantasy since Cross
constructs fantasies in his head when in reality it
is the opposite of what he imagines.
So the theme of physical and emotional
burdens of war relate to Jimmy Cross. He
carries the isolation and loneliness from his
girlfriend which ultimately causes him to feel
guilt because due to his internal distractions his
men have died.
MOTIVATION
Despite his incapability to be a true good
leader….Ted Lavender’s death motivates Jim
Cross to become a better one. As a result, he
reverted back to the procedural tactics of being
go of their emotional burdens as a way to
benefit the group. Both are leaders.
However Unlike Cross, Tiurin is experienced
as a leader and Jimmy is not. Tiurin is also
portrayed as a very good leader while Cross is
portrayed as someone who struggled to
concentrate due to his fascination with Martha.
Jimmy Cross and Shukov in ODLID: their
thoughts are controlled by someone else.
Although this is completely out of Shukov’s
control since his life is being controlled by the
guards, in Jimmy Cross’ case he is being
psychologically influenced rather than
physically, however this influence is
nevertheless controlling his actions and
decision making.
(25) a leader such as “leaving no room for argument
or discussion” (25) or maintaining “a lieutenant’s
“He would look them in the eyes, voice” (25).
keeping his chin level, and he would
issue the new SOPs in a calm,
impersonal tone of voice, a lieutenant’s
voice, leaving no room for argument or
discussion.” (25)

“He would show strength, distancing

himself” (25)

“Lieutenant Jimmy Cross reminded

himself that his obligation was not to be
loved but to lead.” (26)

“He would accept the blame for what

happened to Ted Lavender.” (25)

ACTIONS

“On the morning after Ted Lavender
died, First Lieutenant Jimmy Cross
crouched at the bottom of his foxhole
and burned Martha’s letters.” (23)
“He almost nodded at her, but he didn’t.
Instead he went back to his maps.” (25)
“Lieutenant Jimmy Cross took out his
maps. He shook his head hard, as if to
clear it, then bent forward and began
planning the day’s march.” (24)
“At one point, I remember, we paused
over a snapshot of Ted Lavender, and
after a while, Jimmy rubbed his eyes and
said he’d never forgiven himself for
The motif of grief and guilt can be seen through
Jimmy Cross’s actions.
After the death of Ted Lavender’s, Cross burns
Martha’s photographs to leave behind his past
and fantasies allowing him to focus more on the
reality and be more present for his soldiers. The
photographs were one of the objects he carried
which symbolized his obsession with Martha. By
burning the photos, this symbolizes him getting
rid of his conflict to do with her.
His actions of referring to maps and planning
out things such as marching in formation, we
can see Cross is using the knowledge he
learned to become a luttendent and also shows
us he is more committed to being a good leader.
Lavender’s death.” (27)
And then suddenly, without willing it, he
was thinking about Martha.” (11)
“And as a writer now, I want to save
Linda’s life.” (236)
“It was phantom jealousy, he knew, but
he couldn’t help himself.” (8)
This links to the motif of duty as hes now
assuming his responsibility that comes along
with being a luttendent.
He does these actions to pursue his motivation
and maintain his status of authority over his
soldiers (Jasmine).
CHARACTER RELATIONSHIPS
Foil characters: Tim O’Brien and Jimmy Cross
both have love stories. Cross had Martha whilst
Tim O’Brien had Linda. However, the lessons
they learn differ. Martha causes Cross conflict
by distracting him, preventing him from being a
good luttendent while Linda's death was one
motivation for writing his book. They both
provide the audience with a comparison of how
love can be viewed differently. One which has a
positive motivation and one which is a limitation.
Cross feels immense guilt for the death of both
Ted Lavender and Kiowa. He feels responsible
for not looking after them properly as he was
distracted during Ted Lavender’s accident and
provided Kiowa with bad judgment.
OTHER SIGNIFICANT ASPECTS
His thoughts of Martha were an escape for him
from the war that was in front of him.
Jimmy Cross can be perceived as a
representation of Jesus Christ- as during war
individuals rely on an individual like the soldiers
relied on Jimmy Cross. They both have the

TEXTUAL EVIDENCE
“Visit sick people, stuff like that. I would’ve
been good at it too. Not the brainy part– not
sermons and all that– but I’d be okay with
the people part.” (121)
“Henry Dobbins is a good man, superb
soldier, but sophistication was not his strong
suit.” (117)
““The thing is I believe in God and all that,
but it wasn’t the religious part that interested
me, just being nice to people, that’s all.
Being decent.”” (120)
"In many ways he was like America itself,
big and strong, full of good intentions, a roll
of fat jiggling at his belly, slow of foot but
always plodding along, always there when
you needed him..." (117)
same initials which can further symbolize this
comparison. Jimmy Cross, like Christ, suffered
so his soldiers could be spared of burden and
emotions due to the war. Cross makes personal
sacrifices for the group (Martha). (Jasmine)
CHARACTERIZATION:HENRY DOBBINS
DISCUSSION & THEMATIC LINKS
CONFLICT
Dobbins' conflict is that he is unable to put aside
his morals and is “full of good intentions”
according to Tim O’Brien. This makes the
pagoda incident a big problem for him. He
believes it is wrong for the soldiers to set up
within the pagoda, because it is an invasion of
the sanctity of innocent vietnamese people but
also an involuntary attack on their religion,
culture, and place of worship (Ruia)
The theme of physical and emotional burdens of
war and motif of guilt are present in chapter 11
as Dobbins feels extreme guilt for invading the
place of worship. Dobbins expresses his opinion
that their presence in pogoda is “wrong”. Not
only is it an attack on a religion and culture of
innocent people but the
repercussions/representation of soldiers who
have killed in a symbol of peace and purity.
We also see this conflict arise when Henry was
accompanied by Sanders when they saw the
body of a dead young Vietnamese boy. Henry
struggled to get over the fact that there was no
valid reason to kill an innocent child. He
becomes very angered by this event.
LINKS TO ODLID:
SIMILARITIES & DIFFERENCES
Alyosha and Henry Dobbins: both have a
motivation to help others and also they are
both respectful. Alyosha, helps people within
the camp and does favors for them with
nothing in return. Dobbins believes that all
anyone can do is be nice. He on multiple
occasions shows respect to the Vietnamese
civilians and their culture. In both cases this is
presented as unhelpful or a weakness as it
doesn’t help them survive any better in the
oppressive times. Shukhov states that
Alyosha is too nice and people take
advantage of him. Dobbins is seen as a
weakness for the Americans as he is unable
to view the Vietnamese as his enemy
impacting his performance in the war. Both
their qualities which are usually positive have
been classed as negative in their situations
(Ruia).
However they differ as Alyosha is very
religious while Dobbins is not. Dobbins in the
chapter church tells Kiowa that he believes in
god but it isn’t the religious part that interests
him but being nice to people. Alyosha on the
other hand is extremely motivated by his belief

