Question

Bowker arrives in Vietnam operating within a schema of World War II soldiering. He believes, according to O'Brien, that what marks men as courageous are medals and service awards. Because of and in spite of this belief, Bowker has an active emotional life, an intensity of feeling about the atrocities he experienced in Vietnam, especially Kiowa's death. These feelings are not directed out toward the world as anger, but instead are turned in upon him, and they become self-loathing and extreme survivor guilt. O'Brien describes Bowker as someone who "did not know what to feel." Bowker himself could not find words to describe his feelings, and instead turns to O'Brien to tell his story for him.

Answer 1

In Tim O'Brien's short story "The Things They Carried," the subject being discussed is the emotional life and inner turmoil of a soldier named Bowker who served in the Vietnam War.

Step-by-step explanation:

In Tim O'Brien's short story "The Things They Carried," the subject being discussed is the emotional life and inner turmoil of a soldier named Bowker who served in the Vietnam War. Bowker's beliefs about courage and valor are rooted in the traditional military ideals of medals and service awards. However, his experiences in Vietnam, particularly the death of his comrade Kiowa, lead to intense feelings of self-loathing and survivor guilt.