Name:____________________________________________Date:_______________Block:________
The Things They Carried
“Stockings” Pgs. 111-112
1. What do the stockings represent?
2. Why did so many of the men, including Dobbins, believe in superstition?
“Church” Pgs. 113-117
1. What is the importance of this chapter?
2. What do we learn about Henry Dobbins and Kiowa?
“The Man I Killed” Pgs. 118-124
1. What does the fact that the soldier had clean fingernails tell us about him?
2. Tim O’Brien talks a lot about the soldier he killed. How does he know so much about him?
3. Why does O'Brien construct a hypothetical biography for the dead man?
4. What does the butterfly symbolize?
5. Why the star-shaped hole in the soldier’s face?
6. What does this quote tell us about the Vietnamese soldiers, “Beyond anything else, he was
afraid of disgracing himself…” (121)?
7. What is the importance of the sunlight and shade?
8. What is O'Brien's emotional reaction to the dead man?
9. What does Kiowa want O'Brien to do?
“Ambush” Pgs. 125-128
1. Tim O’Brien says, “I tried to swallow whatever was rising from my stomach, which tasted like
lemonade, something fruity and sour.” “I wanted to warn him” (126-127). What does this tell us
about him?
2. What is the importance of this chapter?
3. In "Ambush," O'Brien writes, "This is why I keep writing war stories." What is "this"?
4. Why does O'Brien include Kathleen in his story?
5. How does the description of the killing in "Ambush" compare with the previous one?
6. How does Kiowa justify the man's death? Does O'Brien attempt to justify it in any way, and has
he come to terms with it?