CliffsNotes on

The Things They Carried

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About the Author

Personal Background
Career Highlights

About the Novel

Introduction
A Brief Synopsis
List of Characters

Summaries and Commentaries

The Things They Carried
Love
Spin
On the Rainy River
Enemies
How to Tell a True War Story
The Dentist
Sweetheart of Song Tra Bong
Stockings
Church
The Man I Killed
Style
Speaking of Courage
Notes
In the Field
Good Form
Field Trip
The Ghost Soldiers
Night Life
The Lives of the Dead

Character Analyses

“Tim O’Brien”
Lt. Jimmy Cross
Norman Bowker
Mary Anne Bell
Kiowa
Rat Kiley
Linda
Henry Dobbins

Critical Essays

The Things They Carried in a Historical Context
Narrative Structure in The Things They Carried
Style and Storytelling in The Things They Carried
The Things They Carried and Loss of Innocence
The Things They Carried and Questions of Genre

Study Help

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Would you rather . . . ?

Have a third arm.
Have hair down to your toes.
Have no nose.

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Summaries and Commentaries

Stockings

bouncing Betty  An explosive that propels upward from the ground and then detonates.

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