The Things I Carry Analysis

In “The Things They Carried,” by Tim O’Brien the theme of “carrying” both physical and emotional objects by the main characters can be found in the novel. While these men carry the same standard physical army gear, they differentiate with personal tangible and intangible items. From Lieutenant Cross’s responsibility of his men, to Henry Dobbin’s girlfriend’s pantyhose for its magic, each man faced the war with these things attached.

Small Meaning: O’Brien is giving the all the different ways war can be interpreted by a soldier. They live that lifestyle for so

and carrying it signifies a way of doing penance to ultimately cleanse it. Therefore, in order to

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.

Thematic Statement: “The Things They Carried”- The mental and morale that a person go through is intense because it becomes the fundamental that will be throughout the whole story.

I only carry a small amount of things. I carry some physical things and some emotional things. The physical things are usual things that most girls carry, stuff that we could use at any time. The emotional things usually put weight on my shoulders and when I start to think about then my mood gets worse. I carry stress, so much stress. I stress about everything and anything. Stress is not a good thing and can can weight gain, pimples, binge eating, lack of eating or more. Alot of people carry stress, you might not be able to see it on the outside because not alot of people show it.

The main topic of this novel is burdens. O’Brien is writing about what burdens the soldiers and he had to carry throughout war, physically and emotionally. One way I know is because of the title- “The Things They Carried.” This title almost summarizes the whole book. O’Brien frequently showed and explained the burdens that were inner conflicts of his and outer conflicts too. In the chapter “The things They Carried,” O’Brien showed an emotional burden that he carries about him loving “Martha more than his men and as a consequence” his friend Lavender got killed. O’Brien described this emotional burden as “something he would have to carry like a stone in his stomach for the rest of the war.”

Tim O’Brien starts the book The Things They Carried with a chapter that literally tells the audience what each soldier carries. This ranges from mandatory equipment to sentimental items. These sentimental items also indicate the figurative things that the soldiers carry. The first chapter is all about O’Brien stating which man in the unit carries the guns and radios.

Human beings carry many different things with them, both physical and metaphorical. In Tim O’Brien’s “The Things They Carried,” he presents an exploration of the many burdens that people can carry. Throughout the story, he presents many detailed descriptions of the equipment and tangible things that the characters carry with them to help them survive their ordeal physically. O’Brien also describes the various ‘things’ that the men carry both physically and emotionally to help them deal with the mental and emotional stress of war. O’Brien also details the additional ‘things’ that the men pick up over the course of their experiences, both physical and mental/emotional. Through the metaphor of carrying objects, the descriptions of the items and

People carry things with them all the time on a daily basis. They might be physical, emotional or spiritual things. Some people could carry a traumatic past while others simply carry a bag of groceries into their house. The things one carries defines them as a person and brings out their qualities as well as their defects. Some people might think of those things as burdens while others see them as a way out of reality or as something to push them forward, something to believe in.

In “The Things They Carried” by Tim O’Brien, the author emphasizes on the items to tell the story. Lieutenant Jimmy Cross carried letters and a rock from Martha. In the war, Cross would focus on his love towards Martha to carry him out through his days and his sufferings. All the men carried something to get their minds off the war. They did not want to be cowards, so they stuck it out and moved on. They used these items to motivate them. For the letters Cross states, “They were signed Love, Martha, but Lieutenant Cross understood that love was only a way of signing…” (p.366). Martha just added to the illusion to Cross. She never mentioned the war and never said she loved him. She just kept teasing him. However, Cross just kept “humped” his

Jesus preaches, “If anyone wishes to come after me, he must deny himself and take up his cross daily and follow me.” Each and every one of us has our own “cross.” It may be a mental or physical illness, a strained relationship, a personal weakness, or a spiritual struggle in our lives. Jesus, the man who came down to earth in the form of a human and opened up the gates to eternal life in heaven, carries his own cross on the road to Calvary. He asks us to leave everything behind, pick up our cross, follow Him, and lift our problems to Him- knowing that He loves us and trusting that he will vanquish our misery and fear after our life on earth.

Since I am a Roman Catholic, wearing my Crucifix necklace has a very strong meaning to me and also my family. My father would always remind my siblings and me to always be proud and lucky because our family ancestors were one of the very few who stood up for our religion during the Ottoman Empire, and it was all thanks to the help of a honorable Albanian and Catholic figure, George Kastrioti.

LANGUAGE: This passage is written in prose form. There is a change of diction in this passage of the poem. Throughout the poem the diction has changed, in this passage it is using more influential words as a preacher would use in a sermon. The formal element of diction used in this passage shows the importance of what is being told. It reveals in the whole passage that the Cross is just a symbol that represents what is most important

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.