Setting

The setting of a short story is the place and time where a certain event happened. According to Gillespie, Pipolo, and Fonseca’s Literature Across Cultures, the definition of the literary term "setting is the physical environment that is an element of literary physical environment that is an element of literary work, which can create the atmosphere and mood and is closely related to the action and them of the work" (Gillespie). The setting of "The Things They Carried" is fairly obvious, it is set in Vietnam. Although, at many times in the story, the author makes reference to that of foxholes and different locations out in the field that the soldiers were in many time during the war. The Vietnam War was a Cold War military conflict that occurred in Vietnam, Laos, and Cambodia from November 1, 1955 to April 30, 1975 when Saigon fell (Roush). The United States entered the war to prevent a communist takeover of South Vietnam (Roush).

Roush, Gary. "Statistics about the Vietnam War." History.com. History Channel. 2 June 2008. Web. 6 May 2010.