Introduction for The Things They Carried

1. Introduction for The Things They Carried By Tim O’Brien

2. Different from the rest…. • Refreshingly modern style • Author is not afraid to blur the lines of fiction and non-fiction (this is historical fiction but feels so real) • So many layers: war, friendship, loss, storytelling, purpose of words…. • Can apply beyond the English classroom world

3. “And sometimes remembering will lead to a story, which makes it forever. That’s what stories are for. Stories are for joining the past to the future…stories are for eternity, when memory is erased, when there is nothing to remember except the story”

4. Essential Questions • Is what’s true always what’s real? • Is courage always tied to a fear of shame? • Can someone go through something terrible and remain unchanged? • What happens when our nation asks someone to fight a war that is against an individual’s moral code? • What is the genuine value of storytelling? Reading historical fiction novel? • Do authors, great authors, have a responsibility to teach us a moral lesson about how to improve? • How can words be used to express the inexpressable? How much power do words really have?

5. A Great Ghostly Fog… Vietnam

6. WW II vs. Vietnam Two totally different “stories” and types of wars….

7. American troops land in Nazi-occupied Europe—World War II • Consider the following questions: • How did the US get involved? • Who is their enemy? Why is he/why are they the enemy? • What is their objective? • Is their cause just?

8. The “Story” of World War II • World War II follows the pattern of a “traditional” war story: • Clear enemy • Clear sides • Clear objectives • War is terrible, but the cause is just. • “Us vs. Them”

9. Look closely at this photograph, and consider the following questions: • Can you tell which side is which? If so, how? If not, why not? • Describe the landscape. What problems might it present for American soldiers? • What else strikes you about this photo?

10. American troops on patrol in Vietnam • Consider the following questions: • How did the US get involved? • Who is their enemy? Why is he/why are they the enemy? • What is their objective? • Is their cause just?

11. The “Story” of Vietnam • The “story” of Vietnam is Postmodern: • Anyone could be the enemy. • No clear lines—enemy is everywhere in the jungle. • Ambiguous objectives. • War is Hell. • There is no right or wrong, just survival. • The war is within the minds of the soldiers and within US society. • Many soldiers were against it

12. Postmodernism • Postmodernism: Is a mindset or a sensibility, particularly in literature. • Postmodernism: • Rejects absolute truth. • Avoids easy categories (enemy/ally, black/white) • Is suspicious of “meta-narrative.” (The hero’s journey, classical tragedy, etc.)

13. From The Things They Carried: Narrator writes, “Mitchell Sanders was right. For the common soldier, at least, war has the feel--the spiritual texture--of a great ghostly fog, thick and permanent. There is no clarity. Everything swirls. The old rules are no longer binding, the old truths no longer true. Right spills over into wrong. Order blends into chaos, love into hate, ugliness into beauty, law into anarchy, civility into savagery. The vapors suck you in. You can't tell where you are, or why you're there, and the only certainty is overwhelming ambiguity”

14. Writing the Un-writeable • How then does one successfully write about war, especially the Vietnam war? O’Brien will show us one way to do it. • The Things They Carried is as much about war as it is about storytelling…and friendship….and emotions

15. About O’Brien • Was drafted during the Vietnam war and served despite being against the war • Has several successful books; most of which are related to his war experiences which he believes are at the core of his motivations to write • He often speaks at Stanford and is still active in the writing community

16. O’Brien himself • “ I was drafted to fight a war I hated. Young, yes, and politically naïve, but even so the American war in Vietnam seemed to me wrong. I saw no unity of purpose, no consensus on matters of philosophy or history or law. The very facts were shrouded in uncertainty…you don’t make a war without knowing why. Once people are dead, you can’t make then undead” (O’Brien 41)

17. The Draft • Draft (noun) compulsory enrollment into military service • The Selective Service System: national register in which all US male citizens must enlist within 30 days of their 18th birthday. • Failure to register can result in the removal of US citizenship. • Registrants stay in the registry until their 35th birthday. Women, currently, are exempt

18. Understanding the Vietnam Draft • By 1967, 40,000 men per month from low to middle class families were drafted. • By 1968, ¼ of all court cases were because of draft evasion. By the end of 1975, over 210,000 people had been tried in court for draft evasion • Over 30,000 people fled to Canada • The majority of those drafted could neither vote nor drink legally. • College students were the largest group of non-supporters of the draft and the war in general. They also made the majority of the Armed Forces.

19. Look at this map… 2010 data Green -  No armed forces  Blue -  No active conscription  Yellow-  Plan to abolish conscription  Red - Conscription  Gray-  No information

20. Hwk Qs due Wed: Chapters 1-3 1. Explain the meaning of the title, “The Things They Carried.” a. What is the first item listed as a carried thing? Why? Think about the metaphors of “weight.”  b. Choose two characters and record the literal and figurative things they carried, use a quote for each character. 2. What would you bring with you if you were going to be gone from home for a long time and you could bring three “carryable” items with you? Why? 3. Who is responsible for Ted Lavender’s death? How much responsibility can we place on Jimmy Cross? 4. In “Spin,” O’Brien notes some of the way the men use humor to get through the war and he also gives the reader a preview of many events to come. Pick a quote from this chapter and analyze it.

21. Pick a Character….everyone • After you finish reading chapter one, pick one of these characters and track them for the rest of the novel: guiding questions (use quotes and respond in journal, reserve 2 pages) • A. What does he carry and why? What is his most notable characteristics • B. What are the most major events in the story that surround him? How do these events change him? • By the end, how has the character transformed? Have they survived? • What is the message O’Brien sends through him ultimately? • Jimmy Cross • Kiowa • Rat Kiley • Tim • Azar • Norman Bowker • Henry Dobbins

22. Honors-Adopt a Topic also Choose a topic below and track it throughout the novel. You will be asked to bring it up in class discussions and lead a fishbowl discussion when we finish the book on the topic. • Bravery and Shame (the differences, the connections, the manifestations) • Truth/Reality (story truth vs. happening truth) • Role of the author • Language and persuasion techniques   • Your topic is ___________________  • In your journal, you need 5 golden lines (great quotes) with analysis and citations by the end. Do them as you read