Blog # 3 OPTION A

In The Things They Carried, by Tim O'Brien he wrote about a group of men that were sent to war. O’Brien didn’t describe the characters in his story very straight forward like most authors do, he instead described them in detail by the things that they carried in their bags; As well as by the actions that they did. Stories like these make reading more enjoyable. The most interesting character for me would have to be Kiowa. Kiowa is a Baptist and the most religious out of all the characters in the story. He carried a couple of material things with him, such a New Testament bible that was given to him by his father, as well as his grandfather’s old hunting feathered hatchet. Emotionally and mentally he carries his grandmother’s distrust towards the white men making him bit more stand off-ish towards them he a given situation. One example would be when Ted Lavender died, and he goes and describes his death in a very annoying way “Boom Down” which he kept repeating over and over and then finishing it off by saying “It was like watching a rock fall”. Kiowa is an upfront and honest solider, and while being such a person made his comment towards Lavender’s death seem a bit harsh. At first he seems like an emotionless flat character but it wasn’t until he saw his other comrade down and depressed and told him to shut up was that he showed a softer side to his persona. I found this character interesting because he reminds me a lot about certain people that I know that have like the cold hard persona but are really sensitive when it comes to people that are a huge part of their lives.