Chapters 5 & 6

The following quotes and analysis belong to two chapters of the novel "The Things They Carried." I decided to unite these two chapters because they are short and they come hand in hand, as they are continuations of each other. 

"Enemies" 

Important Sections of the Chapter

1). "Enemies" (pg. 62)

ANALYSIS

This word is the title of the fifth chapter of the novel "The Things They Carried" and like many other sections of this novel, it holds an ironic meaning. 

When in war, the word "enemies" refers to those other individuals on the opposite "team," and in the case of the Vietnamese War, it refers to the Vietnamese soldiers. However, in this chapter, the word "enemies" is used amongst friends, specifically, amongst two individuals, Lee Strunk and Dave Jensen, of Lieutenant Cross's platoon. The irony lies in the fact that there is a contradiction: enemies are used amongst friends when they friends are normally not considered to be enemies. 

2). "Like fighting two different wars, he said..." (pg. 63) 

ANALYSIS

This quote belongs to chapter 5 which is a metaphorical vignette used by the author to compare war with a normal quarrel among men. The fact that Dave Jensen, after breaking Lee Strunk's nose claims that he's fighting "two different wars" suggests that Tim O'Brien desires to compare "a fight" with a war" where the quarrel is the microcosm of the war. In the context of Vietnam, this means that the war was similar to a normal fight between two men where both have enemies, tactics of attack and results; a clear winner, in the case of the chapter Dave Jensen and a loser, Lee Strunk. 

3). "...he borrowed a pistol, gripped it by the barrel, and used it like a hammer to break his own nose...He showed him what he'd done and asked if everything was square between the. Strunk nodded and said, Sure, things were square. But in the morning Lee Strunk couldn't help laughing. 'The man's crazy,' he said. 'I stole his fucking jackknife'." (pg. 64)

ANALYSIS

These sentences terminate chapter five and they explain, in a symbolic way, the purpose that O'Brien had for comparing war with a normal quarrel. The narrator lets the reader know that Lee Strunk considered Jensen's act meaningless because he had all reasons to hit him as he was the one who had stolen his jackknife. 

The fact that O'Brien shows this quarrel as something that occurred because of "something stupid" connects to his opinion of the Vietname war, or, the larger escale of normal fistfight. In both cases, these two wars are, in the long term, meaningless because all they provoque is death, hurt  and enemies in both parties. 

"Friends" 

Important Sections of this Chapter

1). "Jensen nodded and said, 'I swear,' and then a little later we carried Strunk to the dustoff chopper. Jensen reached out and touched the good leg. 'Go on now,' he said. Later we heard Strunk died somewhere over Chu Lai, which seemed to relieve Dave Jensen of an enormous weight." (pg. 66)

ANALYSIS

This fragment belongs to the ending of the sixth chapter of the nove, where Lee Strunk and Dave Jensen become friends after their quarrel. During their friendship they make a pact where one would kill the other if he ever ended up getting badly hurt. 

However, O'Brien reveals in this quote that Jensen did not fulfill his promise because he didn't kill Strunk when a mine exploded on his leg and he lost it, hence, he depicts him as a bad friend. Nevertheless, when Jensen finds out about Strunk's death he is relieved from "an enormous weight" because he is able to be Strunk's friend again not through his actions, but through fate. 

The essence of this fragment lies in the idea that the author forces us to consider the question of morality: what is wrong and right in the scenario of a war. He does that by suggesting that if Jensen had fulfilled his promise he would have become a murderer, but when failed to do it, he proves himself as no friend. We readers are presented with the dilemma of which is worse.