Bob Kiley, or Rat, was a great story teller and was a friend to everyone. He had a main part in most of the stories and was the most important character in the book. Before and after his friend Curt Lemon died, Rat showed different and interesting aspects of his personality. Tim O'Brien characterized Rat well in The Things They Carried, specifically in the chapters "How to Tell a True War Story" and "Sweetheart of the Song Tra Bong". In these chapters Rat tells stories about other people and we hear stories of him. The way Tim O'Brien describes Rat show what tipes of thoughts, words, and actions he has. His thoughts, words, and actions describe perfectly what his personality is.
             Rat doesn't quite think like other soldiers. His unconventional ways of thinking help and hurt the people around him. His thoughts, explaned in Tim O'Brien's book, show how important Tim O'Brien thinks Rat is. In "How to Tell a True War Story" Rat keeps to himself and the reader learns right away that he is boyish and sentamental. "Jesus Christ, man, I write this beautiful fuckin' letter, I slave over it, and what happens? The dumb cooze, [Jack Lemon's sister] never writes back" (77). He shows that even though he looks like a typical soldier, his thoughts put into the letter show his kind and unique side that sets the basis for the rest of the book. The story that Rat tells in "Sweetheart of the Song Tra Bong" makes himself out to be an exagerator, but also an attention getter. "Rat had a reputation for exaggeration and overstatement, a compulsion to rev up the facts", but the way he tells about Mary Anne Bell keeps the soldiers on their toes. His choice of words keeps people tuned into his story.
             The choice of words Rat uses adds exclamation to his personality. His word say that he is poetic and kindhearted. With the same quote, "Jesus Christ, man, I write this beautiful fuckin' letter, I slave over it, and what happens? The dumb cooz...