"...he sometimes slept with the stockings up
against his face, the way an infant sleeps
with a flannel blanket, secure and
peaceful...They kept him safe. They gave
him access to a spiritual world, where things
were soft and intimate, a place where he
might someday take his girlfriend to live." (
118)
"...his girlfriend dumped him. It was a hard
blow...he took out the stockings and tied
them around his neck as a comforter. 'No
sweat,' he said. ' The magic doesn't go
away.' " (118)
“”The thing is I believe in God and all that,
but it wasn’t the religious part that interested
me, just being nice to people, that’s all.
Being decent.””
“"That night, after we'd marched away from
in god for the religion. Dobbins places belif in
the stockings to protect him while it is just a
superstition.
The similarity that can be drawn between the
two is they both use some kind of belief to
motivate them to survive. For Alyosha that's
god and for Dobbins one of his motivations
lies with how the stockings will protect him.
MOTIVATION
Dobbins is the platoon’s gunman, so he has a
lot of people relying on him, (friends,family,
fellow comrades/soldiers,) this keeps him
motivated to keep going in the oppressive times
of the war. Also before he and his girlfriend Lucy
broke up, he carried her pantihose around to
remind him that she was awaiting his return. He
tied them around his neck after they broke up
claiming it was a good luck charm (saved him
from landmine and also other numerous
events). The stockings provide him with a
coping method for dealing with the traumatic
events of the war and also serves as a
motivation to keep fighting as the stockings will
protect him.
ACTIONS
Dobbins is portrayed as a kind-hearted and
the smoking village, Azar mocked the girl's
dancing. He did funny jumps and spins. He
put the palms of his hands against his ears
and danced sideways for a while, and then
backwards, and then did an erotic thing with
his hips. But Henry Dobbins, who moved
gracefully for such a big man, took Azar
from behind and lifted him up high and
carried him over to a deep well and asked if
he wanted to be dumped in. Azar said no.
'All right, then,' Henry Dobbins said, 'dance
right.'” (136)
“Henry Dobbins made the washing motion
with his hands. “You’re right,” he said. “All
you can do is be nice. Treat them decent,
you know?’”. (123)
““Soldier Jesus”, they’d say, “Soldier
Jesus”.” (120)
"That night, after we'd marched away
from the smoking village, Azar mocked
the girl's dancing. He did funny jumps
and spins. He put the palms of his
hands against his ears and danced
sideways for a while, and then
backwards, and then did an erotic thing
thoughtful individual, which is shown as tells
Azar off for mocking the young Vietnamese girls
dancing in response to her family’s death so
impactful in “style”.
Dobbins on multiple occasions defended the
innocent Vietnamese civilians such as coming to
this girl's defense. He changes his character
from kind-hearted to threatening violence
showing us how much he values his morals that
everyone deserves to be treated with
compassion. His actions prove that he remains
respectful to the innocent Vietnamese
populations’ culture, religion and way of life as a
whole in TTTC.
Azar and Dobbins’ approaches to the little girl’s
dancing in “Style” act as binary opposites, one
of savagery and civility. Azar mocks the young
girl and makes fun of her way of grieving,
remaining insensitive and ignorant to the
innocent Vietnamese and their way of life, and,
as a soldier, viewing himself as above them, that
they are the savages. He views them as the
savages, while Dobbins’, despite also being an
American soldier, remains respectful of their
way of life. (Ruia)
CHARACTER RELATIONSHIPS
Azar and Dobbins are FOIL characters and
have very contrasting traits especially when it
comes to morality. They have very different
approaches to the girl’s dancing style (evidence
for Binary opposite of savagery and
civility).Dobbins feels that he has a right to
lecture Azar. Azar mocks the girl making fun of
the way in which she is grieving. He views
with his hips. But Henry Dobbins, who
moved gracefully for such a big man,
took Azar from behind and lifted him up
high and carried him over to a deep well
and asked if he wanted to be dumped
in. Azar said no. 'All right, then,' Henry
Dobbins said, 'dance right.'” (136)
"...his girlfriend dumped him. It was a
hard blow...he took out the stockings
and tied them around his neck as a
comforter. 'No sweat,' he said. ' The
magic doesn't go away.' " (118)
“Henry Dobbins made the washing
motion with his hands. “You’re right,” he
said. “All you can do is be nice. Treat
them decent, you know?’”. (123)
“”The magic doesn’t go away”” (118)
TEXTUAL EVIDENCE
himself as superior as if the innoven
Vietnamese were savages. contrastingly,
despite also being an american soldier Dobbins
remains respectful (Ruia). This also represents
the binary opposites of humanity vs inhumanity
because Henry was showing humanity by being
considerate of all that the young girl had gone
through whereas Azar was being inhuman by
immaturely imitating her dance. Azar has lost
his morals while Dobbins is driven by his
morals.
We also see the relationship between Dobbins
and his ex-girlfriend explored. Although she had
broken up with him, Dobbins still holds a lot of
love for her. This is depicted as he carries her
stockings as he views them as a good luck
charm bringing him comfort in times of distress.
His cherashing of their relationship shows us
that he is respectful and a forgiving person.
Most importantly it shows us that he is
OTHER SIGNIFICANT ASPECTS
The presence of the stockings as a whole,
whether they be considered from his girlfriend or
not, symbolize a life elsewhere, outside of the
war, a life beyond war that Dobbins hopes to
return to.
CHARACTERIZATION: BOB “RAT”KILEY
DISCUSSION & THEMATIC LINKS LINKS TO ODLID:
SIMILARITIES & DIFFERENCES
 CONFLICT

