Tim O'Brien, the author of this novel, considered many titles before he settled upon "The Things They Carried." If you had to retitle the text with only a line or phrase from one of the stories in the novel, which line or phrase would you choose?
Defend your choice of a new title by showing the rest of us why this title perfectly captures the themes and tone of the text. Make reference to at least three stories in the text and show how your idea for a title helps reveal the ideas and tones of the stories.
Deadline: Midnight, 8/20/08.
Make at least three references to the text -- and respond to someone else's ideas -- in this entry.
Make sure you punctuate your thoughtful entries correctly.
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If I were to change the title of the book from “The Things They Carried,” I would change it to “Stories Can Save Us. (131)” I chose this title because the book is narrated by Tim O’Brien in which he tells us about incidents experienced by him and other soldiers before and after war. Also, because the stories he writes helped him to distant himself from all the horrible incidents that happened to him and others at war.
There could be many themes that could be derived form this book but the main theme of this book is that writing helps you recover from the worst incidents. I believe that’s the theme because Tim keeps on telling us that writing is like a therapy and if he didn’t write he would have not recovered from the war incidents. He says, “I did not look on my work as therapy, and still don’t. Yet when I received Norman Bowker’s letter, it occurred to me that the act of writing had led me through a swirl of memories that might otherwise have ended in paralysis or worse. (158)” This shows that even though you don’t recognize it, you get treated from a really serious disease by writing. Tim tells us that writing could help you remember the ones that died. He says, “They’re all dead. But in a story, which is a kind of dreaming, the dead sometimes smile and sit up and return to the world. (225)”
The tone of the book is not just one but many. All the tones are included with my new title because Tim’s stories had all kinds of tones and the he uses different tones in every chapter. He’s telling us that writing can do a lot for you such as help you remember the people that died and help you save yourself from the horrible incidents that happen to you. Every chapter had a theme and a tone in this book with a different story that the narrator uses to let out his feelings. The narrator writes, “I want to tell her exactly what happened, or what I remember happening…(131)” He thinks of telling his daughter about what he did in war like if he killed anyone but he thinks that it’s the right thing if he lies to her because probably she’s too young to know the truth. Then he continues to write, “This is why I write keep writing war stories…(131)” So I guess that he feels good writing stories about the war because the war stories don’t really have to be all truth. When Tim writes stories, he tells partial truth and the rest he makes up. He says, “You pin down certain truths. You make up others. You start sometimes with an incident that truly happened, like the night in the shit field, and you carry it forward by inventing incidents that did not in fact occur but that nonetheless help to clarify and explain. (158)”
So, the title “Stories Can Save Us” can be used as an alternative for “The Things They Carried” because Tim writes to separate himself from all the horrible war events. Also, the themes and tones of the book can relate to the new title.
If I were to retitled the book "The things they Carried," I would change it to "During And After The War." The reason that I choose this title because the narrator Tim O'Brien described the experiences him and other soldiers had before and after the war. The word during in the new title reveals the moments and feeling that happened during the war and how it affected the narrator's life and the other soldiers. And the word After in the new title helps to explain the narrator's life after the war by by writing to recover all the traumatic memories that kept re happening in his life. The narrator also said that writing, is like a therapy which had helped him to remembers everyone that have died in war. "Beyond that, though, something about the story had frightened me-I was afraid to speak directly, afraid to remember-and in the end the piece had been ruined by a failure to tell the full and exact truth about our night in the shit field." writing often make him remembers all the things that had happened decades ago and it frightened him while writing story. He was afraid just a new soldier back then, scared of bloods. "I'm forty-three years old, and a writer now, and even still, right here, i keep dreaming Linda alive. And Ted Lavender, too, and Kiowa, and Curt Lemon, and a slim young man I killed, and an old man sprawled beside a pigpen, and several others whose bodies I once lifted and dumped into a truck." (225) This reveals the past and as a forty-three year old writer now, he still dream about all these people, the way they died and every single thing that happened in war. The narrator used different tone in every chapters to reveals his ideas. "When a guy dies, like Curt Lemon, you look away and then look back for a moment and then look away again." (71) this explained him watching one of his friends died and how this moment still brought up to him two decades later. Writing really helps the narrator to recover and to remember the ones that died in war. Most of the time, these horrible memories can occur during and after war, so the title "During And After War" can reveals the tone and idea of the stories.
This is Laura Hernandez.
Another possible title for “The Things They Carried” would be “True War Stories. (pg.78)” The book is all stories before and after the war. They explained the effect of the war by comparing the life of Norman Bowker and Tim O’Brien. A true war story is hard to tell and believe that is way Tim O’Brien explains in the chapter “How to Tell a True War Story. (pg 67)” They are never moral, believable, generalized, and sometimes pointless but they help understand and reveal things later in life; they don’t even have to be true to be true just the way u perceive them. When he writes, “I want you to feel what I felt. I want you to know why story-truth is truer than happening-truth. (pg.179)” It gives an understanding to the reader and even the writer on how they all felt and a deeper meaning without it being half truth or true.
When Tim O’Brien tells the story about the time Rat Kiley, the medic, shot himself in the foot once he had had too much of the war he tells how everything around him was becoming alive. The way he puts it is, “Like the night had its own voice-that hum in your ears-and in the hours after midnight you’d swear you were walking through some kind of soft black protoplasm, Vietnam, the blood and the flesh. (pg.221)” In this story he brings the reader to Vietnam and how the simplest things can drive a man mad when he has seen enough; for example, “ With Rat Kiley, though, it was different. Too many body bags, maybe. Too much gore. (pg.220)” In the story, while the gore stared it all it explains how the silence and stillness escalated his madness.
O’Brien tells how stories save lives. It saved his by making them a outlet to let out and also detach himself from the memories, “…I realize it is Tim trying to save Timmy’s life with a story. (pg.246)”
The theme and tone can vary as do the stories. They can be horrifying theme with a loving tone. They can also be heart-retching story with a cold tone. But either way it will not change the theme or tone of the original story. Both the theme and the tone can be different for some and I agree with Sana idea about the separation of his life from the past. But it can also be that he wants to inform the reader and make them aware of the wars affects. In addition it warns us on how to take certain events.
Hi Laura,
I really liked how you explained your title because sometimes when someone explains something they get carried away... but you did a great job. Also, I like your title because it's true that there never is a real true war story. Most of the times, people fabricate into the real moments by adding false details. Also, I think that both Chung and you are partially right about that the stories happened either before or after the war because there were stories that happened during the war as well. For example, the chapter, "Sweetheart of the Song Tra Bong." In this chapter, the story was about a girl who came to Vietnam to meet her boyfriend but instead she stayed there. This event happened when the war was still going on.
Hi I'm Nancy Catalan,
If i could retitle this book, I would name it "The Young and the Hopeless". These are my 3 references that led me up to this title:
1."I was drafted to fight a war I hated. I was twenty-one years old. Young, yes, & politically naive, but even so the American war in Vietnam seemed to me wrong." (pg40)
2."Right away, Lemon and Rat Kiley started goofing. They didn't understand about the spookiness. They were kids; they just didn't know. (pg 69)
3." ...Jimmy crossed stood very still, afriad to move, yet knowing he had to & then he mumured to himself, "My fault", and he nodded and waded out across the field toward the boy. The young soldier was trying so hard to to cry." (pg 169-170)
The first reference is from the chapter 'On the Rainy River' were he recieves the letter annoucing that he must join the war. This part ties back to my title because as you can see, O'brien uses words such as young & naive to descibe himself. He also states that he was drafted into this war meaning that he did not have a chance of getting away from it. Also in this chapter he tries to escape from this reality thinking there could be hope in which he doesn't have to go and fight a war he doest want too, but He doesn't find a way out and he ends up going. The second reference is decribing a scene in which curt lemon dies because of a stupid game with grenades. As you can see here too, O'Brien uses word such goofing showing childish behavior. He also calls them kids. Emphasizing the young part. Also the way he says 'they just didn't know' gives us that mood of being hopeless because if you are in a war and have no clue on what to do, you are most likely going to end up getting killed. In this part Curt Lemon ends up dieing. The third reference is describing the way jimmy felt when kiowa died. O'Brien once again uses the words young & boy to describe the characters in this book. This third reference gives a hopeless moment because jimmy blames himself on something that he didn't do and he feels the need that someone or something has to take the blame. Also he says at the end of the passgae that jimmy tried not to cry. Which often you associate crying with losing hope of some kind. I like the reference chung tai used of when O'brien is referring to himself as older and flashing back to when he was younger. I noticed when O'brien flashes back, he describes the war as if he understands war better and how he actually learned lessons from it then when he was younger.
Brian Johnson Jr.
If I could title the novel I would change it from "The Things They Carried" to "Hump." This phrase is used in the very first chapter as the narrator explains its meaning. "To carry something meant to 'hump' it"(3). The narrator also goes on to give a metaphorical example. "As when Lieutenant Jimmy Cross humped his love for Martha up the hills and through the swamps. In its intransitive form, to hump meant to walk, walk or to march, but it implied burdens far beyond the intransitive"(3-4). As it is depicted in this example a person doesn't have to necessarily carry a tangible object to hump they can carry an abstract burden within themselves . Carrying burdens is really common in the novel. Jimmy Cross humped his guilt for the death of Ted Lavender. "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 like a stone in his stomach for the rest of the war"(16). Norman Bowker also carried the burden of his own felt uselessness after the war and guilt for Kiowa's death. "I received a long, disjointed letter in which Bowker described the problem of finding a meaningful use for his life after the war"(155). "That night when Kiowa got wasted, I sort of sank down into the sewage with him"(156). Bowker even claims his life because of it all. The narrator also "humps" guilt from the war. This is shown through his vivid description of a man that he "killed" but never actually killed. "His jaw was in his throat, upper lip and teeth were gone, his one eye was shut, his other eye was a star-shaped hole...his neck was open to the spinal cord and the blood there was thick and shiny and it was this wound that had killed him"(124). This vivid description of a man he never killed leads me to believe that the narraror feels guilty for participating in the war. I would change the title to "Hump" because of the more detailed association that comes with it. I do enjoy Nancy's "Young and Hopeless" idea it sounds like the soap opera. It's a pretty catchy title.
If I could change the name of the book, I would change it to " A Story to save their Lives". I would name it this because it seemed as though within this book there is a story behind everybody, even the guy who Tim "killed"(124). Whether the story is true or not nobody will ever know, but the soiljers found comfort within these stories because it took their minds away from the war itself, and eventhough the stories didn't literally save their lives, it did so for that moment.
Hello I’m Blanca Hernandez,
The phrase I would choose from the novel to rename it would be “In the Field” like one of the chapters. This is because everything that O’Brien and his fellow soldiers remember happened “in the field.” I believe it’s a good title because it summarized what the book is about; war and the memories that the soldiers remembered about it. “Turning he looked out across the field and yelled at one of his men to close up the rank.” (Pg. 163) This memory of Lieutenant Jimmy Cross yelling at his men is very typical of war; anyone can easily imagine this as being part of the war and it happened on the field. The tone of Lieutenant Cross’ voice shows the desperation of wanting to close up the ranks. “He was a short, slender young man of about twenty. I was afraid of him - afraid of something – and as he passed me on the trail I threw a grenade that exploded at his feet and killed him.” (Pg. 130) This too happened “In the Field.” “Circling the lake, Norman Bowker remembered how his friend Kiowa had disappeared under the waste and water.” (Pg. 150) This quote talks about the memories Norman Bowker had while he was “in the field.”
I really like Nancy Catalan renaming the novel “The Young and the Hopeless,” but unfortunately I don’t think that was a line or phrase from the novel. Yes, her references and explanations of her title made sense, but her title is not a line from the novel.
I think a possible title for the book could be “The Lives of the Dead.” It is the title of the last chapter. The reason the narrator keeps writing is because his memories help him deal with what happened in Vietnam. “I’m forty-three years old, and a writer now,” is a line that keeps coming back to show us how the narrator can’t forget. If he didn’t write he probably would have been horrified by the deaths and wouldn’t be able to let go and live a normal life. The book brings back to life all those people that died in war. With Linda he would dream that she was alive because that way her death didn’t seem so bad because in his mind she was still alive. The narrator does the same by telling us these stories. He brings to life Kiowa, Ted Lavender, and Curt Lemon. Instead of thinking of them as dead he can remember them when they were alive. I think the title represents what I explained.
