Tim O’Brien writes about both the physical objects they carry as well as their emotional burdens. The objects that these soldiers carry serve as a symbolism for what they are carrying in their hearts and minds. The soldiers carry items varying from pantyhose, medicine, tanning oil, and pictures. Jimmy Cross is an inexperienced sophomore in college, he signs up for the Reserve Officers Training Camp because his friends are doing the course. Jimmy Cross doesn’t want anything to do with the war or anything to do with being a leader. The item that Jimmy Cross carries with him are pictures of his classmate named Martha.
The things I carry are both figurative and literal. I carry a pen, a pencil, a textbook or two, and paper. I carry memories, experiences, pain, guilt, cowardice, love and happiness. In the novel The Things They Carried by Tim O’Brien, O’Brien centralizes on why people carry what they do, physical or not. To be honest, I carry what I do because I must. If I don’t carry that one textbook that one day, I’ll regret it. If I forget what it was like have my first icecream cone, what if felt like the instant my mouth froze up and the inside of my head pounded so loudly I almost screamed, I will be less of who I am today. What I carry defines me. In the novel, the tangible and intangible loads the soldiers carry define them; such as Lt. Cross's who carry’s a picture of and intangible feelings for Martha. What the soldiers burdened themselves with was largely determined, emotionally or physically, was by necessity.
The title of the book The Things They Carried is significant by being able to tell the soldiers’ story and how they coped with being at war. While the soldiers transport the necessary items to survive, they also carry items that symbolize what is important to them.
In the short story “The Things They Carried”, Tim O’Brien wrote about the experience of war and the feelings young soldiers felt during their long days of travel. During the story he keeps referring back to the things the soldiers chose to carry in their packs. Some of these items included necessity items like grenades and ammunition, but they also carry sentimental items like love letters and pictures. These items help the reader better understand each person for who they are and help us to understand the physical situation the soldiers are in. In “The Things They Carried”, Tim O’Brien describes the item the soldiers carry in their packs and the emotional weight they carry to help give a better
The Things They Carried by Tim O’Brien is a book solely about surviving war, and the stories that come along with going to a war. There are many different kinds of stories that Tim told about his experience at war. Some were sad, many were adventurous, and others made you wonder if they were even real. But with every story, there is something a certain soldier has that meant everything to them. They show a sense of comfort within every single person in this story. No matter if it is a physical object, or a spiritual value they carry with themselves at all times. They symbolize who the person is, what their life was like pre-war, and what they thrive to live for.
This story also describes other people with what they pack in their bags and such. These items describe the lifestyle each person lives in or even outside of the war. For example, “Ted Lavender carried six or seven ounces of premium dope, which for him was a necessity” (355), which could explain that he is a drug addict and possibly a drug dealer. Another example is, “Dave Jensen carried three pairs of sox and a can of Dr. Scholl’s foot powder as a precaution against trench foot”(355), this describes Dave could be a health nut or someone that cares for his wellbeing more than his companions. The main character and narrator Jimmy Cross describes himself with the letters he saves in his sack from Martha,
The things the soldiers carried defined their character, both the physical things and the metaphorical things. All of the men physically carried their gear, which included things like their helmet, jungle boots, grenades, firearms, and sometimes each other. Mentally they had to carry their brutal memories of war and the terrible things they encountered. 1st Lieutenant Jimmy Cross carried letter from his girlfriend Martha, 2 photographs of her, and a pebble good luck charm; all of these things show that he is compassionate and cares deeply about his girlfriend. He also carried the lives of his men on his shoulders. Dave Jensen can be characterized as a hygienic person; he carried extra socks, a toothbrush, floss, soap, and foot powder. Along with his hygienic items, he carried a rabbit 's foot for good luck. Many other men carried things that symbolized important things; Norman Bowker carried a tongue from an enemy and a diary, Rat Kiley carried comic books, and Kiowa carried a pair of moccasins, an illustrated new testament, and his grandfather’s hatchet. Each man carried memories, stress, and knowledge. Personally I carry memories, that are each important in their own ways, and I carry a little wooden lady bug with me for good luck.
The author, Tim O’Brien gives us a detailed prescription of each item that the soldiers carried with them. “The things they carried were determined by necessity” (389). Each soldier took something that has huge significance and impact with them to the war front. Also a vivid description of the reason why what was kept where gave a better insight into how important each item was to the soldiers. The use of “slangs” to describe certain things, like M&M, which meant medical supplies (392) is also a significant topic in the story. “what they carried varied by mission”, “When a mission took them to the mountains, they carried mosquito netting, machetes, canvas tarps, and extra bug juice” (393). The reality with which one can relate to soldiers’s reason for carrying what they carried, is vividly described by the author. It describes how “Kiowa always took along his
The first layer was the necessities, such as food, lighters, canteens full of water, and clean clothes. Necessities are very important when thinking about how the soldiers kept up with their physiological needs. The next layer of the types of objects they carried, would be their weapons and safety equipment. These are significant because it not only kept them safe but, helped them feel safety and security emotionally. The next layer consists of objects that are best described as personal. These items are, but not limited to photos, good luck charms, and other items that have an emotional toll on the person who the item belongs to. These items are significant because it shows their humanity toward others and to themselves. The last layer and by far the heaviest burden the men carried, were their emotional baggage. “They carried all the emotional baggage of men who might die. Grief, terror,love, longing –these were intangibles”.(O’brien,pg.9) Jimmy Cross, held and his men carried the doubts, fear, and cowardice of their combat unit. Crosses men were doing there jobs for pride, and dignity, and because they were too afraid not to. To die of cowardice, would be unheroic and their deaths would be in
Tim O'Brien's novel, "The Things They Carried" is based upon a platoon of soldiers in Vietnam, in which as the title hint's at, focuses on the items and more emotional parts of being a soldier. These items range from the essentials of being a solider, ranging from food, water, shovels etc. To the more personal and individualistic items, with examples ranging from the more common, love letters, holding a bible and pictures of loved ones, or to the more "unique" (or odd) items chosen, such as pantyhose, a thumb and even moccasins. Whether or not these items appear weird or generic to us is irrelevant, behind those items is a deep sentimental meaning to that item to that soldier or person, which is exactly what we will be looking into for "The
A main trend seen throughout the book is that each soldier carried something very important with them, this object, or idea, whatever it be, helped the soldiers cope with the dangers and fears that the war brought upon them.
In a review titled "The baggage we carry weighs more than all of our suitcases" by Jann Malone, we actually get to see how the author, Tim O'Brien, himself actually explains the symbolism that the items the soldiers have mean. O'Brien states that the items they carry can be viewed as personal problems, thoughts, emotions, etc. that we all carry. "it's also about the things all of us carry through our lives" (Malone, 1). He goes on to say ""We all have fears, loneliness, guilt. And we all know those
Characterization in “The Things They Carried” is shown by the objects that each man carries. Ted Lavender carries a massive amount of dope, and this shows his true fear of the war. Lieutenant Cross carries letter from his sweetheart back home. Maybe this shows the romantic side of a traveling soldier or maybe it shows a lonely homesick man. Henry Dobbins carries a outrageous weight of ammunition around his waist. These shows a man that is afraid, but makes himself feel safer with a bullet by his side. Jenson was kind of the odd guy, because he had extra personal hygiene products in his bag. Kiowa can be the religious and traditionalist man of the group. For the story says about him “Kiowa, a devout Baptist, carried an illustrated New Testament that had been presented to him by his father” (102). Kiowa also carries an item
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