“For Rat Kiley, I think, facts were formed
by sensation, not the other way around,
and when you listened to one of his
stories, you'd find yourself performing
rapid calculations in your head,
subtracting superlatives, figuring the
square root of an absolute and then
multiplying by maybe."
“Rat Kiley goes crazy and sees
everyone as bundles of organs, so he
shoots his own foot to leave the war.”
Rat’s main conflict is he struggles mentally in
the war conditions. As he is a medic, he has to
tend to all the injuries and death of the fellow
comrades. This causes psychological and
mental health issues for him. This can be seen
after Mary Anne disappears, he decides to
shoot himself in the foot as he couldn’t handle
the new conditions the company was put under.
He slowly becomes more desensitized and
disconnected from the company (Lucas).
Another conflict for Rat is the deal of his friend
Curt lemon. He really struggles mentally with to
process this and continue without him.
Rat and Shukhov: very different in terms of
their mentality. Rat tries to get out of his
physical location by any means. Shukhov
adapts to his surroundings and gets stuck in.
Rat and Alyosha: They both try to escape to
a better place mentally. Alyosha does this
through his bible and Rat does this through his
stories Both also show a lot of empathy as
Rat feels guilt about the hurt that others feel
while Alyosha often does favors for others with
nothing in return. However, Rat is more
unstable since he is young and hasn’t found
stability like Alyosha has.

MOTIVATION

Rats biggest motivation is to survive the war

with the same values that he held before. This
however is very difficult due to the conflicts
mentioned above. We see that Rat loses a lot
of his motivation when Curt lemon dies, and
shoots himself in the foot as it all becomes too
much for him to handle. His motivation to
survive is lost and his motivation to maintain his
identity.

ACTIONS

"He said he'd done his best. He'd tried to be
a decent medic. Win some and lose some,
he said, but he'd tried hard."
“The whole platoon stood there watching,
feeling all kinds of things, but there wasn’t a
great deal of pity for the baby water buffalo.”
The biggest and most memorable action taken
by Rat is when he shoots himself in the foot
inorder to leave the war and return back to
medical camp.
Trauma is one big factor that seems to always
influence his actions, this can be seen through

“Rat pours his heart out. He says he loved
this guy. He says this guy was his best
friend. They were like soul mates, he says,
like twins or something, they had a whole lot
in common.”
“He’s nineteen years old -it’s too much for
him- so he looks at you with those big sad
gentle killer eyes and says cooze.”
TEXTUAL EVIDENCE
''I'll tell you the straight truth,'' he says. ''The
guy was dead the second he stepped on the
trail. Understand me? We all had him
zeroed.''
the trauma that he experienced as a result of
the amount of dead people he witnessed. Then
we can see that the trauma he experienced after
Curt lemon led him to shoot himself in the foot to
escape the war and more trauma. He also
decides to inflict pain on others (water buffalo).
Rat doesn’t kill the water buffalo however he
does shoot it many times when it rejects his
food. He creates trauma to escape his trauma
which is ironic.
CHARACTER RELATIONSHIPS
Rat's most significant relationship is the one he
had with Curt Lemon. They were best friends in
the company and when he died it had a major
effect on Rat’s well being. This connects to the
theme the importance of friendship in war as
when Rat loses his friend, he sort of loses a part
of his identity.
OTHER SIGNIFICANT ASPECTS
Rat is very young and is super susceptible to
being influenced and experiencing strong
emotions. He makes more immature actions.
CHARACTERIZATION:KIOWA
DISCUSSION & THEMATIC LINKS LINKS TO ODLID:
SIMILARITIES & DIFFERENCES
CONFLICT
Kiowa's biggest struggle was how to salvage his Kiowa and Alyosha: Both devoted baptists and
identity as an ordinary man while in war. He is use their faith as a motivation to survive and
very afraid the damage war would have on his coping method(Alyosha the gulag while Kiowa
heritage. Kiowa experienced his difficulties as the war). Both use it as a lifeline. The
he would refer back to the new testament using religiousness/faith in both of these characters
"It's bad news," Kiowa said. "You don't mess
with churches." (Page 76)
O’Brien states, “Kiowa, a devout Baptist,
carried an illustrated New Testament that
had been presented to him by his father,
who taught Sunday school in Oklahoma
City, Oklahoma.” (Page 2)
"Not a minister, but I do like churches.
The way it feels inside. It feels good
when you just sit there like you're in a
forest and everything's really quiet,
except there's still this sound you can't
hear." ( Page 116)
“He wanted to say more, just to lighten
up his sleep, but instead he opened his
New Testament and arranged it beneath
his head as a pillow. The fog made
things seem hollow and unattached. He
tried not to think about Ted Lavender..”
(page 12)
Kiowa always took along his New
Testament and a pair of moccasins for
religion to comfort himself. Trying to balance the allow them to stay hopeful, rather than sink
more peaceful side of his character to be a good into a depressive or dehumanized state. They
soldier (linking to the binary opposite of also both have a positive impact on the people
humanity vs inhumanity). This is shown through around them as a result, as they are very
how he continues to be respectful to the citizens helpful and comfort the other characters.
in Vietnam while also trying to be an American
soldier. As a soldier he is encouraged to lose
emotional/humanity and think less about the
people he is hurting. However as his character
is very empathetic and gentle he really struggles
with this adaptation. He tries to make O’Brien
feel better about having killed the Vietnamese
soldier. He tells him that he would have died
either way and that it wasn’t O’briens fault. Even
though this isn’t exactly true O’Brien feels
slightly better after having spoken to him.
MOTIVATION
Kiowa’s motivation is to remain connected
with his faith and identity while also
surviving through the war. He carries the
New Testament to motivate him to stay
connected with his Christian roots and
carries his grandfather's hunting hatchet not
only to be used as a weapon but also as a
way to stay connected to his home/family.
Religion brought him comfort during the war
but also motivated him to continue to
survive. He hoped he would one day be
able to return home- which motivated him to
survive.
silence.” (Page 6)

