The Things They Carried Characters Analysis
Tim O’Brien - The Narrator of the novel served in the Vietnam War with the Alpha Company. Tim had no desire to join the war and contemplated running away to Canada when he first received his letter for the draft. He saw his first dead man in Vietnam four days after being deployed and killed a man with a grenade during a night ambush. Tim O’Brien forms close bonds with the members of the Alpha Company and feels a deep sense of personal loss at the death of his colleague and close friend, Kiowa. Tim becomes a writer after the war and writes stories about the war to deal with his traumatic memories.
Jimmy Cross - The Lieutenant of Alpha Company feels responsible for the deaths of his men, most particularly Kiowa and Ted Lavender. Jimmy Cross blamed himself for Ted’s death because he had been daydreaming about his love interest while he should have been paying attention to the mission. He also feels responsible for Kiowa’s death because he had failed to notice that the company was camped out on a field of filth too close to the river. Jimmy Cross reveals to Tim that he had never been able to forgive himself for his negligence at the time of Ted’s death. He never gets married to Martha, although he continues to love her.
Kiowa - A Native American Christian soldier of the Alpha company who shares a close relationship with Tim. Kiowa carries around an illustrated copy of the New Testament that he had received from his father. Kiowa comforts Tim after he sees his first dead body in Vietnam, and then again when Tim kills a man with his grenade. Kiowa dies in a field of human waste during mortar shelling that causes him to drown in the soup-like field.
Norman Bowker - Norman serves as a soldier in the Alpha Company and feels particular remorse over Kiowa’s death. He describes it as the day he failed to be brave. He continues to be haunted by the smell of the field, and the shocking realization that they were slowly drowning in human waste. He had seen Kiowa going under the filth, but he could not muster the strength to pull him out. Norman writes a letter to Tim describing his belief that he had died on that field of waste with Kiowa. He was unable to deal with civilian life back in his hometown, and a few years after writing Tim the letter, Norman Bowker kills himself.
Rat Kiley - The medic of the Alpha Company is distraught over the death of his close friend and comrade, Curt Lemon. Rat Kiley pens a heartfelt letter to Curt Lemon’s sister after he dies while the two of them are playing a game in the forests of Vietnam. He receives no reply from Curt’s sister. Rat Kiley becomes severely affected by the Company’s frequent nighttime missions. He begins to see visions of dismembered bodies and his corpse. He shoots himself in the foot and is evacuated to Japan for recovery.
