The Things They Carried

Henry Dobbins is a large man. He is compared to America itself: “big and strong, full of good intentions” (111). He is also like America in that he is sentimental. The narrator remembers Dobbins “wrapping his girlfriend’s pantyhose around his neck before heading out on ambush” (111). He does this as a good luck charm; the stockings protect him. Although the men joke about it, they also appreciate “the mystery of it all” (112). Dobbins is never wounded or injured in the war. Even after his girlfriend dumps him, Dobbins continues to wear the stockings, saying “The magic doesn’t go away” (112).

West of the Batangan Peninsula, the men come across a pagoda where a pair of monks live. They speak little English. The older monk leads the men into the pagoda, where they spend the night, and then stay for the next week or so. The narrator relates that “[i]t was mostly a very peaceful time” (113). The monks bring water every morning, and they provide a chair for Lieutenant Jimmy Cross to sit in in the altar area. They especially take a liking to Henry Dobbins and help him clean his machine gun.