The Things They Carried Passage Analysis

832 Words4 Pages
In Tim O’Briens’ excerpt from “The Things They Carried”, we are given a story and perspective of a character, Curt Lemon, the blustering soldier. In that last paragraph the narrator relates the story of when Curt Lemon fainted merely from being in the presence of a dentist. We are given both the narrator’s interpretations and the objective information of the story, as we see them in three parts, the action, the contemplation, and the reconciliation. At the beginning of the final paragraph, Curt is being lifted up off the ground by four men onto a cot, and when he comes too, the narrator describes him as having a “funny new look on his face, almost sheepish, as if he had committed some terrible crime.” (line 42-44) From earlier in the passage…show more content…
The narrator depicts him as “ seeming slightly dazed”, possibly from that he couldn’t believe that he had a swooning spell, which in Curts’ pompous opinion, was most probably a sign of his inadequacies. That he considered it a serious crime is obvious, from his reaction when he woke up, “ He wouldn’t talk to anyone…stayed off by himself…sitting alone…staring down at the field tent…could hear him cussing and bawling himself out…” The narrators next statement is the key in this portion, and perhaps this whole paragraph, because ultimately shows the speakers opinion of Lemon. “ Anyone else would have laughed it off, but for Curt Lemon it was too much. The embarrassment must’ve turned a screw in his head.” The narrators meaning is plain enough, that Curt Lemon was not your good ole’ average Joe (pun intended), but someone bizarre, because his pride could predictably drive him to pull stunts. As to the “ screw in his head” it is apparent that the narrator not only finds him crazy, but irrational. Meaning, what should have been a taste of humble pie, albeit an embarrassing one, Lemon took it to the next level of

More about The Things They Carried Passage Analysis

Open Document