4. Favorites/Least Favorites

My favorite story in the book was probably Sweetheart of the Song Tra Bong mostly due to the fact that it was so... human. It dealt with layers of human emotions starting with longing, then with love, and ending with heartache. Also, it showed a side of the war we hadn't yet investigated: how it thoroughly changed people. In Alpha Company during the war, no one seemed to change so drastically. Maybe they matured and grew up a little, but no one completely changed their way of life and personality.

My least favorite story was The Things They Carried. I understood the message: the things they carried were both literal and emotional. However, the first story of the book is never my favorite because it is usually very confusing, and you are still not quite into the reading process. It was also one of the longer stories in the book, which I felt was unnecessary because it seemed repetitive.

I sympathize with Kiowa the most because he seemed like such an honest, down-to-earth, hardworking person. He always wanted to help when someone was feeling down. He was the one who carried everyone's guilt and sadness. Also, the way he died was far more horrid than any of the other soldiers.

I dislike Azar's character the most. His joking and immature personality never changes throughout the novel. He is quite a flat character. He said some things at inappropriate times, like when O'Brien killed a man and Kiowa was trying to make him calm down.