If I could change the title of the book “The Things They Carried”, I would have to change it to “A Secret Hero”. I chose A Secret Hero [pg 39] because to me it seemed like there were people through out the book that did things to help others whether they meant to or not. It captures the themes of the book because I feel that a possible theme was that a person always needs someone while preparing for, during, or after war. They need someone to talk to or they just might go crazy. I feel that in the book there were a lot of characters that were secret heroes. Some these characters were Elroy, Rat Kiley, and Kiowa. Elroy was introduced in the story “On the Rainy River”. He is one of the heroes of the book because he was there for Tim when he had no where else to go. He was almost like a father giving him food, shelter, and even money. Rat Kiley is a type of hero because he was like the story teller of the group. He gave people the chance to think about something else other than death. This was done by the old war stories he told. Without Rat everyone would probably bored, there would be no “That’s not true!” or “OMG” moments. The other character that was a hero was Kiowa. He was Tim’s best friend. He was there for him when he needed some one. For example in “The Man I Killed” Kiowa seen how sad Tim was, he wanted to know if he was ok. I like the title that Chung Tai came up with, “During And After War” I feel that it was a very strong title that really showed the ideas of the book.
Hi, this is Tiffany Tsang.
Instead of using the title "The Things They Carried," I would change it to "Impact of War." The reason why I would change the title to "Impact of War" is because it affected a lot of young people. "I was drafted to fight a war I hated. I was twenty-one years old. Young, yes, & politically naive, but even so the American war in Vietnam seemed to me wrong." (pg40) Which, I do agree with Nancy on. Though, most of the people that were at war were not just young adults, there were also older people like generals etc. Though, I also agree with Chung Tai that her reasons are quite affective because it does show soldiers life before war and after. For examples, how Tim O'Brien always recalls memories of peoples' death. He was never like that before the war. With this title that I have created allows you to know that there would be negative and postive affects which gives you ideas and tones of the stories being told.
I dont know, but if I were to rename the book, it would probably be " How to keep the dead alive". I think this could be fitting because throughout the book, many of O'Brien's friends died, but he told their stories as if they were alive. Its like he captured their emotions and everything. Like he told their stories in third person, but as I was reading it, it felt like I knew the person. Like in the last chapter when O'Brien revisited Ted Labender's death, he talked about how the guys were quiet then someone sais "'Hey, Lavender, how's the war today?'" then someone else said "Mellow" (231). He was dead but their memories of him kept him alive. Rat Kiley told the guys stories of when Curt Lemon supposedly went "trick-or-treating". On page 240, O'Brien says "To listen to the story, especially as Rat Kiley told it, you'd never know that Curt Lemon was dead." I mean this whole idea of listening to someone's story makes them seem alive is true. O'Brien in a sense brought each one of him war buddies back to life through the "war stoies" he told throughout the book. So this book was his way of keeping the dead alive.
Sorry, I forgot to put where i got my title from. pg. 239 it says "We kept the dead alive with stories". I just re-worded it. i hope that's ok.
This is Desiree Portalatin.
When I first read this question, my first response was “A True War Story.” Then I saw that Laura Hernandez had already posted that as her answer. I agree with her, that will be a great title but I’m going with my second choice so it doesn’t seem like I’m just repeating what she said.
My second choice is “A Ping-Pong War”. This phrase is from page 32, “On occasions the war was like a Ping-Pong ball. You could put fancy spin on it, you could make it dance.” The original phrase is a Ping-Pong ball, but I thought “A Ping-Pong War” would sound better. In a Ping-Pong game, the ball always bounces from place to place. You never know where the Ping-Pong ball will land, therefore you never know what the outcome of the game will be. It’s the same concept when it comes to soldiers in a war. You never know where a war might take a soldier (physically and mentally) and how the war will end. It’s a two-way battle (or challenge) for every person who is in a war. The longer the battle, the harder it gets to cope with the reality of it.
Ex 1: “My conscience told me to run, but some irrational and powerful force was resisting, like a weight pushing me toward the war. What it came down to, stupidly, was a sense of shame,” (p. 51-52).The weight pushing down is like the spin a Ping-Pong ball takes as it is whacked into a different direction. Tim O’Brien was confused on whether or not he should go to Canada instead of the war.
Ex 2: Tim thought war was many things. “War is hell, but that’s not the half of it, because war is also mystery and terror and adventure … War makes you a man; war makes you dead,” (p. 80). This quote shows the Ping-Pong mental effect because Tim thought war was contradicting. It was good and bad to him. He did not know what to think of it as a whole.
Ex 3: An outcome of a war is unpredictable, just like in a Ping-Pong game. You may end up being devastated or happy. The outcome of the war in Tim O’Brien’s “The Things They Carried,” was the deaths of three important people in Tim’s lives. “You try to block it out but you can’t… you remember the guys who died: Curt Lemon, Kiowa, Ted Lavender,” (p. 205). Another outcome is the fact that Tim O’Brien still keeps in contact with Lieutenant Jimmy Cross. “Many years after the war Jimmy Cross came to visit me at my home in Massachusetts, and for a full day we drank coffee and smoked cigarettes and talked about everything we had seen and done so long ago, all the things we still carried through our lives,” (p. 27).
War is like a Ping-Pong ball.
Magaly Franco. =]
If I had to retitle Tim O’Brien’s novel, “The Things They Carried,” I would give it the title of, “We Kept the Dead Alive with Stories,” (p. 239). I choose this name because I feel it captures perfectly what the book is about; this title summarizes the novel. The whole book is focused on writing stories, mostly war stories. O’Brien spends a lot of time explaining how to write a true war story, how you can tell it’s true, how they can help you get through things, and most importantly how through telling a story you can make a dead person be alive again.
I agree with Alexandria Prude and I like her title but I think that it would be best to keep the original phrase. The reason I think “We Kept the Dead Alive with Stories,” will be a better title is because it includes the word we. I believe that is very important and should be included in the title because O’Brien wasn’t the only person who told stories that made the dead appear alive. That is something we need to recognize. For example Mitchell Sanders tells a story in the “How to Tell a True War Story” chapter about the six-patrol men who go on basic-listening operation in mountains and end up hearing a lot of weird noises. Sanders relives this moment by retelling the story and adding some made up things in order to make it seem more alive and believable, “I got a confession to make,” Sanders said. “Last night, man, I had to make up a few things…Yeah, but listen, it’s still true. Those six guys, they heard wicked sound out there. They heard sound you just wouldn’t believe,” (p. 77). Rat Kiley also shares the story in the chapter, “Sweetheart of the Song Tra Bong,” . In this story Kiley keeps alive Mary Anne Bell after she disappears by making it seem as if she is still always around, “a couple of times they almost saw her sliding through the shadows. Not quite, but almost. She had crossed to the other side. She was part of the land,” (p. 116). Together as a group, O’Brien’s platoon would also make up stories for those who have died. They would treat the dead as if they were alive by making up dialogues and talking to the dead which would make them feel better because they could imagine things were still good even for those who died. For example when Ted Lavender dies the soldiers talk to him normally as if he’s alive and pretend everything is going good for him, “Hey, Lavender,” he said, “how’s the war today?” There was a short quiet. “Mellow,” somebody said. “Well, that’s good,” Sanders murmured,” that’s real, real good. Stay cool now. “Hey, no sweat, I’m mellow…We could almost see Ted Lavender’s dreamy blue eyes. We could almost hear him,” (p. 226).
Jimmy Cross is also known to make up stories but about a girl he was in love with, Martha. Unlike the other stories told, the main character, Martha, is actually alive. However, Jimmy is in Vietnam and Martha remains in her hometown so they don’t see each other for years. Her absence makes it almost as if she is dead because his only connection to her is few letters. When they were in college they had gone on a date but when he went to the war their relationship never worked out so you could say that their relationship died when he left. Through his imagination and stories he can imagine that he is with her and relive any feelings they felt for each other or make them be even stronger, “he would slip away into daydreams, just pretending, walking bare-foot along the jersey shore, with Martha, carrying nothing. He would feel himself rising. Sun and waves an gentle winds, all love and lightness,” (p. 9). He would feel better during the moments he made up stories about Martha because he would feel light because he would forget the pressures of war and he would be able to enjoy the love he wished he shared with Martha.
O’Brien as a writer brings all these characters to life for us. He shares with us many stories and we are able to imagine all his characters alive. He even shares the story about Linda who has nothing to do with the war to make us realize that stories can relive anyone, not just those who die in war, so we can relate it to other situations. With her story he explains the comfort we can receive by accepting that the person has passed away but still continuing to relive their life through your imagination, “She was dead. I understood that. After all, I’d seen her body, and yet even as a nine-year-old I had begun to practice the magic of stories. Some I just dreamed up. Others I wrote down-the scenes and dialogue. And at nighttime I’d slide into sleep knowing that Linda would be there waiting for me,” (p. 244).
O’Brien establishes a nostalgic tone throughout the book with his repetitive memories. He also establishes some hope for war vets at the end of novel when he finishes explaining how stories can make the dead appear alive and give the author some comfort, “I’m young and happy. I’ll never die. I’m skimming across the surface of my own history, moving fast, riding the melt beneath the blades, doing loops and spins, and when I take a leap into the dark and come down thirty years later, I realize it is as Tim trying to save Timmy’s life with a story,”(246). I feel that my title, “We Kept the Dead Alive with Stories,” shows a little of both nostalgia and hope. It is shows nostalgia because that’s how most people feel when they think of the dead and tell stories about when they used to be alive. The title also offers hope because it undoes the negativity of the dead by keeping them alive which is seen as positive and makes it seem as though they will never really die and go to waste. It therefore gives us hope that they will never be forgotten and that a part of them will always be with us.
Overall, “We Kept the Dead Alive with Stories,” would be a great substitute for the title of “The Things They Carried.”
This is alex .. well my response it going to be broken up ...
( because i'm leaving to vacation and i'm not sure if i'll be able to respond before the dealine..so here goes..) I think the title should be " A True War Story is about Sunlight."
I got this idea based on a passage on page 85..
" Atrue war storyis never about war. Its about sunlight.It's about the special way that dawn spreads out on a river when you know you must croxx the river and march into the mountains and do things you are afraid to do. It's about love memory. It's about sorrow. It's about sisters who never write back and people who never listen"
throught the novel he describes the environment with complete detail... the landscape the atomosphere and even thought he title i propsed is taken from two lines .. I still think it sums up the novel.
O'brien is recollecting all of the events because he absorbed each moment as they should be experienced.
Hello. This is Justyna Ciezobka.
When deciding on a new title for this stor I couldn't decide between "How To Tell a True War Story" (pg 67) and "Speaking of Courage" (pg 137) and I can see that no one else decided for this particluar chapter to also be the title of a book. I like the title Chung Tai gave the story because the authro does kind of transfer between events before the war, during and after as well. I also think that Nancy's title is suitable for this story. Now back to my title. The reason for my choice would be that all these men were courageous to go into a war and fight for their country even tho they didn't really think it was right. Three stories "influenced" my choice: "On the Rainy River" (pg 39), and "In the Field" (pg 162) and of course "Speaking of Courage" (pg 137) These chapters all had some events which showed what courage the men had....In "On the Rainy River", the narrator tells the story of how he was drafted into the army, how he didn't want to go because he didn't agree with the war. So, the narrator decides to run away; he stays at a log cabin and finally after a few days decides to and fight in the war. The next chapter, the death of Kiowa is decribed. Norman found enough courage in him to go and try to save his friend even though it resulted in death. Finally, the last chapter is the one I chose to use as the title of this book. It's just something that fits best this story. This story is about the courage of young men who were taken out of their everyday lives to go fight in a war....
This is Dominika Niemiec.
If I had to give this book a title it would be "There Never Is A True War Story." Before I write why I picked this title I want to make ONE thing clear. I DO NOT believe this book is full of lies, and that none of these characters and events actually happened, i believe every word.
All throughout the book Tim O'Brian speaks about how to write a true War story, and on what to and not to do when you write or say a true war story. For example "In any true war story, but especially a true one, it's difficult to separate what happened from what seemed to happen." (pg.71), "In many cases a true war story cannot be believed. If you believe it, be skeptical." (pg.71), "And in the end, of course, a true war story is never about war." O'Brian speaks of so many characteristics that make war stories untrue, or not truly a war story.
