Essay The Things They Carried by Tim O'Brien

There were certain items or supplies that each soldier needed to possess that aided in their survival. Other items were discretionary or optional, not entirely important for the

For example, Lt. Jimmy Cross carried letters from Martha that he continually fantasized about. Kiowa carried his grandfather’s old hunting hatchet as a way to hold on to his cultural past. The additional weight depended somewhat upon the soldier’s rank and position. For example, the radiotelephone operator carried a twenty-six pound radio as part of his position.

Throughout the story, O’Brien gives long, tedious, monotonous and utterly boring lists of the things the men carried. “The things they carried were largely determined by necessity” (O’Brien 117), but each man’s necessities were different. All of the men carried very heavy loads to begin with, and added to these loads things that seemingly lightened their burdens. O’Brien’s point behind all this listing is to show the reader just how much physical weight these men carried and how slow and tedious the war in which they fought was. “They moved like mules… it was just the endless march, village to village, without purpose, nothing won or lost.” (O’Brien 124)

Rat Kiley carried comic books and the medical equipment for the men. Rat Kiley would carry brandy and M&M’s candies for “really bad wounds.” Medical equipment alone can

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.

In the list of all the things the soldiers carried, what item was most surprising? Which item did you find most evocative of the war? Foot powder was most surprising to me. This also shows us how much these soldiers had to travel in the war.

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 text, ‘The Things They Carried', is an excellent example which reveals how individuals are changed for the worse through their first hand experience of war. Following the lives of the men both during and after the war in a series of short stories, the impact of the war is accurately portrayed, and provides a rare insight into the guilt stricken minds of soldiers. ‘The Things They Carried' shows the impact of the war in its many forms: the suicide of an ex-soldier upon his return home; the lessening sanity of a medic as the constant death surrounds him; the trauma and guilt of all the soldiers after seeing their friends die, and feeling as if they could have saved them; and the deaths of the soldiers, the most negative impact a war

Lieutenant Cross deals with many conflicts throughout the short story. The author tells us “precise details of what the men carry (down to brand names and weights of objects listed in ounces) versus the more personal” (Farrel). This describe that the external conflicts are focus more on, versus the soldier’s personal issues and that itself is a problem because no struggle should be minimized. One major conflict he deals with is his inability to take his mind off of a girl he carries pictures of named Martha. Each soldier carries something in their rucksack to help them cope with their realities of war. “To carry something was to “hump” it, as when Lieutenant Jimmy Cross humped his love for Martha up the hills and through the swamps. In its intransitive form, “to hump” meant “to walk,” or “to march,” but it implied burdens far beyond the intransitive” (952). This indirectly gives the reader an illustration of how the soldiers carry some type of stress they are dealing with; it could be the stress of being away from someone you love or the guilt of being apart from him or her. Cross felt

Dobbins the biggest man carries the M-60 machine gun that ways twenty three pounds and additionally he carries fifteen pounds of ammunition draped across his upper body. The soldiers also carry dead bodies when necessary, for example they carry Lavender’s body across to the field to wait for the helicopter “He was dead weight” (71). The term used by the soldiers to carry something was “hump” which symbolizes an obstacle. “In it’s transitive form, to hump meant to walk, or to march, but it implied burdens far beyond the intransitive” (69). To comfort themselves they carried items such as canned peaches, toothbrush, tranquilizers, diary, condoms and an old hunting hatchet. When the men discarded some of the weight, they knew of only two ways. The first is by throwing away weight while on marches. ”They would often discard things along the route of the march” (71), the soldiers would do this because they knew that helicopters would always come with fresh supplies. The second method is to die on the field. “Go limp and tumble to the ground and let the muscles unwind and not speak and not budge...” (81).

Another substantially detailed necessity of the men is their military supplies. O'Brien goes into minute detail, for literally pages, describing the supplies that the men used for defense purposes. Primarily, he lists the standard weaponry for war, the typical rifles, grenades, and defensive clothing such as the flak jacket and helmet (6- 7). He relates the enormous burden of weight that Ted Lavender was carrying when he was shot, and how that weight caused him to fall like "a big sandbag or something - just boom, then down." (7) The next passage describes all of the extra weapons they carried, ranging from fragmentation grenades to brass knuckles

The story focuses on the emotions of the soldiers and describes how they endured extreme emotional torture during their time at war. All of them taken away from their homes and being thrown into a terrorizing unfamiliar area then given a gun and being told to fight most of them being young and having no combat experience. Tim O’Brien explains the amount of emotional stress each man carried “They carried all the emotional baggage of men who might die. Grief, terror, love, longing-these were intangibles, but intangibles had their own mass and specific gravity, they had tangible weight” (89). He describes how their fear affected even what supplies they brought with them from the amount of ammunition, to pocket knives, and even food. One of the soldiers in the story, Ted Lavender carried tranquilizers with him because he was scared of the physical pain he might endure. “Depending on numerous factors, such as topography and psychology, the riflemen carried anywhere from 12 to 20 magazines” (82). All the men struggled through

If the soldiers found a weapon worth carrying they would pick it up such as, captured AK-47’s and black market Uzis. All of the men in the platoon carried sentimental items. Some carried good luck items and some just souvenirs from their tour. For example Jimmy Cross carried pictures and letters from a girl that didn’t love him like he wanted. Kiowa carried a bible.

Each soldier carried with them items, some tangible others intangible, which helped them to adapt their minds and escape from the setting so that they could survive the traumatic events taking place. “Ted Lavender carried six or seven ounces of premium dope.” “Rat Kiley carried comic books.” The soldiers in the story do not only have a physical battle to deal with but also a mental one. Most of these items were a necessity in order to bear the war. However, there were a few items that the soldiers carried not because they had to or because they needed it to survive physically but because they needed it in order to survive emotionally. One soldier carried his wife’s pantyhose; another carried a new testament. One soldier permitted his items to take control of him and become an obsession, a trauma that took his focus away from his priorities, the war, and his men.

In addition to the other physical objects, First Lieutenant Jimmy Cross carried compasses and maps, but also the heavy responsibility for the men he oversees. Lieutenant Cross’s main role as a leader should be that of a strong leader who gives his soldiers clear instructions for an advantage over the enemy, but Lieutenant Cross fails to demonstrate the clear ability required to fulfill that role.