The Things They Carried Irony

The end of the novel in The Things They Carried is very ironic. The chapter “Night Life” is one that really sticks out to you and portraits what really happens to people who are in the war. The war can just do horrible things to you physically and mentally for the rest of your life. The war can even drive you crazy. As we saw in the chapter Night Life this can drive you crazy. Rat Kiley went crazy after being in the dark on a mission. Rat finally sits down and just sobs. Rat starts to go crazy at this point. Kiley thinks about all of the grotesque things he has seen throughout the war. He vividly remembers all of the dead men he has seen inspite of the war. The irony of this is that night life is supposed to be fun and have a party. But in the story Rat goes crazy instead of having a good time. This chapter is named this for almost a joke that’s why it is named why its named. “Rat Kiley finally hit the wall. He couldn’t sleep during the hot daylight hours; he couldn’t cope with the nights.” (O’Brien 222).