O’Brien states, “Kiowa, a devout Baptist,

carried an illustrated New Testament that
had been presented to him by his father,
who taught Sunday school in Oklahoma
City, Oklahoma.” (Page 2)

ACTIONS

“'Kiowa, a devout Baptist, carried an
illustrated New Testament that had been
presented to him by his father, who taught
Sunday school in Oklahoma City,
Oklahoma. As a hedge against bad times,
however, Kiowa also carried his
grandmother's distrust of the white man, his
grandfather's old hunting hatchet.”
"One thing for sure, he said. "The
lieutenant's in some deep hurt. I mean that
crying jag-the way he was carrying on-it
wasn't fake or anything, it was real heavy
duty hurt. The man cares" (O'brien 17).
Kiowa states, "I'll tell you the truth, the guy
was dead the second he stepped on the
trail. Understand me? We all had him
zeroed."(123)
One of the most important moments in the story
is when Kiowa comforts O’Brien when he has
killed the North Vietnamese soldier. He tells him
that he would have died anyway, which brought
a lot of comfort to O’Brien.
He also was there to support and comfort many
of the comrades helping connect them to their
humanity to avoid physiological effects of the
war. He does this through his conversations with
them. He also argues with the other soldiers
about combining war with the church.
He chooses to carry his New Testament, his
grandfather's hatchet, and moccasins (that help
him move through the jungle quietly and without
being noticed).

O’Brien states, “Lying there, Kiowa admired

Lieutenant Jimmy Cross's capacity for grief.
He wanted to share the man's pain, he
wanted to care as Jimmy Cross carried…”
(page 12)

Kiowa made a noise in his throat. "This is all

wrong," he said. "Setting up here. It's wrong.
I don't care what, it's still a church." (Page
79).
''I'll tell you the straight truth,'' he says.
''The guy was dead the second he
stepped on the trail. Understand me?
We all had him zeroed.''
“I’d gone under with Kowa, and now
acter two decades I’d finally worked my
way out”
“'Kiowa had been a splendid human
being, the very best, intelligent and
gentle and quiet-spoken.”
O’Brien states, “Lying there, Kiowa
admired Lieutenant Jimmy Cross's
capacity for grief. He wanted to share
the man's pain, he wanted to care as
Jimmy Cross carred…” (page 12)
O’Brien states, ”It wasn't right. Kiowa
had been a fine soldier and a fine
human being, a devout Baptist, and
there was no way Lieutenant Cross
would allow such a good man to be lost
under the slime of a shit field.” (Page
103).
TEXTUAL EVIDENCE
CHARACTER RELATIONSHIPS
Kiowa is described as O’Brien’s best friend
during the war. He also supports the other men
in the alpha company but is not afraid to tell
them what they need to hear (in an aim to
reduce their violence). He was there for O’Brien
when he killed the Vietnamese soldier and help
him process his dealth and make him feel better.
He argues with his comrades about setting the
new camps near the monks' church.
He also shows respect to the people of Vietnam;
he has a sense of gentleness about him.
He was well liked by all the soldiers as even
Norman Bowker tried to save him (tried to pull
his boat out as he was drowning)- he panicked
and fled but this experience stayed with Bowker.
OTHER SIGNIFICANT ASPECTS
Kiowa’s death represents the collateral
damage of war- even good and kind people
like Kiowa died.
CHARACTERIZATION: MITCHELL SANDERS
DISCUSSION & THEMATIC LINKS LINKS TO ODLID:

