"Tim O'Brien" The protagonist of the novel, "O'Brien" symbolizes memory and storytelling, two central themes of the novel. He is a young foot soldier in the Vietnam War, a member of Alpha Company. He is also the fictional persona of O'Brien the writer, and similarly is a middle-aged writer with a Midwestern, middle-class background that informs his values. Readers follow "O'Brien" around Vietnam, experiencing his fear, guilt, curiosity, and blood lust. For all of the first hand accounts and stories, "O'Brien" is the readers' source, and he demonstrates the danger of believing that something is either fact or fiction, often by evoking emotions in the reader.
Kiowa Kiowa symbolizes the wastefulness of war. He is a foot soldier in Alpha Company, a Native American Baptist who always keeps an illustrated New Testament with him. He is O'Brien's closest friend in Vietnam and is killed in battle when he drowns in a field during a flood. When "O'Brien" returns to Vietnam, he visits the site of Kiowa's death and leaves his moccasins as a memorial to his friend.
Curt Lemon Lemon represents an outdated model of masculine heroism. He is brave and fearless to a fault, known in Alpha Company for pulling crazy stunts just for the attention and the thrill of danger. He even makes a dentist pull a healthy tooth from his mouth to prove to everyone that he is not afraid of dentists. Eventually stepping on a booby trap kills him.
Lt. Jimmy Cross The leader of Alpha Company, Cross personifies mental escapism, the ability to project one's mind somewhere else to escape from an undesirable situation. Instead of concentrating on the war, Cross occupies his mind with memories of Martha, his old sweetheart. Rather than helping to search for Kiowa's body, Cross spends time thinking about the letter he must write to Kiowa's father. Cross meets up with O'Brien after the war, and he still carries feelings of unrequited love for Martha. Whether in the middle of the war or 20 years later, Cross focuses on life outside of war, but also carries a heavy, self-imposed burden of guilt because of it.
