The Things They Carried and Forest Gump are both set during the Vietnam War. A difference between the men is that Forest wanted to go to the war, but O’Brien did not. There are many similarities between the two. O’Brien and Forest both lost their best friends during the war. They also both tried to help their friends but failed to do so.
Both soldiers suffered from PTSD after the war. A significant scene in Forest Gump is when he set Bubba by the river as he was dying. Tim O’Brien lost his friend, Kiowa, in a river in Vietnam. After their friends’ deaths, they had a hard time talking about it. Both of these stories share the tragedy of what happened in Vietnam.
Cup of Jo 