Quote 1: “The moral’s pretty obvious,
Sanders said and winked. Stay away
from drugs. No joke, they'll ruin your day
every time.”
Quote 2: "You know. Moral" while
"[wrapping a] thumb in toilet paper and
[handing] it across to Norman Bowker"
(O'Brien 13).
CONFLICT
Mitchell Sanders biggest conflict is he
struggles with trying to capture the truth of
a war story in his own writing. He spends a
majority of the time trying to figure out what
is true for just the story and what is true in
reality. He's always trying to figure out what
the moral is, whether that be a story or an
event that has happened to the soldiers.
This can especially be seen when Sander
tries to uncover the moral for Ted
Lavender's death as he stepped on a land
mine a few minutes after taking
tranquilizers. Sander says the moral of
Lavender’s death is to stay off drugs (this
can be seen in quote 1). Although his moral
here is made as a joke, it still proves that
he's constantly trying to find the moral of a
situation. His morals illustrate how difficult a
moral is in a war story. He is obsessed with
this idea of truth and spends his portion of
the story trying to uncover what truth really
means much like Tim O’Brien. He looks for
meaning in the events around him. Michelle
Sanders puts a big emphasis on being
morally correct but he often contradicts this
idea due to the trauma he is facing (as seen
in the second quote). He constantly
struggles with this conflict of what he
believes is morally correct and also his
actions. This can be seen through the story
of the dead Vietnamese boy as he sees the
moral of the story however he still acts
SIMILARITIES & DIFFERENCES
Alyosha is one character which has a similar
relationship to Ivan as O’Brien has to Sanders.
Alyosha is also someone who was trusted
immensely by Ivan and someone who he
respects. This is much like how O’Brien
respects Sanders and his opinion as he goes
to him for help/his opinion on a situation on
many occasions. Alyosha is also a character
who looks to help everyone else much like
how Sanders helps his fellow soldiers.
Tyurin in ODLIT is also viewed much like a
father figure to many of the prisoners similarly
how Sanders is viewed to many of the
Soldiers. Tyurin is strict but also noble who is
not afraid to give his honest opinions much
like Tyurin. His opinion is well respected like
Sanders' opinion is to the other soldiers.
Tyurin is not afraid to stand up to the Der,
much like how Sanders is not afraid to stand
up to Luttendent Cross. The difference
between the two is Tyurin is officially a leader
while Sanders is not officially the luttendent or
commander.
Fetyukov is quite the opposite of Sanders as
he has a lack of dignity and moral value.
Sanders puts a big emphasis on morals and
being a good person.
Kilgas is similar to Sanders in the sense that
they are both jokers and comedians trying to
lighten up the mood for the people around
them. They are both also very smart and
respected despite telling jokes a lot of the
 savagely. In Vietnam he struggles to stick to
his morals but rather seems to be saving
them for later use.
time.
Pavlo is also a character similar to Sanders as
he is very moral and honorable. They are both
not afraid to boss people around and make
the others work harder. They are not afraid to
stand up to people of higher authority such as
Pavlo stands up to the Der and Sanders
stands up to his luttendent and also O’Brien.

MOTIVATION

"'This next part...you won't believe...You
won't, And you know why?'...'Because it
happened. Because every word is
absolutely dead-on true.'" (O'Brien
73-74).
Much like his conflict, Sanders' biggest
motivation is to tell stories in an effort to be
heard and he continues to offer morals as a
way to make sense of the war. He’s
constantly trying to uncover the real
meaning of actions and determine the
reasons things happen during the war. His
biggest motivation is to try and depict the
truth through his stories (seen in quote).
However, this is kind of contradicted later
on in the story when he tells O’Brien that
some of the story was made up. Through
the Quote he meant that the way he
explained his story was the closest to the
truth he could get. He needed to make
some things up so he could get the
audience to feel the same emotions that he
felt allowing him to tell his stories so well.
Through his stories, we can see that
Sanders' biggest motivation is to make
sense of the War.

ACTIONS
 Quote 1 : "'People change. Situations
change. I hate to say this, man, but your
out of touch. Jorgenson-he's with us
now'" (O'Brien 197)
Quote 2: “After he died, "For a while
nobody said much. Then Mitchell
Sanders laughed and looked over at the
green plastic poncho. 'Hey, Lavender,'
he said, 'how's the war today?'" (O'Brien
231).
Quote 3: "He took off his boots and
socks, laid out his medical kit, doped
himself up, and put a round through his
foot. Nobody blamed him, Sanders
said." (page 223)
One of the most important actions Sanders
makes during the story is intervening when
O’Brien has his conflict with Jorgenson.
Jorgenson, who was a new medic, had frozen
during Combat and which ultimately led to
O’Brien almost dying due to a wound and going
into shock. Due to this O’Brien grew a grudge
against Jorgenson and plans revenge on him
but Sanders intervenes. He explains to O’Brien
that Jorgenson has gained experience and
became a trusted member of the Alpha
company. Sanders is disgusted by O'briens
inability to forgive and gives him the cold
shoulder. By showing support for Jorgenson he
stops Jorgenson from being an outcast and is
able to forgive him for his mistakes. Without
Sanders saying this to O’Brien Jorgensons
would have most likely been outcast by the
group.
Mitchell Sanders many times throughout the
story tries to bring comfort to the other soldiers.
He tries to make uncomfortable situations more
bearable for the people around him. Right after
Ted Lavender's death he says something to him
(quote 2).
Although this comment seems a bit ridiculous, it
was an effort to try and comfort the rest of the
group. He starts this whole thing where the men
pretend to be Lavender allowing them to stop
thinking about the fact that they have just lost
someone close to them. Sander helps the
people around him through many situations
such as this one.
Another important action made by Sanders is
when he proves he is a loyal friend. This can be
seen when he supports Rat Kiley’s decision to
escape vietnam by shooting himself (quote 3).

Quote 1: "At one point... Mitchell
Sanders turned and looked at me, not
quite nodding, as if to warn me about
something, as if he already knew, then
after a while he rolled up his yo-yo and
moved away" (O'Brien 70).
This shows us why the other soldiers trust him
and consider him such a good friend as he
always supported them.
CHARACTER RELATIONSHIPS
As mentioned before, Sanders is well respected
and also appreciated by the other members of
the platoon. He is able to be a friend to many of
the other members such as O’Brien. This can be
seen in quote 1, showing how supportive and
understanding Sanders was. He was able to
provide a lot of comfort to O’Brien even without
saying anything. However he was never afraid
to tell the other soldiers when he thought they
were wrong (such as O’Brien with Jorgenson
and also when He believes Luttendent Cross is
to blame for Kiowa’s death).
Mitchell Sanders many times throughout the
story tries to bring comfort to the other soldiers.
He tries to make uncomfortable situations more
bearable for the people around him. Right after
Ted Lavender's death he says something to him.
It was an effort to try and comfort the rest of the
group. He starts this whole thing where the men
pretend to be Lavender allowing them to stop
thinking about the fact that they have just lost
someone close to them. Sander helps the
people around him through many situations
such as this one.
Another important action made by Sanders is
when he proves he is a loyal friend. This can be
seen when he supports Rat Kiley’s decision to
escape vietnam by shooting himself. This shows
us why the other soldiers trust him and consider
him such a good friend as he always supported

