Speaking of Courage

    

     The chapter "Speaking of Courage" of the book, "The Things They Carried", focuses on Norman Bowker and his memories of Kiowa's death. The name of the title is a little confusing, since the simple fact of Norman not saving Kiowa is sort of cowardly, but then I realized it takes a great amount of courage and strength to talk about someone's death, especially if it happened right in front of you. During the Vietnam War there were thousands if not millions of land mines and other hidden traps which gave the soldiers the constant fear of being killed and that's what makes it hard for Norman to talk about Kiowa's death because he knows that it could have easily been him who died in the war. However, all of the soldiers exhibit examples of both courage and cowardice. Tim O’Brien, for example, was considering jumping out of the boat and swimming across the border into Canada in order to avoid going to war, which is saying he’d rather be shunned by his family and never seen them again for as long as he lives instead of fighting for his country and making it safer for his family. Bowker says that if it wasn’t for the smell of the shitfield he might have been able to save him, but just like he wasn’t able to save Kiowa he can’t stop thinking about the moment that he let Kiowa drown in the field.