In "Speaking of Courage", (pg.137) the author admitted that some parts of the story were true other invented by himself. "Although the old structure remains, the piece has been substantially revised, in some places by severe cutting, in other places by the addition of new material." pg.160)
Also in "The Man I killed" the narrator later even admits that he did not kill the man. "But it's not a game. It's a form..............But listen. Even that story was made up." (pg.179)
In the end I picked the title "There is never a true war story" because everyone thinks differently when it comes to what a true war story means. Some people view it as all facts, or it not true. Others view a true war story as many flogged up memories but as long the moral is correct it is a true war story. So with many different views and ideas about what is a true war story, can there be one? We can't know for sure, can we? we weren't there, we didn't see it play by play with our own eyes, so we can never be sure if it in fact is true.
P.S. REMEMBER I believe the book, not trying to convince you all it's all lies you cannot believe.
I would rename “The Things They Carried” to “Speaking of Courage” (p.155). This title captures a lot of the theme of the novel because every major character shows an act of courage at one point in the novel. I believe this is a great title because in away the novel tells a story of courage for each major character. The first is the overall courage of all the soldiers who when to serve in the Vietnam War. The second act of courage was done by Bowker. “He would’ve talked about this and how he grabbed Kiowa by the boot and tried to pull him out. He pulled hard but Kiowa was gone, and then suddenly he felt himself going, too” (p.149). Even through Bowker feels that he is responsible for the death of Kiowa, it was clear to see as a reader that Bowker showed a tremendous amount of courage. In the novel the narrator and character tell all their in very different tones. The story about the deaths of Ted Lavender and Kiowa is told by Jimmy Cross and Norman Bowker with a lot of guilt.
Hi, this is Nancy Matias.
If I could change the title of this novel I’m going to have to agree with Sana and change it to “stories can save us.”(pg.225 line 1) The reason why I would change the name of this book to stories can save us is because throughout the novel we see the constant repetition of memories by the narrator. For instance, the repetition of the soldier he killed in Vietnam. “His jaw was in his throat, his upper lip and teeth were gone, his one eye was shut, his other eye a star-shaped hole, his eyebrows were thin and arched like a woman’s, his nose was undamaged, there was a slight tear at the lobe of one ear.” (pg .124 lines 1-5) We also see the repetition of the description of Curt Lemon’s death “the sunlight, his face suddenly brown and shining, and when his foot touched down in that instant, he must’ve thought it was the sunlight killing him.” (pg. 84) We also see the death of Kiowa in the field mentioned many times throughout the novel. Although we see this throughout the novel we don’t become aware of why the narrator does this until the end when he says “stories can save us.” That is why this name is perfect for this book. The name is perfect because throughout the book the narrator repeats so many memories in order to make us understand this. The narrator does this because after Linda’s death he sees her in his dreams and she tells him that being dead is “ like being inside a book that nobody’s reading.” (pg. 245 lines 5-6) For this reason the narrator decides to write stories in where he constantly mentions his old war friends such as Kiowa, Ted Lavender, Curt Lemon, etc. He does it because he realizes that he can save their lives with a story. He can prevent them from actually dying because through them he can make them alive once again. Through the way he describes their deaths in such a surreal way. We see that he is also trying to save his own life with a story since he says “it is as Tim trying to save Timmy’s life with a story.” (pg. 246 lines 5-6) We realize that the reason why he writes so many war stories is because through them he can bring back his dead war friends along with himself. He can prevent them from being forgotten. For that reason he also writes about Linda because through his stories he can save her soul. He could “make up elaborate stories to bring Lind alive in his sleep.” (pg. 243 lines 22-23) In this novel they “kept the dead alive with stories.” (pg. 239 line 4) We see this by the fact that after Ted Lavender died they told stories about “how tranquil he was, how it wasn’t the bullet but the tranquilizers that blew his mind.” (pg. 239 lines 6-7) We see this through the way that after Curt Lemon’s death they would tell stories about Curt Lemon going trick-or- treating on Halloween and how “to listen to the story, especially as Rat Kiley told it you’d never know that Curt Lemon was dead.” (pg. 240 lines 12-13) I think that this name would suit the novel the best because according to the narrator “in a story miracles can happen.” (pg. 236 lines 20-21) In a story the narrator can “steal Linda’s soul, I can revive it, at least briefly, that which is absolute and unchanging.” (pg. 236 lines 19-20) “In a story you can dream a story as you tell it, hoping that others might then dream along with you, and in this way memory and imagination and language can combine to make spirits in the head.” (pg. 230 lines 15-18) “In a story there is the illusion of aliveness.”(pg. 230 lines 18-19) The name suits this novel well because of the fact that through the stories in this novel the narrator can cope with the events that he went through in Vietnam. His war stories help him cope with the death of his friends and with the fact that in a way Vietnam caused him to become dead. It robbed him of his “allusions, all the old ambitions and hopes for himself.” (pgs. 184-185 lines 29-30) He blamed Vietnam for “what he had become, and for taking away the person I he had once been.” (pg. 185 lines 4-6) The war stories help heal his scars because through them his friends are not really dead because he can bring them back. Through his stories he can help his friends such as he did with Norman Bowker. He can save their souls and through them he can he can save himself as well. He can help himself cope with the wound of war and that’s why he writes stories about Vietnam “virtually nonstop.”(pg. 151 lines 28-29) This title embodies this novel because even though it is trying to show how war is bad because it causes desperation, guilt, a sense of loss, etc. it is also trying to show that a person can be saved from all of this through stories about this war. The stories can help free a person from the war and its scars.
My second choice would have been Magaly's name. I also would have named it "we kept the dead alive with stories." I liked it because it is similar to the one that I choose and again because it embodies what the novel is really about.
Hi, this is Nancy Matias.
If I could change the title of this novel I’m going to have to agree with Sana and change it to “stories can save us.”(pg.225 line 1) The reason why I would change the name of this book to stories can save us is because throughout the novel we see the constant repetition of memories by the narrator. For instance, the repetition of the soldier he killed in Vietnam. “His jaw was in his throat, his upper lip and teeth were gone, his one eye was shut, his other eye a star-shaped hole, his eyebrows were thin and arched like a woman’s, his nose was undamaged, there was a slight tear at the lobe of one ear.” (pg .124 lines 1-5) We also see the repetition of the description of Curt Lemon’s death “the sunlight, his face suddenly brown and shining, and when his foot touched down in that instant, he must’ve thought it was the sunlight killing him.” (pg. 84) We also see the death of Kiowa in the field mentioned many times throughout the novel. Although we see this throughout the novel we don’t become aware of why the narrator does this until the end when he says “stories can save us.” That is why this name is perfect for this book. The name is perfect because throughout the book the narrator repeats so many memories in order to make us understand this. The narrator does this because after Linda’s death he sees her in his dreams and she tells him that being dead is “ like being inside a book that nobody’s reading.” (pg. 245 lines 5-6) For this reason the narrator decides to write stories in where he constantly mentions his old war friends such as Kiowa, Ted Lavender, Curt Lemon, etc. He does it because he realizes that he can save their lives with a story. He can prevent them from actually dying because through them he can make them alive once again. Through the way he describes their deaths in such a surreal way. We see that he is also trying to save his own life with a story since he says “it is as Tim trying to save Timmy’s life with a story.” (pg. 246 lines 5-6) We realize that the reason why he writes so many war stories is because through them he can bring back his dead war friends along with himself. He can prevent them from being forgotten. For that reason he also writes about Linda because through his stories he can save her soul. He could “make up elaborate stories to bring Lind alive in his sleep.” (pg. 243 lines 22-23) In this novel they “kept the dead alive with stories.” (pg. 239 line 4) We see this by the fact that after Ted Lavender died they told stories about “how tranquil he was, how it wasn’t the bullet but the tranquilizers that blew his mind.” (pg. 239 lines 6-7) We see this through the way that after Curt Lemon’s death they would tell stories about Curt Lemon going trick-or- treating on Halloween and how “to listen to the story, especially as Rat Kiley told it you’d never know that Curt Lemon was dead.” (pg. 240 lines 12-13) I think that this name would suit the novel the best because according to the narrator “in a story miracles can happen.” (pg. 236 lines 20-21) In a story the narrator can “steal Linda’s soul, I can revive it, at least briefly, that which is absolute and unchanging.” (pg. 236 lines 19-20) “In a story you can dream a story as you tell it, hoping that others might then dream along with you, and in this way memory and imagination and language can combine to make spirits in the head.” (pg. 230 lines 15-18) “In a story there is the illusion of aliveness.”(pg. 230 lines 18-19) The name suits this novel well because of the fact that through the stories in this novel the narrator can cope with the events that he went through in Vietnam. His war stories help him cope with the death of his friends and with the fact that in a way Vietnam caused him to become dead. It robbed him of his “allusions, all the old ambitions and hopes for himself.” (pgs. 184-185 lines 29-30) He blamed Vietnam for “what he had become, and for taking away the person I he had once been.” (pg. 185 lines 4-6) The war stories help heal his scars because through them his friends are not really dead because he can bring them back. Through his stories he can help his friends such as he did with Norman Bowker. He can save their souls and through them he can he can save himself as well. He can help himself cope with the wound of war and that’s why he writes stories about Vietnam “virtually nonstop.”(pg. 151 lines 28-29) This title embodies this novel because even though it is trying to show how war is bad because it causes desperation, guilt, a sense of loss, etc. it is also trying to show that a person can be saved from all of this through stories about this war. The stories can help free a person from the war and its scars.
My second choice would have been Magaly's name. I also would have named it "we kept the dead alive with stories." I liked it because it is similar to the one that I choose and again because it embodies what the novel is really about.
Hello I’m Erica Castillo,
If I were to change the title of the book from “The Things They Carried” I would change it to “During And After The War” but then I saw that Chung Tai used that title. So I am going to use my second title which is "The untold story of soldiers before, during and after Vietnam”
In the story "The Things They Carried" We read about a love story. This story is a story that happens during the war. It’s about Lieutenant Cross and Martha "They were not love letters, but Lieutenant Cross was hoping, so he kept them folded in plastic at the bottom of his rucksack." (pg 1) My title is perfect for the first story because my title is an untold story about the war. The love that Lieutenant Cross has for Martha is untold; it’s not all over the news. This is Cross’s story and it is happening during the war.
In the story "On the Rainy River" we read about Tim O'Brien. We read about O'Brien and how he was before the War. And what he was doing with his life before he got his letter to go to the war. "In June of 1968, a month after graduating from Macalester College, I was drafted to fight a war I hated. I was twenty-one years old." (pg40)
In this story we read about how scared O'Brien is before the war. He feels that he should not go to war. "In the evenings I'd sometimes borrow my father's car and drive aimlessly around town, feeling sorry for myself, thinking about the war and the pig factory and how my life seemed to be collapsing toward slaughter. I felt Paralyzed." (pg43) Once again my title fits, because this is happening before O’Brien goes to war and my title is about before, during, and after war.
In the story "Notes" we learn that something happen after the war, with Norman Bowker. Norman Bowker killed himself. "Speaking of Courage was written in 1975 at the suggestion of Norman Bowker, who three years later hanged himself in the locker room of a YMCA in his hometown in central Iowa." (pg.155) This is also something that we don’t hear about. On the news they would not say Vietnam soldier kills himself. This is an untold story of what happen after the war. Bowker writes to O'Brien about his life after the war "there's no place to go. Not just in this lousy little town. In general. My life, I mean. It's almost like I got killed over in Nam...Hard to describe." (pg.156)
This is Jasmin Ali
I would change the title of the book from “The Things They Carried” to “A True War Story. (pg 74)” The author explains to us throughout the book, about how hard it is to tell a “true” war story. In the stories he tells us, he puts as much extra detail as possible, to make us feel the guilt, sadness, or fear the he or his fellow soldiers felt at war. He wants our feelings to match up with what he felt as much as possible. When he tells us the story about the man he killed, he adds details about the young man, such as what he wanted to achieve in life and how educated he was. “He liked books. He wanted someday to be a teacher of mathematics.(pg 125)” In reality, the author knows nothing about this man’s life. He only added these things in the story so that we could feel the sadness that the author felt when he killed him. The story about Curt Lemon also has a few added details that didn’t exactly happen. Curt Lemon was playing catch with a grenade and dies when it explodes. The author says how after it happened, Curt Lemon stepped into the sunlight, looking handsome. “His face was suddenly brown and shining. A handsome kid, really. Sharp gray eyes, lean and narrow-waisted, and when he died it was almost beautiful, the way the sunlight came around him and lifted him up and sucked him high into a tree full of moss and vines and white blossoms.(pg 70)” These are added details of Curt Lemon’s death. We as readers know that this really didn’t happen, but this helps us feel how the author felt about his death, which was sadness. The story told by Mitchell Sanders is another example. He tells a story about six men that went up into the mountains on a basic listening post operation. According to him, all they do is lay down and wait, they don’t say anything at all. He says that they began to hear noises, such as voices, music, chanting, violins, and chellos. These are things that obviously aren’t normally heard on mountains. “They hear this terrific mama-san soprano. Then after a while they hear a gook opera and a glee club and the Haiphong Boys Choir and a barbershop quartet and all kids of weird chanting and Buddha Buddha stuff. (pg 74).” This was added in the story, to give us an idea of the nervousness and paranoia the men were going through. This also helps us get an idea of how scared the men were. I agree with Magaly on what she said about Rat Kiley’s story, and I agree with Laura on how the author’s story telling gives the reader a better understanding without it having to be true.
