The Things They Carried, The Ghost Soldiers quiz

Questions and answers

1. 1

   Question 1. Why does the narrator blame Bobby Jorgenson for nearly killing him?

   • He refused to give the narrator morphine for the pain
   • Correct answer: He waited almost ten minutes and never treated for shock
   • He mistook the wound for a scratch and sent him back out
   • He left the narrator behind when the platoon pulled back

   Jorgenson took nearly ten minutes to work up the nerve to reach him and forgot to treat for shock, and the botched dressing later turned to borderline gangrene.

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2. 2

   Question 2. Where is the narrator stationed after he is released from the hospital?

   • Back in the bush with Alpha Company near My Khe
   • At the 91st Evac Hospital as a permanent orderly
   • Correct answer: With Headquarters Company, the battalion supply section
   • On the airfield helipad crew at Chu Lai in the rear

   At the end of December he is transferred to Headquarters Company, S-4, which he calls cushy duty compared with the boonies.

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3. 3

   Question 3. Why does Mitchell Sanders refuse to help with the revenge plan?

   • He is afraid the two of them will be court-martialed for it
   • Correct answer: He believes Jorgenson has learned his job and belongs now
   • He has already promised Azar that he would stay out of it
   • He thinks Rat Kiley is the one who should settle the score

   Sanders argues that Jorgenson was brand-new, has improved, and kept Morty Phillips alive, then tells the narrator that Jorgenson is with them now and he is not.

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4. 4

   Question 4. What lesson do the men draw from Norman Bowker's story about Morty Phillips?

   • That the enemy could strike even during a quiet stand-down
   • Correct answer: That a soldier can use up his luck on something trivial
   • That the platoon's medics were never properly trained
   • That superstition made the men careless about real danger

   Morty slipped off alone for a swim and later fell violently ill, and the men agree that you should not fritter away luck on little stuff.

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5. 5

   Question 5. What equipment do the narrator and Azar use against Bunker Six?

   • A captured enemy radio broadcasting orders in Vietnamese
   • Correct answer: Ropes tied to ammo cans, flares, tear gas and a sandbag
   • Blank rounds fired from the boulders behind the perimeter
   • A dummy in enemy clothing dragged slowly across the wire

   Eight ropes ran out to ammo cans filled with rifle cartridges, and the pair added trip flares, tear-gas grenades and a white-painted sandbag on a pulley.

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6. 6

   Question 6. How does Jorgenson finally answer the sandbag hovering in the gas?

   • Correct answer: He fires at it, then walks out and shoots it point-blank
   • He radios the perimeter and calls in illumination flares
   • He abandons the bunker and runs back toward the hootches
   • He throws a grenade at it and takes cover in the sandbags

   He does not go to pieces. He shoots the sandbag from the bunker, then marches upright out to the wire, shouts the narrator's name and fires again.

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7. 7

   Question 7. What does Azar do once Jorgenson has shot the sandbag?

   • He shakes his hand and admits the plan went much too far
   • Correct answer: He kicks him in the head and calls him a sorry, sorry case
   • He reports the whole stunt to Lieutenant Cross at dawn
   • He gathers the ropes and flares and hides them in the wire

   Azar drops the rope, announces that the show is over, looks down with contempt and pity, and kicks the narrator in the head almost as an afterthought.

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8. 8

   Question 8. What is the point of the narrator's out-of-body passage during the ambush?

   • That the morphine from his wound was still affecting him
   • Correct answer: That he has become the very ghost the platoon feared
   • That he no longer believed the enemy existed at all
   • That he was remembering a dream from the field hospital

   He imagines floating over Bunker Six and names himself the night, the land, atrocity and the war, taking on the role of the ghosts the men dreaded.

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9. 9

   Question 9. Which of these events actually occur in this chapter?

   • Rat Kiley treats the narrator's first wound out by Tri Binh.

     Happened

   • Mitchell Sanders helps rig the ropes outside Bunker Six.

     Didn't happen

   • Jorgenson apologizes to the narrator beside his jeep on the helipad.

     Happened

   • The narrator asks Henry Dobbins to help him get even with Jorgenson.

     Didn't happen

   • Norman Bowker tells the story of Morty Phillips during stand-down.

     Happened

   • Jorgenson refuses to speak to the narrator after the ambush.

     Didn't happen

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10. 10

    Question 10. What does "fritter" mean in the line "You just don't fritter away all your luck."?

    • Correct answer: To waste something bit by bit on trivial things
    • To hoard something carefully for a later need
    • To gamble something on a single enormous risk
    • To share something out equally among a group

    To fritter is to squander little by little. Bowker's point is that Morty spent his luck on a pointless swim instead of saving it.

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11. 11

    Question 11. What does "unblemished" mean in the phrase "the unblemished leather of his fine new boots"?

    • Worn smooth from long and very hard use
    • Correct answer: Free of any mark, scuff or bit of damage
    • Polished to a bright parade-ground shine
    • Made of unusually thick and stiff hide

    Unblemished means without a single flaw or mark. The spotless boots tell the reader that Jorgenson is brand-new to the field.

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12. 12

    Question 12. What does "cushy" mean in the sentence "Compared with the boonies it was cushy duty."?

    • Dangerous but unusually well paid
    • Tedious and very badly organized
    • Correct answer: Easy, safe and comfortable to do
    • Temporary and easily taken away

    Cushy means an easy, comfortable posting. The rear job gives him regular hours, an EM club and relative safety after two woundings.

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