The Things They Carried

In several stories throughout the book, the narrator says, “I’m forty-three years old, true, and I’m a writer now” (171). Why do you think the narrator repeats this phrase so often? Does it change the way you read the stories and if so, how?

As the men travel through the war zone, they encounter many helpful locals, such as the woman who tries to warn them not to camp by the field and the old man who guides them through the minefields. Why does the author bother to include portraits of such characters? How do they affect the overall moral tone of the book?

The narrator says of Elroy Berdahl, the man with whom he stayed at the lodge, “that man saved me” (46). Yet Elroy Berdahl hardly spoke. Why does the narrator feel that Elroy Berdahl saved him?

Lee Strunk and Dave Jensen make a pact to end one another’s lives should the other become gravely wounded. In the end, however, when Lee Strunk loses a leg, Dave Jensen seems to be relieved “of an enormous weight” (63) when Lee Strunk dies. Why do you think Dave Jensen feels relieved to hear of Strunk’s death? In the end, are the two friends or enemies?

The narrator tells a story about killing a man but later says he did not truly kill anyone. His presence at the death of the man makes him feel guilty enough. Do you think the narrator deserves the blame he places on himself? Why or why not?

After Kiowa’s death, Norman Bowker, a young soldier, the narrator, and Jimmy Cross all feel responsible for the death. Where should the blame for Kiowa’s death lie? On one of the men, all of them, or none of them? Why?

The narrator’s daughter shows curiosity about whether he has killed anyone. If presented with a similar situation, would you choose to tell your 10-year-old daughter the truth? What are the merits and downsides of either lying or being honest?

The Vietnam War took place primarily in the 1960s and 1970s. In what ways has the American attitude toward international wars changed since then? In what ways has it remained the same?