19. The Things They Carried: Field Trip~Apostrophe

During this chapter, O'Brien includes an Apostrophe. He revisits the land of his soldier years to return something to a friend that died for his country. Tim says some last words to his buddy. This signifies that although a person may physically be dead, spiritually, they are fully alive. The few words that Tim says to his fallen soldier are a way for him to cope with this awful memory. Again, O'Brien brings the humanness out of his characters. This apostrophe also signifies that Tim has not yet put his friend in the past. He is struggling with letting go to what has happened twenty years in the past.