Quote 1: "a set of starched tiger
fatigues for special occasions" (O'Brien
14).
Quote 2: "'The rock-it's talking. And the
fog, too, and the grass and the
goddamn mongooses. Everything
talks...The whole country. Vietnam. The
place talks. It talks....Nam-it truly talks.'"
(O'Brien 74).
them.
OTHER SIGNIFICANT ASPECTS
One very significant aspect of Sanders'
personality is his sense of justice. This is
displayed when Cross leads the troops into the
sewage field and ultimately the place where
Kiowa dies. Sanders doesn’t forgive Cross as
he believes he should have known better.
Sanders Yo-yo symbolizes the tensions the
group is under. It represents the balance and
back-and-forth the company strikes by
constantly joking throughout the seriousness of
the war. The starched fatigue and condoms
which he carries represent the respectable and
optimistic side of sanders. It also represents the
more childish side to him. By carrying around
Condoms it could mean that he’s still holding on
to his previous life back home when he had time
for women. It also insinuates he believes he will
have time to spend with Women in Vietnam.
The radio provides the Alpha company a way to
stay in touch with the outside world. The fact
that Sanders carries the radio is very fitting for
his character as his ability to communicate and
describe the intangible effects of war brings the
whole group together.
Sanders is very able to connect with the
environment just like he does with people. For
example (quote 2) Sanders is mentioning how
he can figuratively and literally hear Vietnam
talk. He can hear sounds that the jungle around
him makes but he can also feel what Vietnam is
feeling. He can hear the pain that it is going
through and how the people just want the
conflict to be over. Unlike many of the other
soldiers, he is not going crazy but rather
 becomes much more connected with the
environment around him.

NOTES ON OTHER CHARACTERS

TEXTUAL EVIDENCE DISCUSSION & THEMATIC LINKS LINKS TO ODLID:
SIMILARITIES & DIFFERENCES

ELROY BERDAHL

Elroy is an American civilian, who offers shelter, He reminds me very much of Alyoshka
food and advice to Tim when he tries to run
away from the draft. He doesn’t specifically say
if he should or should not go to Canada but
provides him with many opportunities.

Elroy shows us that Americans were uncertain if

they really wanted to go to war or not. He also
reminds us what a hero can be as he wasn’t
overpowering yet still provided support and
allowed Tim to make his choice while still
supporting him.

MARY ANN BELL

“Once or twice, gently, Mark Fossie
suggested that it might be time to think
about heading home, but Mary Anne
laughed and told him to forget it. "Everything
I want," she said, "is right here." She
stroked his arm, and then kissed him.”
“Not necessarily three kids, she'd say. Not
necessarily a house on Lake Erie. "Naturally
we'll still get married," she'd tell him, "but it
doesn't have to be right away. Maybe travel
first. Maybe live together. Just test it out,
you know?"
Seventeen year old, she goes to Vietnam to visit
her boyfriend Mark Fossie. She’s blond and very
attractive but most of the soldiers liked her as
she had a very open and vibrant personality
(plays volleyball with them). She asks a lot of
questions.
She falls in love with Vietnam which offers a
very different perspective on the place than
many of the other characters. She even says it's
all “she’s ever wanted”. She changes as a result
of the war showing us the collateral damage of
war even on a visitor's personality. She
Mary Anne Bell and prisoners in ODLIT as
they both had to adapt to the rules and
change themselves. This is shown in ODLIT
as “At five o'clock that morning reveille was
sounded, as usual, by the blows of a hammer
on a length of rail hanging up near the staff
quarters.”. Mary had to change her physical
attributes so she could survive in the
environment and work better.
Mary actually liked the scenery of Vietnam
(she fell in love with it- the people, weather,
way of life). everything that came with it, the

“Rat smiled. "Ambush. All night long, man,
Mary Anne's out on fuckin' ambush."”
“Fossie took a half step forward and
hesitated. It was as though he had trouble
recognizing her. She wore a bush hat and
filthy green fatigues; she carried the
standard M-16 automatic assault rifle; her
face was black with charcoal.”
“What happened between them, Rat said,
nobody ever knew for sure. But in the mess
hall that evening it was clear that an
accommodation had been reached. Or more
likely, he said, it was a case of setting down
some new rules. Mary Anne's hair was
freshly shampooed. She wore a white
blouse, a navy blue skirt, a pair of plain
black flats”
becomes unrecognizable. She stopped wearing people, the weather, the way of life. This is like
makeup, putting jewelry on and also cut her hair Alyoshka as he is able to find the positives
short to make it more comfortable for her to and enjoy the gulag when many others. Due
move around. This creates a lot of arguments to this Mary Anne differs from many of the
between her and her boyfriend. She starts to act prisoners as they don’t enjoy the location they
very differnely and change her personality as a are in. (Jorge)
result of this experience.
Mary Anne Bell visits the village located at the
foot of the hill. While there she looked very
comfortable even though it was nothing which
she was used to back in the US.
She helps the soldiers with the casualties -
useful and also learned how to heal war
wounds.
Mary Anne Bell very good relationship with the
soldiers but especially Rat as she used to dance
from his portable tape deck.

