The Things I Carry Analysis

Everyone holds onto things in order to comfort them through their life. Have you ever realized later on that it's not actually what it was in your memories? In The Things They Carried Chapter 2, “Love” by Tim O’Brien shifts form a more casual but sad tone to a hopeful tone, uses conflicting narrative, symbolism, and an unclear message to reveal that the things people hold onto aren't always what they are thought to be.

In The Things They Carried, the reader will learn a lot about the thoughts and emotions of the soldiers. The author will discuss what they think and do to not look weak or scared. “ They carried their reputations. They carried the soldier’s greatest fear, which was the fear of blushing. Men killed, and died, because they were too embarrassed not to” (O’Brien,21).The soldiers fear being seen as weak or dishonorable by their fellow soldiers and families.

They carried backpacks and pencils. They carried pens and notebooks and textbooks and basic books. They carried the pressures of meeting their friends’ expectations or even worse their parents’ expectations. Drew Birch carries the loss of his father, the headphones he was gifted by his ninety year old grandmother seven years ago, which he still use proudly. Bailey Allwine carried a water bottle and healthy snacks and running shoes, as she always tried to be the healthiest person in the room, and quite often was. They carried their relationships and friendships.

In Tim O’ Brian’s work, “The Things They Carried” the soldiers carry many things being actual objects to feelings or outlooks. What the soldiers carried, however, is much more different than what I carry every day. Objects I carry from a day-to-day routine would be school supplies, my medicine, and my computer; although, I also carry within myself opinions and feelings that cannot be seen, only conveyed. I hold in myself my expectations, my personality, my intelligence, and my values all of which determine who I am as a person and show what I think from day to day.

Within the novel, The Things They Carry, by Tim O’Brien, utilizes vivid description of a dead man in the chapter “The Man I Killed.” The usage of broad details creates multiple impacts not only in the text but to the reader as well. Each word strings along the reader leaving them to experience the effects first hand. The author, Tim O’Brien, chooses an eloquent way of describing the dead man’s body which clearly reminds the reader how cruel war truly is. As an illustration, the concept of war generally is thought of as dangerous and.by intensely exemplifying the dead man's body only proves the theory further. In the end, nothing can really escape the cruelty of war,“ He lay face-up in the center of the trail, a slim, dead, almost dainty young

There are only a few possessions that I tote around that are of extra significance in my life. Though certain items you might find in my wallet and backpack, the others you will find on my body. As you read the story, “The Things They Carried” by Tim O’Brien, each soldier not only carried physical items while in Vietnam, but they also carried psychological burdens as well.” (O’Brien, 108-119). We all carry things psychologically even if we don’t realize it. In my wallet you would find two family photos, one from Christmas 2013 of my oldest son grasping my hand and my ex-husband’s hand. The other is a current family photo. You will also find four charms engraved with the words sister, courage, faith, and love. The final item I carry with myself physically are my tattoos. Presently, I only have two, both of which denote significant periods in my life. I will continue to add more when I can.

Thesis Statement: In “The Things They Carried”, Lieutenant Jimmy Cross is torn between being a good leader and his love for Martha, thus making him a truly dynamic character.

The things I carried were based on school and responsibility. Among my backpack were folders, binders, a planner, water, pencils, and a necklace. Deven Jay, who was a short man, carried extra pencils; he was especially happy with his theatre scripts all thrown about in his bag. Trevor Rowe, who was confident, carried his lucky socks until it was time for his basketball game inside the school in mid-November. Many students carried the endless amount of homework and books given by teachers. In my heart, I carried love- an endless amount- and happiness for the Lord. My bag carried jewelry, a reminder of family and my best friend. I carried a Bible. My internal backpack carried responsibility for siblings whom I live with and for schoolwork. In

“They carried the sky. The whole atmosphere, they carried it, the humidity, the monsoons, the stink of fungus and decay, all of it, they carried gravity,” (O’Brien 114). The Things They Carried follows army men as they endure the hardships of battle. Through the story, we are introduced to the characters by what they carry with them. Each object reveals continuously more about the characters that ultimately brings us to an understanding of who they are. The use of objects in this story relates well with my life. By looking at what I carry, it can be determined who I am. May it be a driver’s license, style choice, or even the way one carries himself; it can be determined (at least roughly) who someone is. However, it is the meaning behind what we carry that truly defines who we are. Tangible or intangible, what we carry tells our individual story

(Anaphora) The things I carry. I always carry my cross necklace around my neck. I wonder what people might think it is. Personally, I believe the thing I carry around my neck is just a fashion statement that is perceived by many people because it is shiny and looks very nice. The thing I carry is not only just a symbol but a lifestyle that I wear it with a sense of humility. I know the thing I carry was carried by me because I know who carried it first. It was Christ who carried the cross, but here I am carrying a metal cross around my neck, revealing my faith and love towards him and personal relationship towards God. How did I keep carrying a cross when it's just a material. I wonder what I am carrying when this is just a metal cross.

In the documentary and the book The Things They Carried by Tim O’brien, there was one recurring idea that I noticed in both. It was the major role that guilt & fear during the war played on these soldiers. Whether it was in or out of their control, the soldiers encountered some sort of guilt and fear that greatly impacted them as individuals.

Within the novel “The Things They Carried”, the characters carry both physical and emotional burdens. The author, Tim O’Brien, has mentioned numerous times the weight of what the men are carrying. He described the weight of their boots, and the rounds of ammunition they carried. The emotional burdens they carried were their emotions throughout their time in the war. The men felt grief, terror, love, and longing. They longed to be away from the war and back with their families. The men grieved over friends lost in war, and were terrified of being next or getting an injury so bad that they become confined to a wheelchair. Furthermore, the men experience love. One character Jimmy Cross, for example, loves the ‘relationship’ he has with Martha.

In The Things They Carried by Tim O’Brien, the characters carried copious amounts of baggage emotionally and physically. “The things they carried were largely determined by necessity,” (O’Brien 2). In the soldier’s rucksacks they’d carry things like: P-38 can openers, dog tags, matches, C-rations, canteens of water to things like: candy, Kool-Aid, salt tablets, and cigarettes. All throughout the novel, O’Brien would go into deep detail about the items the soldiers would carry so that the readers would have a sense of the physical baggage and also have a deep sense of the soldiers experience to help delve the readers into the grim war lifestyle. The soldiers would have had been able to carry their own personal items

Usually when someone is murdered, people expect the murderer to feel culpable. This though, is not the case in war. When in war, a soldier is taught that the enemy deserves to die, for no other reason than that they are the nation’s enemy. When Tim O’Brien kills a man during the Vietnam War, he is shocked that the man is not the buff, wicked, and terrifying enemy he was expecting. This realization overwhelms him in guilt. O’Brien’s guilt has him so fixated on the life of his victim that his own presence in the story—as protagonist and narrator—fades to the black. Since he doesn’t use the first person to explain his guilt and confusion, he negotiates his feelings by operating in fantasy—by imagining an entire life for his victim, from his

Storytelling has been around since the dawn of mankind and Tim O’Brien cleverly uses stories in his novel, The Things They Carried, as well as a non-linear plot to express certain aspects of the book. In a time of war, Tim O’Brien uses stories to show the reader a love story between two soldiers, the loss of innocence of a love drunk man, and the power of Nam.