Similar/In agreement to Alex Prude and Magaly I would change the title of the novel with the same focus. A more suitable title for the novel "The Things They Carried" by Tim O'Brien would be the repeating phrase and title of chapter 7, "How to Tell A True War Story." The word 'true war story' appears repeatedly in various forms through out the chapter, each time with an explanation. "A true war story is never moral. It does not instruct, nor encourage virtue, nor suggest models of proper human behavior, nor restrain men from doing the things me have always done." (pg. 68) By including this line, the author wants us to understand that the novel is neither a pro-war or anti-war novel, and that what is stated within the novel is not intended to encourage or discourage anything to its readers. Another important line in the novel would be "Often in a true war story there is not even a point, or else the point doesn't hit you till twenty years later, in your sleep, and you wake up and shake your wife and start telling the story to her, except when you got to the end you've forgotten the point again" (pg. 82) By including this line, the author is again focusing on how a war story is not intended to persuade, encourage or discourage because without a point, there's no moral to be learned. Also by saying a real war story has no point emphasizes on the underlying thesis of the author 'war is pointless," contributing to the negative view of war portrayed by the author so far. One final important phrase in the novel is "And in the end, of course, a true war story is never about war. It's about sunlight. It's about the special way that down spreads out on a river when you known you must cross the river and march into the mountains and do the things you are afraid to do. It's about love and memory. It's about sorrow. It's about sisters who never write back and people who never listen." (pg. 85) I believe that by including this final line in the chapter and within the novel overall, the author emphasizes overall that a war story is not about war, but rather the things surrounding it. Because of these three lines, author Tim O'Brien overall is trying to explain the novel and make the reader understand that there's no point to war, rather the things around it. I agree back with Magaly on the whole "we" thing, but using this title is more personal in a sense because it is speaking towards the reader. The whole focus of the book is to get the message to the reader.
This is Ashley Hart.
If I were to change the title of "The Things They Carried," I would change it to "They Were Tough."(pg.21) Throughout the novel the narrarator introduced his audience to a number of incidents where the men were challenged by their situation and had to deal with. With these incidents he helps the reader to see just how strong the men had to be both mentally and physically to endure the hardships of war.
In the story "On the Rainy River," is where the narrarator first introduces his audience to one of wars toughest hardships, being drafted. When The narrarator is drafted he nearly runs away and jumps the Canadian border. He ends up at the Tip Top Log Cabin right outside of the Canadian border and lies low there where an old man Elroy, forces him to make a decision about what he is going to do with his life when he takes him out onto the River and waits.(pgs.55-56) The narrarator chooses to go to war which shows the reader that even before entering into the war the men are already pressured to make the right decision and fight for what their country believes in. If they do not they've shamed their families and have to deal with guilt for the rest of their lives.(pgs.57-59)
The men in the story also face the hardships of losing a soldier. In the story "In the Field," the men are stuck in a waste field for the night when it begins to rain. The water never stops and the men are under attack. This shows the reader how physically fit the men were to be wasit deep in feces and still dodging bullets. This also shows that the men had to have a strong will to live that night in the field because they didn't let the smell get to them and pushed through no matter how hard the battle. Kiowa was one of the main characters in the story who was in the field and died that night trying to escape. When Kiowa got lost under the muck the men searched for him. They never once stopped and gave up which was tortue on their bodies having been up all night and when they found him dead it hurt everyone.(pg.173-175) Even Azar the joker of the bunch felt painfully for Kiowa. This goes to show how the author wanted to portray the men as strong individuals but he also wanted to make the point that each man had his weakness and wasn't able to just take losing a commrade.
I agree with Jasmin on how the narrarator adds extra details to the novel and each one of the individual stories to emphasize what really took place. It seems that by doing this he was able to make the reader feel the pain and the suffering that each soldier felt. When one young soldier is told that Kiowa is dead he changes the subject and says, "My girl? What about her? The picture, it was the onl yone I had. Right here, I lost it."(pg.172) The readers can see that the boy doesn't want to deal with the pain but the fact that he is avoiding it shows how much pain he is really hiding.
Jamie Chan
If there was another Title that could replace The Things They Carried by Tim O’Brien I think it would have been “The Lives of The Dead.” In this chapter starting from page 225 is written about the narrator reminiscing about the people who have passed away in his life. Since they were all dead and they still seem to make a impact from when they died till now that the narrator is 43(long time after the war.) Those lives are constantly reminded and flashbacks are being replayed throughout. The people who made an impact was "Linda, Ted Lavender, Kiowa, Curt lemon, young man that was accidentally killed by the narrator, the old man, and many more.Since the lives of the dead are constantly being reminded why not call it that.
Hi, Charlene Poindexter.
If I had to rename the novel, “The Things They Carried”, I would call it, “The Silver Star”,(pg,141). I choose this title because it captures the overall purpose of the story. Despite their differences or whatever reason they had for being there, these Vietnam soldiers shared a common goal; to protect their country and live to see it come true. This was not easy.
There were times they doubted themselves like on (pg.164), when Jimmy Cross blamed himself for Kiowa’s death. “Looking out toward the river, he knew for a fact that he had make a mistake setting up here. The order had come from higher, true, but still he should’ve exercised some field discretion. He should’ve moved to higher ground for the night, should’ve radioed in false coordinates.” Kiowa’s death caused Cross to blame himself and it showed how much he cared for his soldiers even though he was supposed to treat them all the same. I feel that deserved a Silver Star because even though he lost a soldier, he was willing to accept the blame and showed his concern for him as well as his family.
There were instances where they felt their best wasn’t quite good enough and they felt they could’ve tried harder and done more, for example on (pg,143), when Norman Broker and his father were talking about why he didn’t win The Silver Medal. (Norman‘s father)“You have seven medals.”(Norman), “Sure”.(Norman’s father), “Seven. Count em’. You weren’t a coward either.”(Norman), “Well, maybe not. But I had the chance and I blew it.” Norman wasn’t satisfied with just being good, he wanted to be great and he wanted his medals to reflect that. I believe he deserved a Silver Star because he served his country well, and he didn’t give up. He had a goal and he worked to achieve that.
There times whey they thought they were going to die. For example, on (pg.189), Tim O’Brien said, “I was shot twice. For a long time I lay there all alone, listening to the battle thinking I’ve been shot, I’ve been shot…….” . Even though he had been shot, he still lived to tell his story. I feel that he deserves a Silver Star.
I feel every soldier that has ever fought in a war deserves a Silver Star. Despite any minor altercations they may have had with one another, they still looked out for each other and fought honorably. They sacrificed their safety, their lives, and being able to see their loved ones. They also sacrificed their forfeiting memories of their future by being in the war. Many that have risked their lives have never returned home. I feel that is all the more reason to honor them with a Silver Star because they died protecting their country.
I really like the title Candace choose for the book. “Secret Hero is an excellent title. It is true that mostly everyone had someone to take their mind off the war, even if it was for a moment. That’s what everyone needed; that someone to show them that the war isn’t all that bad, and that there are still things to smile about and be happy for.
If I had to retitle the text with only a line or phrase from one of the stories in the novel, the phrase I would use would be "The Lives of the Dead" (pg.225). My reasoning behind this is because of the simple fact that basically, this is what "The Things They Carried" revolves around. Tim O' Brien constantly refers back to those who have passed away during the war and what big of an impact their deaths have had on him as well as his life.
On pg.192 O' Brien states: "the presence of death and danger has a way of bringing you fully awake. It makes things vivid...you pay attention to the world..." In this line, he allows us to see how much of an impact death can have on someone. It is such big of an impact that you are able to see things in a completely different way than you usually would. We are shown how the memories of the dead linger in O' Brien thoughts all through out this novel , starting with Curt Lemon's death. On pg.71 O' Brien states: "When a guy dies, like Curt Lemon, you look away and then look back for a moment and then look away again." Curt Lemon's death is once again brought up on pg.242 when O' Brien states: “I climbed a tree and threw down what was left of Curt Lemon.” Kiowa's death is also mentioned more than once through out "The Things They Carried". In this quotation O' Brien describes Kiowa's corpse: "The corpse was angled steeply into the muck upside down, like a diver who had plunged headfirst off a high tower" (pg.175). "Kiowa had been a fine soldier and a fine human being..." (pg.163) This quotation shows how the dead are remembered constantly by O' Brien for their good and for their bad.
To further my reasoning of this title I must say that this would be a perfect title since the death of O' Brien’s loved ones had a huge role in his novel. He revolves every memory around one of the deaths. I also agree with Sana that O' Brien's reasoning for writing these stories is because they helped him to "distant himself from all the horrible incidents that happened to him and others at war" considering the fact that O' Brien states so on pg.39 "...by putting the facts down on paper, I'm hoping to relieve at least some of the pressure on my dreams." I just personally feel that "The Lives of the Dead" is a stronger title.
-Rocio Robles
I would agree with sana. I believe i would retitle the book, "Stories Can Save Us". In the the beggining of the last chapter, it's like a hook: "But this too is true: stories can save us." In his stories, he talks about the worst parts of the war, or the most gruesome. For example, the way Kiowa died, how he actually had to kill a man, and the way his friend did drugs to deal with everything. To me, the drugs one seemed kind of sad. If I were to see someone shooting drugs, I would get really freaked out. I know it was a sort of normal way of surviving, then. I just don't like it. "They're all dead. But in a story, which is kind of dreaming, the dead sometimes smile and sit up and return to the world." He tries to make thins better by writing and not forgetting about them. In other words, the stories do save him from the actual truth.
If I had to retitle the text, I would rename it “ You’re never more alive then when you’re almost dead” (pg. 81) After going through a war, people change. It’s like if they’re a different person. People go into a war thinking that it might not be that bad, but at one point they will have a rude awakening. When you’re in battle, you’re risking your life. At any given point, you could die, and during the war there is a chance that you will take someone’s life away. Whether it’s you risking your life, or you killing someone, your mentality, and perspective of the world will definitely change after the war.
One example is the soldiers’ experience in the shit field. “ The central incident- our long night in the shit field along the Song Tra Bong- has been restored to the piece. It was hard stuff to write. Kiowa, after all, had been a close friend, and for years I’ve avoided thinking about his death and my own complicity in it. Even here it’s not easy.”(p.160) Here, the narrator writes about how difficult it was to be in the field, and to witness the death of a close friend. It took him many years to go back and remember that tragic day, but he was lucky enough to not get so deeply affected by this.
Another example is Ted Lavender’s death. This man dying deeply affected Lt. Jimmy Cross. He blamed himself for this man’s death. “He was dead because he loved her so much and could not stop thinking about her.”(p.7) Lt. Cross blamed himself, because during the war, all he could think about was his love, Martha. He wasn’t really concentrating on the war, so he couldn’t save Ted from dying.
If I had to retitle the text, I would rename it “ You’re never more alive then when you’re almost dead” (pg. 81) After going through a war, people change. It’s like if they’re a different person. People go into a war thinking that it might not be that bad, but at one point they will have a rude awakening. When you’re in battle, you’re risking your life. At any given point, you could die, and during the war there is a chance that you will take someone’s life away. Whether it’s you risking your life, or you killing someone, your mentality, and perspective of the world will definitely change after the war.