Mary Anne Bell even goes out with the greenies

“She was curious about things. one night.
During her first days in-country she
liked to roam around the compound
asking questions: What exactly was
a trip flare? How did a Claymore
work? What was behind those scary
green mountains to the west?”

“At the end of the second week,

when four casualties came in, Mary
Anne wasn't afraid to get her hands
bloody. At times, in fact, she seemed
fascinated by it.

CURT LEMON
“He had an opinion of himself,I think,that
was too high for his own good. Or maybe it
was the reverse.Maybe it was a low opinion
that he kept trying to erase”(83)
He kept replaying his own exploits, tacking
on little flourishes that never happened” (83)
Rat and Curt play a self-invented
game with smoke grenades and
whoever quits playing out of fear will
be called a “yellow mother”. If no one
quits, the grenade will “make a
light,popping sound” and they’ll start
laughing and dancing and play the
game again.
“He(Curt) had the tendency to play
the tough soldier role,always
posturing , always puffing himself
up”(83)
“(The dentist) yanked out a perfectly
good front tooth.There was some
pain,no doubt, but in the morning
Curt Lemon was all smiles”(84)
Curt Lemon is a soldier of the Alpha company.
He is quite brave and takes on the dangerous
assignments that many soldiers would not jump
at. He has a good sense of humor and tries to
enjoy his life even in war.
However he is very proud, so when he faints at
the dentist he gets a healthy tooth extracted to
boost his morale.
O’Brien thinks Curts actions are dictated by his
desire to be liked and prove himself to be a
good soldier. Curt dies by stepping on a booby
trap while playing a game with Rat Kiley.
Curt Lemon’s and Tiurin’s: Both try to
make life easier for their companions
risking themselves- Tiurin by bribing
senior officials or manipulating the
work report, which are forms of taking
risks. Curt Lemon volunteers to do
risky assignments like searching a
region to locate enemies or going on
night patrols.
Curt Lemon and Shukov: Shukov
helps the other members of the squad
with the expectation of something in
return. For example, he receives
parcels for Tsezar by standing in the
queue, offers to guard Tsezar’s
belongings and carries the extra bowl
of food to deliver to Tsezar in the office
because he wishes to have a puff of
Tsezar’s cigarette or have a small
portion of Tsezar’s home food.
Similarly, Curt Lemon takes up risky
assignments and does eccentric acts
like going to the village weirdly
dressed on Halloween or going for
fishing with a “whole damn crate of
hand grenades” because he wants to
be perceived as the brave soldier by
everyone. Both these characters’
actions are dictated by some ulterior
motive. (Mayuk)
Curt Lemon and Alyosha’s: very
different. Alyosha’s faith in God makes

