Analysis of the Main Character in the Book “The Things They Carried”

Tim O’Brien is the main character in the book "Things they Carried" and he is also the narrator. The character has been displayed in three perspectives in the story and each of them has distinct traits. This essay will touch on each of the characters and display the explicit traits of Tim the Soldier, Tim the Writer and Tim the Kid in detail.

O'Brian being a soldier is presented as a clutter at the beginning, a man who never expected he would ever go into war. He was a really good individual who has had a bright future with a scholarship in the Harvard before he was drafted. The character though joined the war due to the avoidance of embarrassment by his friends and family members. He also goes through quite a lot due to the fact that some of the soldiers in his platoon have been to the war for quite a long time. This shows the character as one who always listens to what others have to say, an example is the fact that he watches the antics of Azar and Henry's kindness.

The second character is O'Brien the writer who is presented as a forty-three-year-old who takes most of his time telling us of the time where he was a foot soldier in Vietnam. He takes us throughout the book without informing us that all the characters in the book are developed and imaginary. In this regard, he tells his story from a third perspective to confuse and challenge the reader's omniscience

The third character is that of Tim as a kid. Through this, he is displayed as an optimistic individual. O'Brien, the kid is a nine-year-old who falls in love with a girl named Linda who later dies of cancer. He deals with her death in a positive manner where he is displayed to fantasize about her and uses specific stories created inside his head to bring her back to life. Through those stories, Linda is seen to give him advice and sometimes accompanied him to work or leisure activities. This shows the kind of optimism he has even though he is faced by the loss of his lover.