One example is the soldiers’ experience in the shit field. “ The central incident- our long night in the shit field along the Song Tra Bong- has been restored to the piece. It was hard stuff to write. Kiowa, after all, had been a close friend, and for years I’ve avoided thinking about his death and my own complicity in it. Even here it’s not easy.”(p.160) Here, the narrator writes about how difficult it was to be in the field, and to witness the death of a close friend. It took him many years to go back and remember that tragic day, but he was lucky enough to not get so deeply affected by this.
Another example is Ted Lavender’s death. This man dying deeply affected Lt. Jimmy Cross. He blamed himself for this man’s death. “He was dead because he loved her so much and could not stop thinking about her.”(p.7) Lt. Cross blamed himself, because during the war, all he could think about was his love, Martha. He wasn’t really concentrating on the war, so he couldn’t save Ted from dying.
Erik Zooniga
“True War Stories are Unbelievable！” (Page 71) would be another suitable title for “The Things They Carried”. Albeit Nina might have pointed it out already, my idea for the title is quite similar to her title. The title is a reference to Chapter 7 “How to tell a True War Story”, which heavily implies and uses “true war story” much throughout the chapter. The term “true war story” is often explained by the narrator as “A true war story is never moral. It does not instruct, nor encourage virtue, nor suggest models of proper human behavior, nor restrain men from doing the things me have always done.” At the same time, he also explains how the war story should neither encourage nor salvage any sort emotion, but rather remain as a sort of antithesis to the reader in terms of favorism. The author/narrator primarily focuses on explaining that war is neither intended to persuade, nor encourage, nor discourage any morals, but to assert a certain point when telling these “true war stories”. The line “If the story seems moral, does not believe it. If at the end of a war story you feel uplifted, or if you feel that some small bit of rectitude has been salvaged from the larger waste, then you have been made the victim of a very old an terrible lie.” The narrator’s perspective of war stories is an ideology that explains how “true war stories” are told by “…absolute and uncompromising allegiance to obscenity and evil.” The narrator uses Rat Kiley an example to this; Kat Kliey uses certain synonyms and terminology whenever he would address or speak something such as using “cooze” as a replacement for women or girl or bitch followed by a spit. This goes to show how “true war stories” are told with usage of metonymy.
The narrator often goes about telling that “… true war stories cannot be believed. If you believe it, be skeptical. It’s a question of credibility. Often the crazy stuff is true and the normal stuff isn’t’, because the normal stuff is necessary to make you believe the truly incredible craziness.”; the story of Mitchell Sanders is used an example of this. Depending on the situation, the expression/actions of the teller, and mood the “true war story” seems believable, yet crazily unbelievable. O’Brien certainly emphasizes detailed traits whenever the characters would retell a memory of the war, but what highly made them believable yet unbelievable were the actions or habits the tellers did during their the story-telling; such as Sanders when he was playing around with a yo-yo or the metonymy of Rat Kiley. The author wants to assert the readers attention simply by actions and terminology told by the characters to the readers, which is why “True War Stories are Unbelievable！” would be an appropriate alternative title for this book – it is neither interesting nor vague.
This is Ernesto Gomez
If I were to change the title of the book "The Things They Carried," I would change it to "The Stories of War." I chose this title because the books is made up of different stories. Also because all of the stories have to deal with the war in Vietnam. Throught the book there are many stories and O'Brien tends to tell us when he is going to start a new story. For example in the story "On the Rainy River" he starts out by saying, "This is one story I've never told before. Not to anyone. Not to my parents, not to my brother or sister, not even to my wife." (39) Also by starting stories this way, he shows us what the mood of the story is going to be. Also on the story "Sweetheart of the Song Tra Bong" he starts out with, "Vietnam was full of strange stories, some probable, some well beyong that, but the stories that will last forever are those that swirl back and forth..." (89) This shows us that the mood is going to be different than the other stories. This is one reason that I would rename the book to "The Stories of War." Another reason for this title is that in stories O'Brien would tell about other stories. One time he says, "Whenever he told the story, Rat had a tendency to stop now and then interrupting the flow..."(106)
Basically, my point is that the novel is a whole bunch of war stories put together, and that is why i choose the title "The stories of War."
I agree with Sana in that the tone of the novel is not one but many. There are many different tones on each story. I disagree with Laura on her choice for a title, "A True War Story." This is because O'Brien himself tells us that the stories may be or may not be true. O'Brien says, "I'm forty-three years old, true, and I'm a writer now, and a long time ago I walked through Quang Ngai Province as a foot soldier. Almost everything else is invented...But listen. Even that story is made up." (179) This shows that O'Brien himself doubts wether the stories he is telling us are true or not.
(KERRI CARNAHAN)
After observing Tim O'Brien's "The Things They Carried', I have thoughtfully chosen another possible title for the novel: "Battling the Wrong War". I must make this clear: I say "Battling the Wrong War", as in the narrator is in conflict with the war itself. I have chosen this title because the author felt that he was fighting in a war that was wrong. The author makes this point clear when he says, "In June of 1968, a month after graduating from Macalester College, I was drafted to fight a war I hated. I was twenty-one years old. Young, yes, and politically naive, but even so the American war in Vietnam seemed to me wrong." (pg. 40)
He did not want to go to the war. The only reason why he went to fight in Vietnam, the "wrong war", was because he didn't want to seem like a coward to his family, friends, and neighbors. He writes, "I feared the war, yes, but I also feared exile. I was afraid of walking away from my own life, my friends and family, my whole history, everything that mattered to me..." (pg.45)He was so close to running away to Canada to avoid the war.
He would much rather submit to fighting in such a pointless war that he would consider himself a coward for going against his own deeply personal beliefs and morale, as observed here: "I survived, but it's not a happy ending. I was a coward. I went to the war." (pg. 61)
My views on the novel, I noticed, are somewhat similar to "Mokey_Luver". She thinks a more suitable title for the novel would be “A Ping-Pong War”. This phrase is from page 32, “On occasions the war was like a Ping-Pong ball. You could put fancy spin on it, you could make it dance.” I can relate to this; not fully, but somewhat. Good thinking!
(KERRI CARNAHAN)
After observing Tim O'Brien's "The Things They Carried', I have thoughtfully chosen another possible title for the novel: "Battling the Wrong War". I must make this clear: I say "Battling the Wrong War", as in the narrator is in conflict with the war itself. I have chosen this title because the author felt that he was fighting in a war that was wrong. The author makes this point clear when he says, "In June of 1968, a month after graduating from Macalester College, I was drafted to fight a war I hated. I was twenty-one years old. Young, yes, and politically naive, but even so the American war in Vietnam seemed to me wrong." (pg. 40)
He did not want to go to the war. The only reason why he went to fight in Vietnam, the "wrong war", was because he didn't want to seem like a coward to his family, friends, and neighbors. He writes, "I feared the war, yes, but I also feared exile. I was afraid of walking away from my own life, my friends and family, my whole history, everything that mattered to me..." (pg.45)He was so close to running away to Canada to avoid the war.
He would much rather submit to fighting in such a pointless war that he would consider himself a coward for going against his own deeply personal beliefs and morale, as observed here: "I survived, but it's not a happy ending. I was a coward. I went to the war." (pg. 61)
My views on the novel, I noticed, are somewhat similar to "Mokey_Luver". She thinks a more suitable title for the novel would be “A Ping-Pong War”. This phrase is from page 32, “On occasions the war was like a Ping-Pong ball. You could put fancy spin on it, you could make it dance.” I can relate to this; not fully, but somewhat. Good thinking!
Hi, I’m Erika Marquez, if I could rename this book it would be, “How to Tell a Real War Story” which is the 7th chapter of the novel. These are the pieces of mention that led me to pick this title.
A. The death of Curt Lemon, “It’s all exactly true. It happened to me, nearly twenty years ago, and I still remember that trail junction and those giant trees… It’s hard to tell you what happened next. There was a noise, I suppose, which must’ve been the detonator…and watched Lemon step from the shade into bright sunlight.” (pg.70).
B. The story Sander tells, “This next part, ‘Sanders said quietly, ‘you wont believe.’ ‘Probably not,’ I said. ‘You won’t. And you know why?’ He gave me a long, tired smile. ‘Because it happened. Because every word is absolutely dead-on-true.’” (pg. 73).
C. Taken from chapter entitled Good Form. “Its time to be blunt. I’m forty-three years old, true, and I’m a writer now, and a long time ago I walked through Quang Ngai Provence as a foot soldier. Almost everything else is invented. But it’s not a game. It’s a form…But listen. Even that story is made up. I want you too feel what I felt. I want you to know why story-truth is truer than sometimes happening- truth.” (pg. 179).
The death of Curt Lemon, I say, is ultimately one of the most important stories in the novel. Many times, the death is given to us in fragments as a reader, but, this is all part of the form that the writer is trying to give us because a story isn’t just told; it is given small details of emotion and memories that led you to think of that specific event. When I first read the passage of Curt lemons death I had to read it over since it was sort of unbelievable. However, this is what the writer has done on purpose. He has created a small skip, like a broken record in the book so that we could be in his thoughts. I think that was a very interesting technique. The second story told by Sanders, is sort of where other writers have failed in trying to write a war memoir, or just telling a story. They add scary noises and spice up the story with lights. Yet, reality isn’t ever like that. We don’t take in a story entirely; we take in the most interesting parts that make us wonder. Then the last piece of evidence to back up my title choice is when the chapter Good Form is introduced. The writer talks about his present state and how he came to write his book and why he wrote it in a particular way. He explains that sometimes something a little made up is more truth than something that actually happened. HE isn’t saying that reality is bad or bland, but that what seems made up, is what actually happened because that was what was felt in that exact moment. It wasn’t revised or thought about, it was taken as it was, and that a real story doesn’t smooth over the memories with fluff, it is taken with all the gritty and unbelievable parts because ultimately that is how that moment is meant to feel.
I also like Brian’s idea of the title “Hump” because it is very close to the title; and it is a war term so for it being one word you get many different associations which could make a person curious as to what the book is about. Nancy’s idea was also creative.
Diana Arechar
I like Magaly’s change of the title. The one she thought of made a lot of sense because we are really reading about these men’s lives as they were at war and some aren’t alive but we read about them when they were and we remember them for who they were.
If I had to change the title of The Things They Carried, I would change it to You Win Some, You Lose Some in reference to page 11 where the men drew numbers and one man would go in the tunnels. Those who didn’t draw the number that meant they would have to check the tunnels were “feeling the luck of the draw. You win some, you lose some, said Mitchell Sanders.” I think the title fits well because with the war some kept their lives while some lost them and they lost much more than friends. Even when they survived they felt like they won something. They won the ability to “recognize what’s valuable...all that might be lost,” (p.81).
But they also lost a lot because of the war. “Rat Kiley had lost his best friend in the world,” (p.79). Norman Bowker “lost everything. He’s lost Kiowa and his weapon and his flashlight and his girlfriend’s picture,” (p.171). It was almost as if Norman had not only lost a friend but also his ability to look forward because he had no “light” to guide him and his connection to back home. It became more obvious that he lost all this when he wasn’t able to function the same way when he got back home because he “hanged himself,” (p. 155).
The war separated them from their home’s and then broke the connections they had to it. Dobbins’ “girlfriend dumped him,” (p.118), as did Bowker, “She’s not even my girl anymore,” (p.172). Rat Kiley lost his sanity, “He said he’d done his best. He’s tried to be a decent medic. Win some and lose some, he said...the next morning he shot himself,” (p.223). Most of all, “In war you lose your sense of the definite, hence your sense of truth itself,” (p.82). It seemed that they had lost more than they gained because even the idea that “proximity to death brings with it a corresponding proximity to life,” (p.81) they still lost the innocence that they had held before they really understood fear and death. Overall, I think You Win Some, You Lose Some is a good title because it is mentioned more than once in the book.
Before responding to the blog, while reading the book I came to the conclusion, that I would rename the book "How to tell a true war story", in agreement with Nina and Alex, I think that the most of the times throughout the book the narrator questioned the validity of what a true war story is, this was strengthened by the chapter entitled "How to tell a true war story". But I would name this book "Memoirs of a reluctant but Misunderstood Warrior". This title sounds a bit meeehh, but let me explain what I mean. The reason why I chose Memoirs is because when you think of Memoirs you think of Journal Entries, or reflections, just as he did in many of the stories he told about Curt Lemon's death. It seems like Tim is writing in a book one time only remembering some details, then he is writing about the same event another time thus making that Memoir effect. The misunderstood part is from the underlying theme of the book, he tries to find his lifes' goal also he is obsessed with a feeling of being embarrassed like his cares about what other people think of him instead of doing what he feels right, just in the case of him at the river with Elroy, he wanted to go across to Canada but he didn't primarily because he felt he would be shunned by his family and country. The reluctant part i feel is the fact that Tim has undergone so much pain and to live through the war to see most of his closest friend and fellow war mates being killed while he grazed and escaped death so many times, thus making him extremely lucky, as though some would say a cat with nine lives, this is what the life of Tim was.
