The Things They Carried

Through storytelling in The Things They Carried Tim O’Brien attempts to distance himself from his disturbing memories of Vietnam. I noticed that most stories are told in the first-person point of view, but the third-person point of view is used for exceptionally painful stories. Once again, O’Brien attempts to maintain a distance from his experiences. In “The Man I Killed” O’Brien describes the body of the dead Vietnamese soldier in great detail, sharing Kiowa and the other soldier’s reactions. Never once does he mention his own feelings about the dead Vietnamese soldier though. It is implied from his lack of personal input that he suffers extreme guilt for the death of the Vietnamese soldier. Through storytelling in The Things They Carried O’Brien discovers personal healing.