The Colors of The Things They Carried

Clint Kadera

Mrs. Hurlbert

Juniors Honors English

November 15, 2010

The Colors of The Things They Carried

Purples, blacks, browns, blues, whites, reds, yellows. In The Things They Carried chapters The Man I Killed through Style, author Tim O’Brien utilizes colors, along with other literary devises, to their utmost potential in order to create commanding images and messages.  The reading begins with Kiowa’s vivid description of a man he killed.  Using blunt and direct syntax, seen on pages 126, 127, and 130, much of the chapter’s dialog is made of Kiowa’s talking to the nonresponsive corpse.   O’Brien also chooses to overload the conversations with transition words, most containing the word then.  This forces the reader to think outside of a timeline and more in a sloppy, incorrect chronological order, the same mindset most think in when frantic or hazed.  Throughout the chapter, O’Brien constantly describes the dead man as dreaming of becoming a math teacher, one who enjoyed reading books and was scared of fighting, almost pacifist by nature. 

This directly corresponds with the man’s physical description, being a “…dainty young man of about twenty” and having many shy features, like eyebrows “…thin and arched like a woman’s” and “…fingernails that were clean.”  His hair was black, which represented the mystery of life and what was possible if he had survived the war.  The man also had one eye closed and one eye yellow and red, star-shaped.  The closed eye represents death or ending, with him not able to see his future come true or even begin, while the star-shaped eye represents his goals and dreams of becoming a teacher and peaceful person.  O’Brien punches this obvious symbol into the reader’s head by making it relatable to a common piece of advice: reach for the stars.  By color, the yellow of the star-shaped eye represents happiness, whimsy, and potential.  The red represents deep emotion and strong love.  The once-red blood on the neck becomes purple and black by the end of the chapter.  Black represents mystery and the unknown while dark purple symbolizes Kiowa’s gloom and sadness.  Purple also represents the dead man’s dignity, wisdom, independence, and creation. 

                Directly after The Man I Killed, Tim O’Brien explains the story of the man he himself killed.  Facing the exact same guilt Kiowa faced, O’Brien questioned his decision to kill a pedestrian soldier walking by oblivious to his surroundings.  Similar to Kiowa’s victim, the man killed in Ambush was also a “…short, slender  young man of about twenty.”  Both victims were surrounded by fog, symbolizing Kiowa’s and O’Brien’s evolutions as characters.  Compared to Curt Lemon’s death, O’Brien’s kill was a symbol of war, of “…something fruity and sour.”  Though death is a clear cut ending to man’s known world, every action leads to a reaction and possibly a new, intriguing world for the deceased.  The mystery of one door closing and another opening is disturbingly captivating. 

Also like Lemon’s death, both men were surrounded by white, one by blossoms and one by a puff.  White as a color means simplicity, cleanliness, and re-beginning.  In Heraldry, white represents faith and purity.  The puff, as pertaining to a cloud shape, symbolizes ethereal heights of heaven, a quality of higher truth.  Both men were metaphorically pulled by “…invisible wires” upward.  O’Brien’s kill also had one eye closed, one eye star-shaped, representing unexplored dreams and deaths. 

All three death situations being compared give suggestion to difficult questions.  Is the only way to truly understand the gift of life is to be forced to take someone else’s away?  Would you choose to have a much shorter life to make a direct epiphany in another person’s life?  Would you choose to have have a much shorter life to directly help another person evolve for the far better? 

                Once again, O’Brien uses color to explain a character.  In the chapter Style a young girl with “…black hair and brown skin” is found delightfully dancing outside her burnt-away house, “…eyes half closed, her feet bare.”  Black represents mystery while brown is a nonthreatening color, straight characteristics of the girl’s personality.  After quick inspection, the troop discovers her family, “…dead and badly burned.”  Three humans created the deceased family, two being “…an old woman and a woman whose age was hard to tell.”  The third person was an infant.  By clarifying they’re women and a baby, O’Brien makes it a strong point that the scene isn’t a dangerous one. 

The moment the men pull the dead out of the area, the dancing girl places her hands over her ears, face with a “…dreamy look, quiet and composed.”  Later on, Azar, hiding his true feelings over the situation, does a parody of the young girl’s dance.  Dobbins picked up Azar and took him to a deep well, asking him if he wanted to be dumped in.  Azar said no and in response, Dobbins told him to “dance right.” 

Tim O’Brien suggests a strong message in the passage.  By dancing barefoot, the author suggests that the girl felt every pain possible from her family’s death.  However, by not concentrating on the hurt, placing her hands over her ears so she couldn’t hear, shutting her eyes so she couldn’t see, dancing to the melody of life she chose to dance to, the girl proved she could conquer anything.  She chose to be ecstatic instead of dreadful. 

No matter how difficult the situation, one always has a choice to be happy or sad.  Still, very few choose to view events in this black and white spectrum.  Instead, they decide to feel the stings that the passersby (the soldiers) believe they should feel.  This choice isn’t something a person can fake or put a mask over, as shown by the metaphor of Azar’s dance.  The surrounding world will recognize the laughably-fake and shallow imitation and try to push them down a deep, un-escaping well.  One must “dance right” if they wish to dance at all, as illustrated by the young black haired, brown skinned girl.  In The Things They Carried chapters The Man I Killed through Style, author Tim O’Brien utilizes colors, along with other literary devises, to their utmost potential in order to create vibrant images and messages.