Week 4, The Things They Carried

In the chapter Speaking of Courage, the reader takes a look into the life of Norman Bowker, post-war. At the beginning of this chapter, Norman is driving around the lake in his hometown passing by houses that are “handsome, well kept, and brightly painted,” but also houses that are “less expensive” and not as extravagant. The houses that Norman sees around the lake show the dichotomy between his lives: one at the war compared to his real life back at home.

The reader is introduced to Norman Bowker on the 4th of July, which is ironic. The 4th of July is celebrated by the American people for the freedoms that they have been given by the soldiers fighting in wars. This situation presents irony because here are people that are celebrating their freedom, which was in part given to them by Norman, and Norman couldn’t find a place of belonging, or a reason to celebrate this holiday.

Throughout the entire chapter, Norman Bowker continues to drive aimlessly around the lake, with no intentions of going home. The continual driving of Norman shows how he is trying to find his place in this world. Norman is still stuck in war mode, and doesn’t know where he really belongs back at home. His uncertainty of belonging is shown by him going to the “A&W,” “watching four ladies laboring,” passing “two boys walking” and by driving twelve times around a seven mile lake. Norman Bowker continues to pass by people and places, hoping that he will find his place in this world, but he unfortunately doesn’t find it.

Norman, while driving around the lake, is role playing what he and his father would be talking about if he was at his house right now. He explains to his dad the seven awards he did win, and then he tries to tell him why he didn’t win the Silver Star. The reason that Norman didn’t receive the Silver Star is because he let one of his platoon members die in a “shit field” because he was not able to pull him out of it. While Norman is describing to his father what this situation was like, he mentions that there was a “constant rain” that fell throughout the whole time he was trying to save Kiowa. Rain usually symbolizes purification, but in this situation, the rain shows the sadness, and covers the tears, of Norman. In most situations, rain helps to give a new life to all who encounter it, but ironically, this rain is the cause of death for Kiowa, because the mud pulls him under.

This chapter showed how difficult it is for a soldier to return home after the war. Their minds are nebulous to what is happening in the present, because they are overwhelmed with what they witnessed and experienced in Vietnam. Upon returning home, it is difficult to find a place to fit in, as we see with Norman, who eventually commits suicide. So knowing how difficult it is for these men to return home from war, why don’t we reach out and comfort them in order to help them cope with all they have been through?