Hi this is Miriam Meza
If I were to change the title of the book "The Things They Carried," I would change it to "The Ghost Soldiers."
My reasons for this is because:
1) Throughout the novel the narrator continues remembering events that occurred during the war. These events of course include the soldiers, which he socialized with. Reason being why
"The Ghost Soldiers" is an appropriate title since it includes Soldiers, which were the narrators friends and also take part in war. Ghost in my opinion define people and/or memories that do not want to leave or be forgotten after their death. Which just like the novel, memories keep being remembered as well as the soldiers that are not forgotten.
2) In the novel the narrator's most memorable event was how he killed Curt Lemon. "His jaw was in his throat, his upper lip and other eye was a star-shaped hole...to be a teacher of mathematics."(pg.124-125) These lines show how the narrator has the image of Curt Lemon crystal clear in his memory. Not only that but that the thought of him killing someone is haunting him down just like a ghost.
3)"There were a million ways to die. Getting shot was one way. Booby traps and land mines and gangrene and shock and polio from a VC virus."(pg. 196-197) These lines are self explanatory, that soldiers were bound to die in some way. Which just like the title they were soldiers that were eventually led to their death(ghost).
If i were to change the name of Tim O'brien's "The Things They Carried" to any other title i would choose to name it "Speaking of Courage", I would name it that because in the story there are so many things the soldiers went through that they may never recover from and they just stay with you like a scar on the mind. Even though they went through they were still there. For example Rat Kiley will always bare the scars of his friend Curt Lemon's tragic death. "Rat Kiley was crying. He tried to say something but then cradled his rifle and went off by himself." (pg79)After the death he lashed out in anger, but he never really let go of all the pain. Another example is Jimmy cross and the scar he bore from never fully forgiving him self for letting a man die because he was to distracted to be a leader. "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. Those soldiers bore many scars from the detrimental scars in their lives.
Hello, this is Thaddeus (Ted) Nowak...I think that the title for this book is very fitting, but if I HAD to change it, I would call it "Some Memories Never Die."
No making fun of it >:( !!!!
The reason for this title is because everything described in the book are memories of the narrator. The repetition of these memories show that they are not going away, that they are stuck in the head of narrator. We also see that many of these stories seem to revolve around death. Curt Lemon, Ted Lavender, Kiowa, Norman Bowker, Linda, the young Vietnamese man...we only hear stories of dying people. It is an obvious fact that everyone and everything will die someday. The title would contradict this obvious fact.
My first point is of course that several stories are repeated many times. My second point is how the narrator couldn't stop thinking of that person he killed. The third point is Norman Bowker's guilt over Kiowa's death. Each of the those memories will live on in those persons' lives.
I agree with Brian Johnson "Hump" would be a great title for the book because it does have a similar meaning to carrying things it fits because its a war story so soldiers will appreciate the title and readers in general will understand that hump means carry. Great title selection.
If I were to change the title of Tim O'Brien's "The Things They Carried", I would change it too, "The Ghost Soldiers". I would do so because this title covers exactly what the narrator covers for the characters, the duration and after effects of the war. The constant mention of Curt Lemon's death, "... when his foot touched down, in that instant, he must've thought it was the sunligt that was killing him..." (pg 84) is a ghost of a memory to forever follow the narrator. Another ghostly memory would be the narrator's mention of the innocent he killed, "A slim, dead, dainty young man of about twenty..." (pg 37) Finally the mention of Kiowa's death. It explains that these soldier's experiences are forever with them. The war is the ghost of their pasts, their fallen comrades and the people they may have killed. It will always haunt them no matter how their life may turn out.
I Strongly agree with Charlene about titling the book "The Silver Star" (pg 141) because it shows that each and every man that was on that battle field was special and fighting with the courage and fire in their heart to save their country and to fight for what was right.
I really think that if I could retitle the book I would consider “How to Tell a True War Story” The title fits the book because Tim O’Brien talks about how people tell war stories and there’s always someone who gives up their life to save someone else, they don’t talk about the lies, sex, drugs, and all other stuff that also plays an important role in war. In Tim’s war stories he adds a little to what he tells Like for example in the chapter “The Man I Killed” he talks about the man he shot then he starts making a story for the man to give him a realness to him, like he was some one before the war, “He had been born, maybe, in 1946 in the village of My Khe near the central coastline of Quang Ngai Province...”(125) with this you can see how the theme is being kept because that is to him how you tell a “true” war story.
Rat Kiley tells stories in the book as well and his stories are truer then the ones that have moral. The ones that you hear from other people have an ending. His stories are true, you can see that when his friend dies and he killed a baby buffalo it’s nothing to be proud of but its true and if some one said that his friend died and got over it or avenged their death then it wouldn’t be so true.“You can tell a true war story if it embarrasses you.”(69) The stories that Tim tells about the people in his book all have moments when that don’t feel like heroes and that makes it real and sometimes there is no happy ending such as that of Norman Bowker who went home with out a medal he thought his father would be proud of and the guilty he felt that it was also his fault Kiowa was dead. With all of that he ended up dead feeling that there was nothing left, his problem was finding a meaningful use for his life after the war. “In other cases you can’t tell a true war story. Sometimes it’s just beyond telling.”(71) Things you have to see to believe, its true even if you try to tell some one something even as hard as you try to explain something you really can't Tim uses Mitchell Sander's story as and example to what he meant. I really think this would be a good title because it groups everyone’s stories together making the book what it is.
-Macrina
This is Alicia Garcia.
If I were to retitle the text it would be "Stories can save us"(pg.225). Tim O'Brien is saving himself through all these stories. It's a relief for him. It's a way to relax himself and let it all out. In Notes he explains the importance of storytelling. "Telling stories seemed a natural, inevitable process, like clearing the throat"(pg.157). He admits that without telling the stories he would be basically dead. "I did not look on my work as therapy, and still don’t. Yet when I received Norman Bowker’s letter, it occurred to me that the act of writing had led me through a swirl of memories that might otherwise have ended in paralysis or worse" (pg.158). One of the themes here is storytelling and the importance of it. He adds more fictional details when he brings back memories. The way he tells the story helps him remember the death of the soldiers more beautiful. For example in How To Tell a True War Story he describes the death of Lemons as "...the sunlight, his face suddenly brown and shining, and when his foot touched down in that instant, he must’ve thought it was the sunlight killing him"(pg. 84). We also can't forget the death of Bowker. All he wanted is to tell his stories and telling him lead him to suicide. If he would have told his story he would have a feeling of relief. He would have let out those memories. For Tim, storytelling would not only save those who lived after the war but who died in the war as well. In The Lives of the Dead Tim clarifies himself on how by telling the stories, those who died would still be alive through these stories and never forgotten. They would always be alive in it. "We kept the dead alive with stories"(pg.239). Tim is saving there memories. There is a tone of satisfaction and the title fits perfect for both the tone and the themes going through the entire book. The author explains his point of why he wrote this book.
Yesenia about your title. It does relate somewhat although Tim focuses more on how to tell these stories. In that case any war book should be called that because they all are near death just by the fact that they're in war. I agree with those who said it should be titled "True War Stories". If i had a second option it would be that.
Hello, Wilson here
sorry for the lateness
I think a good tittle for this book is "A Soldiers Weight" For ther reason.
1) The premise of the novel is that O'Brian was in a unwanted war when he was 22 a relative young age. At that age you can see the enormas weight the world puts on you, but more importantly he has to carry with him all the baggage of his fellow combatments.
2)He carries what he saw during the war and it comes back to him in his life after it, which would now a days be call post-traumatic stress disorder, something that that many session in therapy to treat.
3) Is the novel itself. When trying to realive one self of mental pain many things can happen. On they could shut down and stop living life. Or two they can find an outlet to release all that built up stress, hence this book. Regardles of what actually happened during his service if truly portrade in the story is finite, because he grasp the chip on the soldier's shoulder that our side had been burdened with
LaNia West here...I really like the title that Robert chose "Memoirs of a reluctant but Misunderstood Warrior". I noticed that as mentioned by Robert O'Brien on various occassions mentions the same events but each time something is somewhat different, sometimes more personal about it. I first noticed this pattern in "The Man I Killed" (124) and "Ambush (131) where he discussed the young soldier that he killed on the trail.
If I were to retitle this book I would change it to "War Makes You Dead" (80). In "How to Tell a True War Story" O'Brien mentions on page 80 that "war is also mystery and terror and adventure and courage and discovery and holiness and pity and despair and longing and love. War is nasty; war is fun. War is thrilling; war is drudgery. War makes you a man;" all of those things about the war either killed the soldiers themselves or their spirit and will to live after it had long ended. We see that war is fun and makes you dead in the case of Curt Lemon in "How to Tell a True War Story", he and Rat Kiley were having fun playing catch taking risks and he ended up dying (70). Kiley was left in a war filled with longing and despair. We see war is nasty and makes you dead with Kiowa dying in the shit field in "In the Field" and we witness how war leaves you with holiness, pity and despair in "Speaking of Courage" where Norman commits suicide after he no long has the will to live (155). In the case of all three of these men they experienced these emotions throughout the war, and in Norman's case afterwards. The war made them quickly grow from being boys to and men but caused them not only to die physically but emotionally because it drained them of many things.
Hi my name is Miriam Orrego,
If I was to change the title of the book of “The things they carried” I would change it to “Ironies went beyond him.” I decided to use this title and line because throughout the book there have been many ironies that throw some ideas or thoughts off. My first example is of the little boy who has a plastic leg and how he asked for a chocolate. The GI just laughs and looks back at how sad it was that all this happens and the GI even says “War’s a bitch.” Here they specifically say “kid” when older young adults tend to be soldiers. All this happens in chapter “Spin” pg. 31. Another example of irony here would be on pg. 41 chapter “On the Rainy River” when O’Brien starts talking about how he got the notice of getting drafted. He was really bothered by it and says how he doesn’t know anything about war and would rather have other people go in. “I was no soldier. I hated Boy Scouts. I hated camping out. I hated dirt and tents and mosquitoes. The sight of blood made me queasy, and I couldn’t tolerate authority, and I didn’t know a rifle from a slingshot.” O’Brien looked like he completely disagreed with the war and by the way he spoke he looked as if he never would become a soldier so it be weird if he did. Ironically he writes this book and he describes his life as a soldier. He changed his mind by listening to an 80 year old man this is weird because being young many people don’t like listening to older people. He clearly remembers the old man he even realized that he himself needed help and the old man can give it to him. The man didn’t really do anything to help him O’Brien had it all in his head. Another example of irony would be on pg. 86-87 chapter The Dentist. Here O’Brien speaks about Curt Lemon. He describes Lemon as a soldier that “had a tendency to play the tough soldier role, always posturing.” As the story keeps going they go to the dentist tent and “Curt Lemon began to tense up. He kept fidgeting, playing with his dog tags.” He had been scared of the dentist ironically this shows how a person of fearless character has courage to go to war and yet being a man is afraid of a dentist. This shows something that is beyond him specially if he was a man who “pulled off some dangerous stunts even a few that seemed plain crazy.” Last example which to me seems pretty funny and awkwardly ironic would be the stockings story on pg. 117-118 chapter “Stockings”. A soldier to gain confidence, peace, and security used his girlfriend’s pantyhose. By him carrying this around he can feel safe and having something to fight for. I thought, well in my opinion probably others as well, that a man using pantyhose is pretty out of this world. Here is where I get the title the ironies went beyond him. Soldiers seem as hard working fearless men and all we get to hear is them having stories of them using, doing, having the weirdest ideas and emotions towards war. I agree with Nancy Catalan also, actually I was thinking of something like her ideas for my title. Throughout the book there are certain things that the soldiers do that are a bit immature and so naive. Like some of my examples they do some of the dumbest childish things. Like using pantyhose as a "secure blanket" or being afraid of a dentist.
