Norman Bowker Character Analysis in The Things They Carried

Awarded seven medals in the war. He returns from Vietnam tortured with guilt about the death of Kiowa and feels responsible. He hides this guilt under the regret that he didn't win the Silver Star. He asks O'Brien to write a story about how great of a soldier he was. He hangs himself in his hometown YMCA after the war.

Norman Bowker Quotes in The Things They Carried

The The Things They Carried quotes below are all either spoken by Norman Bowker or refer to Norman Bowker. For each quote, you can also see the other characters and themes related to it (each theme is indicated by its own dot and icon, like this one:

Courage was not always a matter of yes or no. Sometimes it came in degrees, like the cold; sometimes you were very brave up to a point and then beyond that point you were not so brave. In certain situations you could do incredible things, you could advance toward enemy fire, but in other situations, which were not nearly so bad, you had trouble keeping your eyes open. Sometimes, like that night in the shit field, the difference between courage and cowardice was something small and stupid.

Related Characters: (speaker),

Page Number and Citation: 141

Explanation and Analysis:

Norman did not experience a failure of nerve that night. He did not freeze up or lose the Silver Star for valor. That part of the story is my own.

Related Characters: (speaker),

Page Number and Citation: 153-154

Explanation and Analysis:

Norman Bowker Character Timeline in The Things They Carried

The timeline below shows where the character Norman Bowker appears in The Things They Carried. The colored dots and icons indicate which themes are associated with that appearance.

...floss, and soap. Ted Lavender ("who was scared") carries tranquilizers. Mitchell Sanders carries condoms. Norman Bowker carries a diary. Rat Kiley carries comic books. Kiowa carries a copy of the New... (full context)

...they carry are determined by superstition: Lieutenant Jimmy Cross' pebble, Dave Jensen's rabbit foot, Norman Bowker carries a dead man's thumb that was a gift from Mitchell Sanders. Mitchell Sanders said... (full context)

O'Brien often only remembers fragments. He recalls Norman Bowker one night lying down, watching the stars, and saying to O'Brien if he could have... (full context)

...near a trail leading into the jungle. Mitchell Sanders was playing with his yo-yo, Norman Bowker and Kiowa and Dave Jensen were trying to nap. Except for Rat Kiley and Curt... (full context)

The war has ended and Norman Bowker has returned home. It's the Fourth of July and he's driving his father's Chevy around... (full context)

Most of Norman Bowker's friends have moved away. Sally Kramer was now Sally Gustafson. The third day he was... (full context)

Norman Bowker drives past Slater Park and past Sunset Park. If Sally wasn't married and if his... (full context)

Norman Bowker enjoys the feel inside the car, as if it were a tour bus, except he... (full context)

Bowker spots four workmen setting up the fireworks. Bowker whispers whether they want to hear about... (full context)

Bowker would have told the story of that night with the "exact truth." They took mortar... (full context)

Bowker parks his father's Chevy at the A&W. A slim waitress passed by, but she didn't... (full context)

...with fries over the intercom. The voice responded with "Affirmative, copy clear. No rootie-tootie," which Bowker found out meant root beer and ordered a small one. "Roger-dodger. Mama, one fries, one... (full context)

On the tenth go around the lake, Bowker thinks, "There was nothing to say. He could not talk about it and never would."... (full context)

On Bowker's twelfth circulation, the fireworks start to go off. He parks, gets out of his car,... (full context)

O'Brien notes that he wrote "Speaking of Courage" in 1975 after Norman Bowker asked him to. Three years after that, Bowker hanged himself in the YMCA locker room... (full context)

Bowker confides in his letter that there's nowhere for his life to go. He says it's... (full context)

At the end of the letter Bowker says that he read O'Brien's first book, which he mostly liked except for the politics.... (full context)

O'Brien says that Bowker's letter really affected him. He says that he felt "a certain smugness" after the war... (full context)

...his writing explicitly like therapy, and he still doesn't. But after receiving the letter from Bowker he realized that the stories he was writing were important because it prevented them from... (full context)

Bowker's letter haunts O'Brien. A month later O'Brien decided to write Bowker's story. At the time... (full context)

...his mind. When the story was published in an anthology, he sent a copy to Bowker. Bowker's reply was short and sour, saying it wasn't "terrible" but he asked where the... (full context)

O'Brien says that it has been a decade since Bowker's death at the time of re-writing "Speaking of Courage." He hopes that it "makes good... (full context)

The search was slow going. Azar, Norman Bowker, and Mitchell Sanders searched along the edge of the field. Azar said Kiowa would find... (full context)

...of moccasins and a copy of the New Testament. Sanders says Kiowa must be close. Bowker says they should tell Lieutenant Jimmy Cross, but Sanders refuses, claiming it's Cross' fault Kiowa... (full context)

Azar, Norman Bowker, and Mitchell Sanders are across the field still searching. It's almost noon when Bowker finds... (full context)

Azar sits next to Bowker and says he doesn't mean anything bad by the jokes he tells. Azar feels like... (full context)

...Alpha Company came to the HQ. Mitchell Sanders, Azar, Henry Dobbins, Dave Jensen, and Norman Bowker all shook O'Brien's hand and he drove them to their quarters. They partied until it... (full context)

Bowker continues with the story of Morty Phillips. Near My Khe on a scorching day, everyone... (full context)

...Jensen took vitamins high in carotene, Lt. Jimmy Cross took NoDoz, Henry Dobbins and Norman Bowker attached a safety wire between their two belts. (full context)

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Norman Bowker Character Analysis

Norman Bowker Quotes in The Things They Carried

Norman Bowker Character Timeline in The Things They Carried

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for every book you read.