 In the list of all the things the soldiers carried, what item was most surprising? Which item did you find most evocative of the war? Which items stay with you?
Reply to two (2) peers during this discussion.
Cole
5/19/2014 03:58:33 am
My opinion about the items carried changed since the last time we were asked this question. I no longer think that the pot is a surprising thing because I realize the type of things that the soldiers went through and that was their personal way of dealing with it, although it wasn't a smart way to deal with it. I now think that the pantyhose were a surprising thing to carry. The fact that Dobbins claims that they still have a smell is crazy after being there. They might not actually have a smell to anyone but him because he remembers her smell so vividly that he can smell it on anything if he thinks about it hard enough. Also I realize that the comics were that particular character's way of dealing with the events happening around them. Along with the checkers board and pieces that they carried with them and played while posted up in their fox hole. These items were the ones that stayed with me throughout the book because they were different ways to cope with the stress of war.
Brian Burke
5/22/2014 05:06:47 am
Reflecting on the pantyhose, I believe that smell was actually a very important part of that. Smell is one of the most memorable things in life. A smell can bring people back to certain memories or even just give them a sense of home. I also agree that comics helped (I believe) Kiley cope with war. Perhaps it brought him into his own imaginary world that distracted him from reality. I'd personally like to know what comics he brought.
Alyssa Saggio
5/20/2014 06:29:35 am
While I did at first think that the most shocking item would be the pantyhose that Henry Dobbins carried to remind him of his girlfriend, l would no longer agree with my first thought. Now, I feel as though the human thumb that Norman Bowker carried with him is very shocking. At one point Tim O'Brien focuses on the items that the soldiers "hump" along for good luck. Yet, Norman Bowker is thought of as one of the more gentle people at war, so the fact that he carries a human thumb "from a boy of fifteen or sixteen" seems to be a little cruel and unusual for his character type. The pantyhose, I believe, come in to play in regards to the item I think to be most evocative. Henry Dobbins carried his girlfriend's pantyhose through thick and thin, even after she wrote a letter to him stating that they would no longer be together. His pantyhose were soothing and appealed to touch, scent, and even sight. During the hardships of war, he would pull the stockings over his head and feel as though he was invincible behind his "armor." To me, they serve as one of the utmost sentimental and evocative objects carried during the rough challenges faced throughout all of the gore and violence. The items that stay with me the most would be the condoms. These condoms are not surprising or shocking, but just flat out random random and strange. I think the condoms are constantly in my head because of all the things to bring to war, why would you bring something that serves little to zero purpose? There were no women at war, so what was the need? The condoms actually bother me, because something of actual use or sentimental value should be brought to war in order to help the men get through the tough times. I ask myself over and over, "Why the condoms?"...
Devin Blattner
5/20/2014 09:55:41 am
At first, I thought the most surprising item that the soldiers carried was marijuana and tranquilizers but after reading further in the book, I can see why those items were needed. Also during the time of the Vietnam war, drugs like that were very accessible. Now, I believe the most surprising item that a solider (Norman Bowker) carried was a human thumb. I just find that so beyond strange. Another item some of the soldiers carried that I still find weird were condoms. I can kind of understand why but I feel as though they were not a necessity during the Vietnam war. Where are there American girls at during that? America. I mean I guess they had Vietnamese girls but I still find that a weird item to bring.
Cole
5/21/2014 07:11:21 am
I forgot about the thumb and condom. Those are very strange items to carry, but I guess it's good that they came prepared just incase they did meet a girl. I doubt they would want an illegitimate love child running around after they have left the country. I also can understand why they brought drugs now. It was their way of dealing with the war. Although it's still crazy that they were able to smuggle that over there.
