The character of Kiowa was the most decent and dignified characters in the book “The Things They Carried”. The character Kiowa was deeply religious by nature and was a devout Baptist. He was a Native American Indian. He always carried an illustrated New Testament, gifted to him by his father, who was a teacher at Sunday school in Oklahoma City. The way he carried his New Testament always and the way he felt Ted Lavender’s death was unchristian and his beliefs in the stories of New Testament confirm that he was a highly religious person. He would roll the New Testament and use it as a pillow. He loved the feel of New Testament under his cheeks as they would make him feel Christian again. Due to the atrocities done by white men to Native American Indians, his grandmother had distrust on white people and this got carried over to Kiowa. He carried his grandfather’s old feathered hunting hatchet, which he expected would help in extreme conditions. He also carried a pair of moccasins along with various other things carried by men of Alpha Company.
As his father taught at Sunday school, he knew what it would be like to follow religion and hence religion has become an important part of his identity. Due to him being a religious man, he opposed the decision of his platoon to stay in a semi abandoned pagoda which housed two monks. His explanation for this was, all churches should be respected.
Throughout the book, he has always showed his decency. This can be understood by the way he agrees to Henry Dobbins saying people should try to live their lives, good by practicing good decency.
He has always been brave, thoughtful and respectful. He respected and agreed with Tim for not willing to participate in the platoon’s mockery of a dead man. He even confessed he should not have taken part in the mockery. He has always been soft and caring which could be taken by his feelings after the death of Ted Lavender. He was supportive of Lieutenant Cross, who feared and trembled after the death of Ted Lavender, and tried to console him. He was the first person to observe Lieutenant Cross and think that he had some problem.
Kiowa felt that war was very un Christian type. He was a friendly with everybody in the platoon and he was seen as person with whom everybody could freely talk. He tried to comfort Tim after he killed a man. Throughout the book, Tim felt Kiowa was his best friend in the platoon.
The death of Kiowa saddened everybody in the platoon and the loss was heavily felt by the narrator Tim. Bowker always felt he could have saved Kiowa. But, the conditions in which Kiowa was killed made it almost impossible to save Kiowa. Kiowa got killed in a place called shitfield, which the author has described a sewage. Bowker also felt that saving Kiowa would have secured him a Silver Star. Kiowa’s death has also been a symbolic description of the war and how people would suffer in a gruesome fashion during a war. The sewage field, under which Kiowa got drowned, was always thought of by Lieutenant Cross as something bad and could be dangerous. The death of Kiowa also shows a tragedy might hit anybody during war in most undignified ways. Throughout the book Kiowa has been a fun person but his death only left tragedy. The character of Kiowa was very important to Tim. He would later go to Kiowa’s death place after war, to release his moccasins.
The character of Kiowa was a great symbol Americanism, as he was a Native American Indian or in other words “a true American”.
References
O’Brien, Tim. The Things They Carried. Boston: Broadway Books, 1990.
Kazemek, Francis. "The Things They Carried: Vietnam War Literature by and about Women in the Secondary Classroom." Journal of Adolescent & Adult Literacy. 42.3 (1998): 156-65. Web. 5 Mar. 2013.
