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The Things They Carried is a short story by Tim O’Brien from a collection of short stories with the same title (1990). It tells the story of Lieutenant Jimmy Cross, who is leading a soldier platoon in Vietnam, carrying reminders about Martha, a woman he loves unrequitedly and continuously distracts him from military objectives. However, after the death of a soldier in his squad, Jimmy reconsiders what is essential to him, and gets rid of all things that remind him of Martha to focus on his soldiers and its military mission. The central idea relates to not live through illusions and memories but instead focusing on the present. The key narrative strategy in the story is repetition, which is illustrated in the retelling of specific incidents that play detrimental roles in the main conflict. For instance, the death of Lavender is retold by the narrator several times because it is the catalyst for the main character’s development. With the help of repetition with the focus on the most important event, the narration of The Things They Carried emphasizes how important it was for the protagonist to revise his priorities and put the interests of others above his.
The first narrative strategy to be mentioned in regards to The Things They Carried is the point of view. The point of view belongs to the character of Tim, who is not the protagonist but the narrator. “First Lieutenant Jimmy Cross carried letters from a girl named Martha, a junior at Mount Sebastian College in New Jersey” (O’Brien 366). In the quote, the point of view of the narrator presents the story’s central character as well as his relationship, which is detrimental to the story’s development. “Henry Dobbins, who was a big man, carried extra rations; he was especially fond of canned peaches in heavy syrup over pound cake” (O’Brien 367). The point of view strategy is used to introduce another character and the attributes that make him stand out. There is a sense of community created by the narrator’s listing of what the soldiers were carrying.
The narrative strategy of repetition is imperative to the story’s development. “What they carried was partly a function of rank, part of field specialty” (O’Brien 369). “What they carried varied by mission” (O’Brien 372). These repetitions offer structure to the story while also making the characters more real and ‘human.’ The repeating sentence structures are important because they show that beyond physical things, the characters carried a weight of responsibility on their shoulders.
Characterization is another narrative strategy to be mentioned because there are many characters with unique peculiarities. “While Kiowa explained how Lavender died, Lieutenant Cross found himself trembling. […] He hated himself” (O’Brien 377). “The moral’s pretty obvious, Sanders said, and winked. Stay away from drugs. No joke, they’ll ruin your day every time” (O’Brien 380). The way in which the characters managed the death of their comrade says a lot about their qualities. While Sanders tried to make jokes to feel better after persistent sadness, Cross shut down, analyzing what he had done wrong, which led to an important decision for him. Repetition is a narrative strategy that is traced to the end of the story. “He hated her. Yes, he did. He hated her. Love, too, but it was a hard, hating kind of love” (O’Brien 383). “He loved her but he hated her” (O’Brien 383). In these quotes, Lieutenant Cross comes to terms with his feelings, which should not be placed above the interests of his team.
The story’s narration plays a key role in shaping the plot and its meaning as it allows to connect to the main characters and discover their fears and thoughts. The military battle setting adds to the complexity of the story because the characters are placed in extreme circumstances that pressure them into making certain decisions. Finally, the central idea stems from the other components and is not stated directly, which means that it is up to the readers’ interpretation.
Work Cited
O’Brien, Tim. “The Things They Carried.” The Vintage Book of Contemporary American Short Stories, edited by Tobias Wolff, Vintage Books, 1994, pp. 366-384.
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