Kasey Gallagher
5/20/2014 10:01:00 am
When I first read the list, I thought the most shocking and weird item carried was condoms. I couldn't imagine a soldier having time to use them or even wanting to use them. When O'Brien talked about them having down time I thought it was a little less weird, but I mean... Still, it's weird. I thought tranquilizers were another pretty weird one until I thought about how stressful and scary the war might have been. After that I started thinking that maybe it would be easier to be out of it all the time because you would be less afraid and dying like that would probably be easier. I think something that sticks with me was Cross's picture of Martha and Henry Dobbin's girlfriend's pantyhose. When we got to the vignette where Cross and O'Brien get together, I thought it was so weird that after all that time, he was still thinking about Martha. I think the pantyhose stuck with me because even after his girlfriend broke up with him while he was at war, he carried them with him because they made him feel safe and believed they were magic.
Alyssa Saggio
5/21/2014 09:09:37 am
I completely agree about the condoms...I had a sort of, "why would you even bring them?" attitude. I can't see why someone wouldn't use the room in their backpack to carry something of use that could help them mentally or physically (even emotionally) through the struggles of war. In addition, I had the same thoughts and feelings toward the whole bringing tranquilizers and dope to war. Maybe if I was so out if it, dying wouldn't be such a huge fear of mine. However, I feel like the tranquilizers were not the only stress relieving things the men could have brought. A deck of cards or even some pictures can get you far. Wow we are really thinking alike because I had the same thoughts on the whole pantyhose thing, but not so much with Lieutenant Cross's pictures of Martha...I thought that was just creepy because they were never together. For me, the pantyhose made more sense because it seemed as though Henry Dobbins had a very serious relationship with his girlfriend, and probably became very depressed. Sometimes I think back to the stories about Henry and I feel like losing the love of his life was one of the leading causes to his depression, which led up to his suicide.
Brian Burke
5/22/2014 04:57:48 am
You kinda made a point in the sense that most items brought by the people were strange. I agree that they're strange in other peoples eyes. I feel like we should consider the meaning of most of the items. Perhaps the condoms belonged to a man who got lots of women back home and wanted to continue to in a foreign country. I don't remember which guy in specific. I also saw on twitter once that soldiers carried condoms as emergency containers for water as well. I could not verify if that's true or not.
Tori McCaslin
5/20/2014 11:14:23 am
When I first read about each of the soldiers’ items, I thought that the weirdest and most unusual item/s was the marijuana and tranquilizers. However, when I got further into the book, I began to understand why those items made sense for that specific character. When you begin to understand that time period, anyone can infer that those types of drugs were extremely over-used and accessible to the public. After close consideration, I think the most unusual thing was the condoms. Although having those with a man at all time is smart, sex should be the last thing on someone’s mind when they’re deployed into a war.
Cole
5/21/2014 07:36:12 am
It seems like everyone now understands why they brought the drugs to the war. We all started to realize that it helped them cope, and also there wasn't much else to do over there. Everyone also agrees that the condom was a very unusual thing to carry during the war. We're all on the same page with this post. I agree with everything you stated in your post. Sex shouldn't be something on someone's mind during a war, but we're men and unfortunately 60% of the time, sex is always on our mind.
Brian Burke
5/20/2014 04:26:04 pm
The items to me are not strange. Items that hold importance to people are common. Although the items were from all different shapes and sizes they still had their own similar purpose. Providing a sense of comfort would be the purpose. Being in a strange land far from home it'd only seem natural for people to bring their own piece of home. Some people brought drugs while others brought comics. Even an ex girlfriend's pantyhose can be appropriate. As long as they provide memories and comfort to the individuals I do not see much of a difference amongst the characters items. Each character has their own characteristics and it's only suiting that they carry items that help represent themselves. I personally have not questioned any of the character's reasoning as to why they brought certain items.
Alyssa Saggio
5/21/2014 09:15:14 am
Hmm, interesting take Brian. I guess I never really realized that regardless of how useless items like the condoms would be, as long as they provide some sense of comfort during such horrible times of struggle and war, they do have a purpose and are being used to help the men continue on to fight for our country. Considering we have not heard the thoughts or opinions from many characters, I guess it would be fair not to judge them or question the items they chose to bring. Comments are closed.
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