Quotes from The Things They Carried

Front

The Things They Carried

"They carried all they could bear, and then some, including a silent awe for the terrible power of the things they carried."

Back

The Narrator (Tim O'Brien):

The soldiers carried heavy physical gear, but the heaviest things were their emotions (fear, grief, and responsibility) and the terrible power they had to kill.

Front

The Things They Carried

"Make me out to be a good guy, okay? Terrific in the field and so on. Brave and handsome, all that stuff. And be sure to get in that I've smartened up. I'm not in love anymore."

Back

Lieutenant Jimmy Cross:

Years later, Cross is still worried about what people think of him. He wants O'Brien to write a story that makes him look like a brave, smart leader to make up for his past mistakes and guilt over a man's death.

Front

The Things They Carried 

"Man, I'll tell you, sometimes I'd rather just salute the guy and say good-bye."

Back

Kiowa:

Kiowa says this after a soldier dies. It means it's hard to pretend to feel strong emotions for someone you barely knew. The soldiers had to be emotionally distant to survive the constant death.

Front

Spin 

"Nobody ever talks about it. You go over there, nobody says a word. You just do it."

Back

Mitchell Sanders:

Sanders is talking about how the soldiers handle awful tasks, like cleaning up dead bodies. It shows the unwritten rule: they must stay silent about their pain and just get the terrible job done.

Front

Enemies   

"The whole war, you know? Like a great big movie, right? Everybody dressed up and playing roles."

Back

Lee Strunk:

Strunk sees the war as fake and absurd, like a movie where they are forced to act out violent parts. He feels confused about what is real and what is just a performance of war.

Front

How to Tell a True War Story  

"You don't make up things. You just report. Tell it like it was."

Back

Mitchell Sanders:

Sanders believes the best way to tell a war story is to stick only to the facts—the things that actually happened. He trusts the "happening-truth."

Front

Sweetheart of the Song Tra Bong 

"She wasn't stupid, Rat. She was just brave. You got to give her that. She had guts."

Back

Fossie:

Fossie defends his girlfriend, Mary Anne. He's saying that her choice to become a tough, jungle warrior was a different, terrifying kind of bravery, not stupidity.

Front

Stockings  

"No way. It's the magic. You got to get the magic, the things that make it come to life."

Back

Henry Dobbins:

Dobbins carries his girlfriend's stockings as a lucky charm. He believes in this superstition because, in the total chaos of war, he needs something "magical" to feel safe and in control.

Front

Speaking of Courage  

"The thing is," he wrote, "there's no place to go. Not just in Vietnam—I mean in general."

Back

Norman Bowker:

This line from Bowker's letter explains his deep loneliness after the war. He feels lost and cannot find a way to fit back into normal life or share his experiences with anyone.

Front

The Ghost Soldiers    

"What's real? Eight months in fantasyland, it tends to blur the line. Honest to God, I sometimes can't remember what real is."

Back

Azar:

Azar says this, meaning the war was so crazy and unreal that it changed his mind permanently. He can no longer tell the difference between what's real and what's make-believe.