Help with Questions to The Things They Carried: In The Field (pages 162-178)
In The Field (pages 162-178)
1. Jimmy Cross feels incredible guilt again for the death of another member of Alpha Company. Explain why.
2. What does Jimmy decide to do to help himself feel better about the death?
3. We are introduced to an unnamed soldier in this chapter who also has guilty feelings about Kiowa’s death? Why does this soldier feel guilty? What happened with this soldier and Kiowa the night he died? Why is the soldier really looking for Kiowa’s body?
4. We see a change in Azar in this chapter. What were his initial reactions to Kiowa’s death in the muck? After wading through the mud for many hours, what changes happen to Azar? What causes the changes? Explain.
5. When the men are trying to unearth Kiowa’s body, Henry Dobbins says, “it could be worse.” What is O’Brien trying to suggest to you about the men who fought in this war?
6. In “In The Field,” O’Brien writes, “When a man died, there had to be blame.” What does this mandate do to the men of O’Brien’s company? Are they justified in thinking themselves at fault? How do they cope with their own feelings of guilt?