“Ted Lavender, who was scared, carried
tranquilizers until he was shot in the
head outside the village of Than Khe in
mid-April” (page 2).
Until he was shot, Ted Lavender carried
6 or 7 ounces of premium dope, which
for him was a necessity.” (page 3)
“But Ted lavender, who was scared,
carried 34 rounds when he was shot
and killed outside Than Khe, and he
went down under an exceptional
burden, more than 20 pounds of
ammunition, plus the flake jacket and
helmet and rations and water and toilet
paper and tranquilizers and all the rest,
plus the unweighted fear. He was dead
weight.” (page 6)
“ Like when Ted Lavender went too
heavy on the tranquilizers. “How’s the
war today?” somebody would say, and
Ted Lavender would give a soft, spacey
smile and say, “Mellow, man. We got
TED LAVENDER
Ted Lavender is a young and scared soldier in
the Alpha company, he is the most scared of
death and is the first to die. He is very anxious
and relies on tranquilizers to suppress his fear
and coap with the situation he is in. He
represents the fear and anxiety that many
soldiers felt during the war.
him do things honestly without any
expectation while Curt’s activities are
always associated with some
expectation. Alyosha has learnt to
accept the extremely harsh prison
sentence as God’s will ,whereas Curt
finds it difficult to accept that he
fainted in the dentist’s tent .
Ted lavender and Fetyukov: Both Lavender
and Fetyukov rely on drugs to deal with their
situations (Lavender uses tranquilizers and
dope while Fetyukov uses cigarettes).
Fetyukov lacks dignity and begs for extra
food/cigarets. Lavender is considered to be
dead weight due to his fear. Lavender and
Fetyukov are both not suited for the situations
that they are placed in.Both characters try to
keep extra supplies and food on them.
However they differ as Fetyukov seems to
hoard what he can for the sake of hoarding
whereas Lavender keeps extra supplies as a
means for survival.
 ourselves a nice mellow war today.”
page 33)
“At one point, I remember, we paused
over a snapshot of Ted Lavender, and
after a while Jimmy rubbed his eyes and
said he’d never forgive himself for
Lavender’s death.” (page 33)
“Man, talk about irony. I bet if Kiowa was
here, I bet he’d just laugh. Eating shit 𑁋 it’s
your classic irony. Wasted in the waste. A
shit field…Biting the dirt” (Azar, 165)
"You know something? Out here, at
night, I almost feel like a kid again. The
Vietnam experience. I mean, wow, I
love this shit" (Azar, 212)
“What’s everybody so upset about? I
mean, Christ, I’m just a boy” (Azar, 37)
(after he flows up Ted lavanders puppy)
“But Henry Dobbins…Took Azar from
behind and lifted him up high and carried
him over to a deep well and asked if he
wanted to be dumped in.” Azar said no. “All
right, then, dance right.””
“I had to get Azar on it. He didn’t have
Mitchell Sanders’s intelligence, but he
had a keener sense of justice. After I
explained the plan, Azar gave me a long
AZAR
Azar is a minor character in the novel and is a
teenage member of the Alpha Company who is
not very liked by most of the soldiers. He is
noted as cruel when he kills Ted Lavender's
puppy and when he makes fun of the
Vietnamese girl. However, some of his humanity
is shown when he helps get Kiowa’s body out of
the mud.
Azar makes all these jokes about Kiowa’s body
being buried in the mud. However, later in the
novel, he feels regret and guilt for making all
those jokes. This shows how Azar tries to act
carelessly so that others perceive him as strong,
but in reality he is facing an internal conflict with
himself, as he feels stressed, scared…as a
consequence of war.
His exchange with O’Brien and helping him plan
revenge on Jorgenson further shows his cruelty.
Azar and Fetiukov: Both are not very much
liked by the other characters as a result of
their actions. Azar is a cruel who acts
inhumanly and Fetiukov begs for food and
cigarettes, which make the other characters in
the novels dislike them. However in Azar is
case he is able to gain respect by doing cruel
things as he is perceived as strong and
careless but Fetiukov does not. Fetiukov does
what he does to look out for himself and
doesn’t harm anyone, however, Azar’s actions
do harm many people, both physically and
mentally.
Azar and Pavlo are contrasting characters.
Pavlo is a young man who is known for being
very nice, kind and honorable. He looks for
fairness and is very moral. This contrasts with
Azar, who although is also a young man, he is
very immature and cruel and doesn’t know
what is morally correct and what isn’t.
white smile.” (O’Brien, 201)
“ To make it worse, he bungled the
patch job, and a couple of weeks later
my ass started to rot away. You could
actually peel off chunks of skin with your
fingernail.” P121
“Jorgenson's lip twitched. "No, I botched it.
Period. Got all frozen up, I guess. The noise
and shooting and everything—my first
firefight—I just couldn't handle it ... When I
heard about the shock, the gangrene, I felt
like ... I felt miserable. Nightmares, too. I
kept seeing you lying out there, heard you
screaming, but it was like my legs were
filled up with sand, they didn't work. I'd
keep” P127
“At the same time, however, she seemed a
bit puzzled. The war was as remote to her
as cavemen and dinosaurs.” pg 183
“She pulled her hand away and frowned at
me. “Like coming over here. Some dumb
thing happens a long time ago and you can’t
ever forget it.” pg 183
“‘This whole war,’ she said, ‘why was
everybody so mad at everybody else?’”
pg 183
BOBBY JORGENSON
Jorgenson is the replacement medic for rat kiley.
He fails to create O’Brien properly almost
leading to his death. O’Brien does not trust him
and feels jealous of him as during the time that
O’Brien was wounded Jorgenson was able to
make friendships and connections with the other
soldiers.
Important to note his RS with Sanders and
O’Brien which has been talked about in other
sections.
KATHLEEN
Kathleen is O’Brien’s daughter in the novel (he
doesn’t have a daughter in real life). She is
mentioned in different sections of the book. She
is presented as someone curious as shes
always inquiring about her fathers experiences.
She symbolizes the disconnect of the people
who did and didn’t take part in the war (Megan)
Similarities:
Gopchik and Jorgenson: both characters had
not experienced such brutal conditions until
they were placed in these situations.
Kathleen and Buinovsky: as they both
question the injustices and in their opinion
incorrect things. Buinovsky questions the
authorities about their cruel policy limiting the
amount of garments worn at a time in the
freezing cold weather of the Siberian tundra.
However, Kathleen’s curiosity is met with
eager answers from her father, whereas in
ODLID, Buinovsky is shut down and punished
for speaking out against his leaders.
 “Kathleen sighed. ‘Well, I don’t get it. I
mean, how come you were even here in
the first place?’ ‘I don't know,’ I said.
‘Because I had to be.’ ‘But why?’” pg
183

“Kathleen had just turned ten, and this

trip was a kind of birthday present,
showing her the world, offering a small
piece of her father’s history.” pg 182

“Daddy, tell the truth,” Kathleen can say,

“did you ever kill anybody?” And I can
say, honestly, “Of course not.” Or I can
say honestly, “Yes.” pg 180

“Behind me, in the jeep, my daughter

Kathleen sat waiting with a government
interpreter… They were already fast
friends.” pg 182

MARK FOSSIE

“Do something,” he whispered. “I
cant just let her go like that.”
“Man, you must be deaf. She’s
already gone.”
“Compromise,” Fossie said. “I’ll put
it this way - we’re officially engaged.
“Mary anne Bell and Mark Fossie had
been sweethearts since grammar
Mark Fossie is an 18 old medic apart of Rob
‘Rat’ Kiley's previous assignment. He is known
in the story for being in love shown by him
bringing Mary Anne to Vietnam. She is his main
motivation for the war.
Fossie and Gopchik: both put in extreme
conditions and havent been hardened by their
respective situations. Fossie hasn't learned
what war can do to a person, even when he
was warned which is what ends up being his
downfall as Mary Anne almost falls in love with
the jungle and out of love with him. Gopchik
doesn't seem to understand the magnitude of
the situation he is in and even though he is a
prisoner he is still sneaky.
 school. From the sixth frade on they
had known for a fact that someday
they would be married, and live in a
fine ginegerbread house near Laje
Erie, and have three healthy
yellow-haired childrne, aand grow
old together, and no doubt die in
each other’s arms and be buried in
the same walnut casket. That was the
plan.”

LINDA

“I remember my mother trying to explain to Linda is Tim O’Briens love interest in grade 4. Linda and Denisovich: Both are able to be
me about brain tumors.” She represents someone who is mysterious but happy and smiley despite their awful
“She died of course, 9 years old, and she is very loved, even after she had brain cancer. conditions. reaction to the aloof and happy
died.” She is very strong and motivated despite her christians.
“It was a brain tumor” situation

“..and the way she always smiled at the

world - always it seemed - as if her face had
been designed that way”