Jennifer says:
In response to the question I would change the title of the novel from "The Things They Carried" to the title "How to Tell a True War Story". This title comes from the seventh chapter on page 67. In this chapter it talks about how a guy writes a letter to his dead friends sister and she doesn't write back. In this letter he sums up this soldier daring,dramatic life in the army. He puts his heart and soul into the letter and in the she never responds. This book should be titled this because the author poured his heart into it. O'Brien tells us every meaningful memory,and its evident that he cares deeply for everyone spoken of.In my understanding he wants us to understand the hidden lives of these soldiers.O'Brien also talks a lot about the makings of a true war story. For example(pg.68)"A true war story is never moral"(pg.69)"You can tell a true war story if it embarrasses you"(pg.71)"In any war story,but especially a true one, its difficult to separate what happened from what seemed to happen"(pg.71)"In many cases a true war story cannot be believed"(etc.) All of this plus more sums up the entire novel
Hi, I'm Katarzyna Razniak.
I agree with Sana that a good alternate title would be "Stories Can Save Us." (pg. 131) This title would work well because the narrator filled the entire book with stories about the people from his past that have died. "They’re all dead. But in a story, which is a kind of dreaming, the dead sometimes smile and sit up and return to the world." (pg. 225) The narrator uses his stories as a way to save the dead from death, and he gives them a chance to "live" again when he writes about them.
The stories not only save the dead, but they also save the narrator. "It occurred to me that the act of writing had led me through a swirl of memories that might otherwise have ended in paralysis or worse." (pg. 158)The narrator's stories allow him to cope with the difficult events of his past in a constructive way. He uses the stories to save himself from insanity, and while he does so he enriches his readers with life lessons.
IF I WERE TO CHANGE THE TITLE OF THE BOOK IT WILL BE "THE LIVING ARE DEAD ND THE DEAD ARE LIVING" OR SOMETHING LIKE THAT. THE REASON I CHOSE THIS TITLE IS BECAUSE THROUGHOUT THE BOOK THE SOLDIERS WHO FOUGHT THE WAR HAD TROUBLE FORGETTING THE DISASTROUS EVENTS THAT OCCURRED WHICH MADE THEM FEEL AS IF THEY WERE DEAD INSIDE. ONE GREAT EXAMPLE OF THIS WAS NORMAN BOWKER. EVEN O'BRIEN MENTIONED THIS THAT BY WRITING HIS STORIES WAS THE ONLY WAY HE COULD CALM DOWN, “I did not look on my work as therapy, and still don’t. Yet when I received Norman Bowker’s letter, it occurred to me that the act of writing had led me through a swirl of memories that might otherwise have ended in paralysis or worse. (158)” ALSO THE DEAD ARE LIVING BECAUSE THROUGH THE BOOK THEY BELIEVED THEIR ACTUAL DEAD WERE STILL LIVING OR THEY IMAGINED THEY WERE LIVING BECAUSE THEY WOULD RELIVE THE MOMENTS OVER AND OVER. THEY WOULD PRETEND THAT SOME OF THEM WERE ALIVE TO NOT FURTHER KILL THEMSELVES EMOTIONALLY, “They’re all dead. But in a story, which is a kind of dreaming, the dead sometimes smile and sit up and return to the world. (225)”
I also agree with Breezy and Brian. "Hump" would be a great title. It says a lot and leaves the reader to have an open mind of the overall meaning.
Hi, this Anali.
If I had to choose another title for this novel, I would choose “Trying to Save the Life of the Dead with a Story.” This line is similar to the one on pg. 246, lines 5-6, except this one substitutes “Timmy’s life” with everybody else’s life. I chose it because this is what O’Brien ultimately tries to do; he tried to save not only his life but the life of the people he cared about. This includes his friends from the war and Linda. They all died but he keeps them alive through his writing, his imagination, and his dreams. “The thing about a story is that you dream it as you tell it, hoping that others might then dream along with you, and this way memory and imagination and language combine to make spirits in the head. There is the illusion of aliveness” (p. 230, lines15-19). For him, a story made everything better because it was like a dream where things were better than reality. This was the same for the rest of the soldiers. We see Bowker thinking about Kiowa’s death and how he could’ve stop it, and we also see Jimmy Cross dreaming about a girl he met.
“We kept the dead alive with stories” (p. 239, line 4). This line is mentioned not only at the end of the novel but throughout the whole text. However, we see that it wasn’t only O’Brien who did this, but all the other soldiers as well. What’s also important is that O’Brien also wants to save his life with a story. As we know, he did not want to go to war. Therefore, he writes stories because he wants to relive those happy moments, “What stories can do, I guess, is make things present…I can make myself feel again” (p. 180), but also make up new moments to make the bad memories better, like going to war. This is what ultimately all veterans want to do after the war: forget the bad moments.
Trough storytelling O’Brien made us feel like everything was real. “That’s what a story does. The bodies are animated. You make the dead talk” (p. 231-232, lines 32-33). This is what they all did. At fist Tim did not want to talk to the dead but ultimately he does because that was the only way to make it seem like nothing really happened. It was the only way they could not feel so much grief for the person that died. Furthermore, O’Brien also writes stories “…where I looked for signs of forgiveness or personal grace…” (p.181, line 4). It seems like he looks for a way to forget about everything bad that happened and finally let go off that weight that he’s been carrying for so long.
I agree with Magaly’s idea of a title; it’s very similar to mine. I didn’t notice that until later. Some of the same ideas are there but I also had ideas of my own. I also like Yesenia’s title: “ You’re never more alive than when you’re almost dead” (pg. 81). It’s true that people change while in the war and are different afterwards. As she said, they have a “rude awakening.”
Hi, my name is Cristina Perez =D
If I were to rename the book "The Things They Carried," I would change the title to "Fieldtrip" which is the 18th chapter of this book (page 181). War is like a trip every soldier takes and each of them interpret it their own way. That's why I think that the stories the narrator tells in this book are each a fieldtrip taken by him and the other soldiers. on the first chapter the narrator tells about all the things that each soldier carries and how much they each weight. "Among the necessities or near-necessities were P-38 can openers, pocket knives, heat tabs, wristwatches, dog tags, mosquito repellent, chewing gum. . ." (page 2)here the narrator explains all the stuff that each soldier carried just as if they were going in some type of fieldtrip. Usually a fieldtrip is something positive and fun, but that is where everything changes in this book because a fieltrip to Vietnam is not fun or positive. War is negative and usually has negative effects in your head. A fieldtrip creates a memory just like the stories in this book have. The narrator takes the reade rin a fieldtrip with each story and goes inside the minds of some of the men who were there. Just like in a fieldtrip where you have to carry all your belingings that's exactly how it was in war too because all the belongings had ot be with you 24/7. The repetition of certain words or phrases makes it more of an unforgetable trip that the narrator is talking about "Over and over-there it is, my friend, there it is-as if the repetition itself were an act poise, a balance between crazy and almost crazy, knowing without going, there it is, which meant be cool, let it ride. . ." the repetition of the phrase there it is captures the attention of the reader and makes it unforgettable just like a fieldtrip could be.
I agree with Yesenia because i have the same opinion on how people change when they go to a war. i think a part of the person that goes to a war changes becaus eof all the atrocities that they see and live through, and the other part changes because of all of that now they view the world so different than before the war.
Hi, this is Angelica Alcaraz
If I were to choose a line or phrase from the stories in the novel it would be, "I Remember
These Things"(37). I have to say that major themes in the novel is war and guilt. One of the major tones in the novel is definetly guilt. These themes and tones is revealed with the technique of the constant memories that the narrator is always mentioning. The memories is a major technique that is used throughout the entire novel. Now memories is definetly something that you will remember otherwise they won't be memories. Memories can be about anything and memories can produce just about any feeling in someone. It can create happiness, sadness, resentment, etc. Memories is also just about anything. For example, war, love, peace, etc. The major theme in the novel is war and guilt and a major tone in the novel is guilt. These themes and tone is created by the technique of the memories. Since you always remember your memories that is why I decided that another good title for the novel would be, "I Remember These Things"(37).
Well I read all of my peers suggestions and I will have to say that I agree with all of them because they all make their point and I think made great choices. However, I also agree with Blanca that Nancy's title is great but it was not a line or phrase in the novel. I am also not sure but I think Tiffany's title is also not a line or phrase from the novel. I also saw some people had the same choice which I think is good that people agree on good titles.
[Joselyn Reyes]
If I were to change the title of the book from "The Things They Carried" to anything else, I would change the title to "A True War Story is Never Moral. (68)" The whole statement is "A true war story is never moral. It does not instruct, nor encourage virtue, nor suggest models of proper human behavior, nor restrain men from doing the things men have always done. If a story seems moral, do not believe it. If at the end of a war story you feel uplifted, or if you feel that some small bit of rectitude has been salvaged from the larger waste, then you have been made the victim of a very old an terrible lie. There is no rectitude whatsoever. There is no virtue. As a first rule of thimb, therefore, you can tell a true war story by its absolute and uncompromising allegiance to obsenity and evil. (68-69)"
The reason I chose this title was because:
1.) In the main statement it says a true war story does not encourage virtue. "There were no thoughts about killing. The grenade was to make him go away-just evaporate-and I leaned back and felt my mind go empty and then felit it up again. I had already thrown the grenade before telling myself to throw it. (133)" A true war story does not encourage to do what's right and avoid doing what is wrong. O'Brien reacted to his first instinct which was to kill his enemy. He could of avoided it by not paying attention to the man but this is a war and you have to look out for yourself more than anything.
2.) Also in the main statement it says that a true war story does not restrain men from doing the things men have always done. "At night, lying on his mat, he could not picture himself doing the brave things his father had done, or his uncles, or the heroes of the stories. He hoped in his heart that he would never be tested. He hoped the Americans would go away. Soon, he hoped. (125)" A true war story does not restrain men from doing the things men have always done. O'Brien doesn't fail to mention the young man's past generations and how the father and uncles took part in the wars and how they would look up to him and see that it was an honor for a young man like himself to be chosen to go to war and fight. Even if this young man didn't want to it was just something he had to do cause it was sort of like a tradition that men have to go through.
3.) The last thing that helps support my idea of choosing this title is that at the end of the statement is that you can tell a true was story by absolute and uncompromising allegiance to obsenity and evil. "Listen to Riley Kiley. Cooze, he says. He does not say bitch. He certainly does not say woman, or girl. He says cooze. The he spits and stares. (69)" You can tell a true was story by absolute and uncompromising allegiance to obsenity and evil. O'Brien mentions this part about Rat Kiley as an example of how there is an allegiance to obsenity and evil because Rat Kiley had just lost a friend but yet he uses this word "cooze" as another way to say "bitch."
There are also different themes and tones that can relate to this new title. For example Mitchell Sanders is always talking about morals in a story but here in this new title is it saying that a true war story has no morals, so this can be a tension created in the novel. As for the tones there are many involved in this novel such as depressing, ironic, serious, anger, etc.
Last but not least I just wanted to mention that I really do like Ted's title "Some Memories Never Die" because as Tim O'Brien does try to move on by writing all these war stories the thoughts amd memories are still in his mind and will always be there.
Hi this is Kyle Trentz,
If I had to change the title of the novel "The Things They Carried" by Tim O'Brien, I would change it to "We Keep the Dead Alive". I believe that this is a perfect title for the book because the entire book is about telling a story of the war, but by using the memories of the soldiers to do it, which I believe keeps the dead alive. In the novel, many of O'Brien's friends in the war had died, but he used their memories, as well as his own, to keep their legacies alive.
“They’re all dead. But in a story, which is a kind of dreaming, the dead sometimes smile and sit up and return to the world” (page 225). This quote supports my title because it shows that even though they are all dead, through these stories they are brought back to the world and live on in our memories. Also, just by bringing up his fellow soldiers and talking about their stories all throughout the book, O'Brien is keeping them alive in our memories.
I also agree with what Alex said. I like how she brought up the idea that O'Brien made his friends seem more alive and made them seem as though they had more emotions by speaking about them in third person and having them actually speak in the story instead of just speaking in first person.
Hey this is Steven Gallardo,
In this story about war, the title used as "The Things They Carried" could have been changed to something more about how their are a few stories on this book with other lead characters not just one. I would agree with Justyna Ciezobka that it should be called "How To Tell a True War Story" because in every story the narrator explains this theory. In my title though, it would say "How to Tell a True Story is Real" because in these stories the narrator also explains how to tell if a story is true or not. "You can tell a true war story by the questions you ask. Somebody tells a story, let's say, and afterwards you ask, 'Is it true?' and if the answer matters, you've got your answer" (83). Way veterans will at times over exaggerate a story from the war and people have to ask the right questions to figure out if something like that can actually happen. Since this is played throughout the book with the idea of knowing how to tell a war story and also how to know if it is true tells that all stories can be brought with skepticism.
