The Thing They Carried.

1.“The draft notice arrived on June 17, 1968.…. to a smoldering self-pity, then to numbness. “ ( O’Brian 41-42)

This reading shows a point in which time stood still for Tim O’Brian. He had just received his draft notice, and it felt as if his life was ending. His first reaction was denial. There must have been a mistake. “I was too good for this war. Too smart, too compassionate, too everything. It couldn’t happen.”(O’Brian 41) I believe Tim O’Brian felt an inner rage so great that he felt blood flood into his eyes and a howl that was dying to come out. A million reasons for why he shouldn’t be drafted were bouncing around in his head as he faces this enormous problem that he has no power to avoid.
O’Brian can remember time and setting clearly. It was June 17th 1968, afternoon and humid. He had just come back from playing golf only to find disaster waiting for him. The author reveals the thought process and his feelings of rage, self-pity and numbness.

2. Beyond all this, or at the very center… taking aim at another human being.(O’Brian 44)
In this text, O’Brian is thinking about dying. He shows his fear of dying. He describes it using the word “raw” which shows how painful thinking about death is to him. He is aware of driving up Main Street, passing the courthouse and the Ben Franklin store and feeling very afraid of going to a war in which he could die.
O’Brian tries to imagine what it would be like to be in Vietnam and how he thinks he may react to being there and being forced to kill an enemy. He says, “taking aim at another human being,”(O’Brian 44) This reveals his feelings about taking another life, the life of a person. His epiphany is the realization that he cannot do this.

3. “At one point, I remember Elroy put down his maul…..the problem had gone beyond discussion.“ (O’Brian 51)
This text reveals the character of Elroy Berdahl, an eighty-one year old man that O’Brian met at Tip Top Lodge. Elroy says a lot more with his expressions than the words he says. He appears to be a wise man considering Tim’s situation and understanding that it was better to listen than to speak. Elroy seems to understand Tim’s problem without having to ask any questions.
I think that Elroy was giving serious thought to Tim’s problem, and the reason that he was at the lodge. Elroy realizes that you cannot force decisions but that you have to wait for the person to sort things out until he comes to his own conclusion. Elroy reacts to his setting by acting patient and natural like the nature around him.

4. “In any circumstance…. for two pr three hours he simply sat there.” (O’Brian 62-63)
In this text, Dave Jensen seems to be encountering a problem in which he couldn’t trust anyone. “His realization is that he didn’t feel safe. “No safe ground: enemies everywhere.” ( O’Brian 63) Dave seems to feel threatened by Strunk coming after him seeking revenge. Dave acts paranoid and interacts with his setting by staying on the perimeter, away from everyone.
The author reveals that Dave felt tense, skittish and under strain. He showed avoidance and strange behavior of hearing noises or threats that were not there. This reveals his disturbed and paranoid behavior Dave eventually goes nuts and fires at them with live ammunition which shows that he has lost control.

5. “He stepped back and shot it….. Pupils shiny black and dumb.”( O’Brian 78-79)
This text best shows how Rat expressed his grief over the death of his best friend Curt Lemon who died when he stepped on a booby-trap. Rat is carefully and calmly killing an innocent water buffalo one shot at a time. One shot wasn’t enough. He didn’t feel like killing. He needed to destroy something.
Rat showed how he dealt with this huge conflict of death. His realization was that he needed to hurt as much as he felt hurt. He wanted to cause as much pain as he felt. The way he would whisper to the animal and then shoot him showed how cold and cruel he could be.