[Hello, this is Yesica Prado. >.< ]
If I could retitle the book “The things they carried”, its new name would be “Toy Soldiers” or “The Iron Youth”. I would rename it this way because throughout the novel the narrator tells the stories of the young soldiers that fought during the war. The narrator repeatedly remembers them as he reveals more about their lives during and after the war. He often describes the war as a childish game and his fellow comrades as immature boys. In the chapter “Spin”, the author refers to the war as a sporting event, he said, “The average age in our platoon, I’d guess, was nineteen or twenty, and as a consequence things often took on a curiously playful atmosphere, like a sporting event at some exotic reform school” (37). In this case the war did not seem like hell as he depicts it in other chapters, but rather as a silly game that young and naïve boys were playing. The war seems like the last thing that they were worried about, its almost as if they were playing with water guns on a extremely hot and dry summer day in their backyards. In the chapter “How to Tell a True War Story”, the narrator remembers how would his comrades would innocently fool around, he states, “A nature hike, they thought, not even a war, so they went off into the shade of some giant trees—quadruple canopy, no sunlight at all—and they were giggling and calling each other yellow mother and playing a silly game they’d invented”(69). This memory demonstrates how these soldiers were not prepared to take on such an enormous responsibility and just wanted to have fun. It was not their war to fight, they were just simply forced to go and face issues that they were not even aware of. In that very same chapter, the author recalls a comical event before Curt Lemon’s death, he utters, “On Halloween, this real hot spooky night, the dude paints up his body all different colors and puts on this weird mask and hikes over to a ville and goes trick-or-treating almost stark naked, just boots and balls and an M-16”(68). Once again this proves how they were just boys and how the war destroyed their innocence. Curt Lemon died playing a silly game and is just sad to die in such a pitiful way.
I agree with Nancy Catalan on how the soldiers seemed hopeless and naïve. Also how they began to lose faith as they just saw their fellow comrades die in front of them and have to carry with the guilt of losing a friend.
Hi, I’m Jimmy.
A more suitable title for the book would be “This Is My Story…” The reason I chose this to as a good alternate to “The Things They Carried” is because throughout the book, the author tells us his “story” and what he experiences in the war. The book right away begins with telling how it just basically sucks there; not one person wanted to be there, they were all young and scared, they had to carry all these physical and mental burdens. Also, even though it is the author’s story, his story basically tells the story of the other soldier’s experiences. For example, most of his stories revolve around death of Ted Lavender, Curt Lemon, Kiowa, Norman Bowker, Linda and The young Vietnamese soldier. Although, each soldier would tell the story differently, they all basically feel guilt and remorse for killing or allowing the person to be killed.
This is Cesar Servin
If i were to rename the title, "The Things They Carried", I would rename it simply to "This is War". In my opinion, the book tries to give you a realistic visual perspective on war based on experiences. He wants the reader to visualize and read real experiences about war, and he uses similies, for example, to give u a more realistic visual. "On occasions the war was like a Ping-Pong ball. You could put fancy spin on it, you could make it dance."(pg. 32) He goes on to explaining his view on how a real war story is told, " A true war story is never moral. It does not instruct, nor encourage virtue, nor suggest models of proper human behavior, nor restrain men from doing the things men have always done. If a story is moral, do not believe it".(pg. 68) That whole chapter, "How to Tell a True War Story", goes on to saying how O'Brien thinks a true war story should be told. Constantly, the author goes to saying how war affected his comrades and others. He states the different ways war can affect a human being. I also agree with Rocio with the title "The Lives of the Dead", since Tim O'Brien does refer to stories of dead comrades that have impacted his life. I chose my title because it's a simple title that is straight to the point of the book. The book is about war, and everything related to war, from viewpoints to stories about psychological actions that are absorbed during war. He has many stories of the psychological effects on people involved in the war. The story I like reading over the most is the story of Mary Anne Bell. He goes on to saying, " For Mary Anne Bell, it seemed, Vietnam had the effect of a powerful drug: that mix of unnamed terror and unnamed pleasure that comes as the needle slips in and you know you're risking something...you become intimate with danger: you're in touch with the far side of yourself...".(pg.114) It basically tells you what war is like.
(Sorry for responding late but i got caught in that U.S. final volleyball match. Go U.S.A!!)
Spencer Harstead:
If I were to rename the book, I would have to go with “Stories of Life After Death” (239). Although this is not nearly as catchy as the current title, it sums up a lot of the book. A lot of the stories told in the novel were based on characters that died in the war.
One story was of Curt Lemon and how he died. He was blown up which was described as him being sucked into a tree by a light. But the more important part was Rat pouring his heart out to Curt’s sister in a letter and never getting a response. It was a story of Rat’s life after Curt’s death. This is life after death. (68-70)
Another story of death is Kiowa’s. He died in a sewage field. The more important part of his death is the effects it had on others. Kiowa’s death made Bowker feel less courageous about all his accomplishments. He even ended up hanging himself. “It’s almost like I got killed over in Nam…That night when Kiowa got wasted, I sort of sank down the sewage with him.” (Page 156) That is a story of life after Kiowa’s death.
Finally, there was Linda. She was O’brien’s girlfriend in 4th grade. She died of a brain tumor. Long after her death O’brien still thinks of her as she is alive. “Lying awake that night, I made up elaborate stories to bring Linda alive in my sleep.” (Page 243). This is another example of a story of life after death.
I would also like to agree with Magaly’s title. “We Kept the Dead Alive With Stories.” It’s similar to my title but also provides a deeper analysis of why they tell the stories of life after death.
This is Julie Mei.
Instead of using "The Things They Carried," I would name the story "A Memory Behind."
To be honest, I used to use this as a user name for my AIM. I chose that user name because of a past memory I had that had a significant meaning and story behind it. I chose to name this book "A Memory Behind" because I believe that this past memory O'Brien had will always have an impact on him throughout his life; it is something that he will live with and carry with him no matter how many years it has been. Although I really like the name "The Things They Carried," (because it has a deep meaning to it) I think it should have a word that relates to the past like using the word "memory." In the book, he's always referring back to what happened years ago. In the following lines, "I'm forty three years old, and a writer now, and the war has been over for a long while. Much of it is hard to remember. I sit at this typewriter and stare through my words and watch Kiowa sinking into the deep muck of a shit field, or Curt Lemon hanging in pieces from a tree, and as I write about these things, the remembering is turned into a kind of rehappening," (pg. 32) this tells us no matter how old you are, some things that you think might fade away will become more and more clear to you every time you think about it. In the lines, "Kiowa yells at me. Curt Lemon steps from the shade into bright sunlight, his face brown and shining, and then he soars into a tree. The bad stuff never stops happening: it lives in its own dimension, replaying itself over and over," (pg. 32) tells us how bad things he experienced in the war still replays in his mind over and over again. It's a past experience O'Brien had that made him write such a great story about war, even the good and the bad. Also, "I feel guilty sometimes. Forty-three years old and I'm still writing war stories. My daughter Kathleen tells me it's an obsession, that I should write about a little girl who finds a million dollars and spends it all on Shetland pony. In a way, I guess she's right: I should forget it. But the thing about remembering is that you don't forget. You take your material where you find it, which is in your life, at the intersection of past and present," (pg. 34) shows how O'Brien has an obsession with writing war stories. O'Brien named this book "The Things They Carried" because each person carries a piece of intangible memory and love for someone to the war that gives them hope. It gives them a reason to live on and an energy to keep going. To name this book "A Memory Behind" would be one of the good choices because in this book, he not only tells us his past, but also his experience he had during the war. It takes us to a different world that many of us had not experience before. It is a memory that was years behind but will be with him forever. I believe that is how O'Brien felt when he wrote this story and when he named his book.
I also agree with Nancy Catalan. When I read her comment, I thought the title "The Young and Hopeless" was brilliant. I really like how she broke down the events from how he was first drafted into war to how he felt DURiNG the war.
If I was to retitle "The Things They Carried" I would choose "A Kind of Dignity" (19) as the new title. This is the ideal title for this book as it relates to the theme of the emotional aspects and outcomes of life during and after the Vietnam War for a soldier. The original title also relates to the new title as they both deal with the theme of having to deal with the psychological effects of the war. The title hints at the main theme Tim O'Brien uses of how soldiers are affected mentally during and after the war.
Tim O'Brien speaks of the numerous items soldiers carried with them to help them survive the Vietnam War. This is not the main observation he made, as it was of the psychological aspect that affected the soldiers most as shown in, "There were numerous such poses. Some carried themselves with a sort of wistful resignation, others with pride or stiff soldierly discipline or good humor or macho zeal. They were afraid of dying but they were even more afraid to show it." (20) This shows how the soldiers had their own personality to help deal with the war. It was not a true character, but more of a way to avoid showing their true feelings on death.
The story of Rat Kiley losing his mind during the war is an example of the true mental state soldiers carry with them every day. Rat Kiley finally reveals his true identity when,"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. Briefly then, rambling a little, he talked about a few of the guys who were gone now, Curt Lemon and Kiowa and Ted Lavender, and how crazy it was that people who were so incredibly alive could get so incredibly dead." (114) Rat had tried coping with the stress and gore of having to see his fellow friends die and try to not care on a daily basis. It was the dignity of helping them out in a successful manner that helped him deal with the realities of war.
Tim creates the story of how Norman Bowker speaks of having lost his dignity in, "Turning on his headlights, driving slowly, Norman Bowker remembered how he had taken hold of Kiowa's boot, and pulled hard, but how the smell was simply too much, and how he'd backed off and in that way had lost the Silver Star. He wished he could have explained some of this. How he had been braver than he ever thought possible, but how he had not been as brave as he wanted to be." (153) Norman Bowker is the example of the fake personality a veteran tries to have in his life after the war. He too does ends up with a negative outcome when he finally breaks such as Rat had during the war.
I do not agree with Sana when she claims the main theme of the book being about how writing helps you recover from the worst incidents. This is partially evident as Norman still committed suicide even after writing to Tim. Tim also has not recovered and instead deals with his life after the war in a better fashion than others.
The entry above is Egder Dominguez.
My choice to change the title from the book "The things they Carried" would be " Ambush", I chose this title because it's all unpredictable merioes that some try to forget, but then again that's what makes them who they are, and to defend themselves. It's seemed like a roller coaster, just up and down. Those memories seemed an infestation, you can't get away from them. Then just when you think it's all gone they blast all at the same time. I also choose this title because those stories made them vulnerable; never being able to tell the truth. Tim always wanted to tell his daughter the truth of killing the guy, but he couldn't; the fear of her reaction to the truth. Yet this ambush even attacked him when asleep, Tim waking up in the middle of the night and filled with cold sweat and having all kinds of flashbacks in a second. In addition to that an ambush of emotions, like when he was talking about generalizing; "War is also mystery and terror and adventure and courage and holiness and pity and despair and longing and love. War is nasty; war is fun. War was thrilling; war is drudgery. War makes you a man; war makes you dead". They don't how to control all of that, it can drive anyone crazy.
Ana Navarro
If I could retitle the novel, I think I would go with "It's Like The Thread That Makes The Cloth"(77). It just had a great impact on me the first I read it, specially with O'Brien's explanation.
I remember reading that paragraph and stopping right at "cloth" and before I could continue reading I started thinking about what O'Brien could have meant by that. If you think about it, it has all the ideas the book is trying to express. A cloth is formed through repetion, one thread at a time, going through all kinds of directions and ending with one great masterpiece. In a way, I thought of "cloth" as been one's life and "thread" been all those experiences that make up one's life, all those twists and turns we take. Though what really gave it the meaning was O'Brien's words. "You can't tease it out"(77), he says. The book, of course, has this technique. The characters in the novel, especially the vets, can't seem to tease the war out of their memories. All they can do is make sense out of each experience and hope that someday there'll be no more regrets. Its like eating an elephant one bite at a time. Likewise, Tim says, "You can't extract the meaning without unraveling the deeper meaning. And at the end, really, there's nothing much to say about a true war story, except maybe "Oh".(77)
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