Category: The Things They Carried

Tim O’Brien’s The Things They Carried is a fusion of stories derived from both fact and fiction regarding the Vietnam War, which conveys the emotions and experiences of a soldier during and after the war. The title of the book is associated to the author’s description of characters not by their personality, but by the items they carried (O’Brien 7).

The main narrative device in the book is repetition, which is employed by the author through creation of a slightly surreal yet factual ambience for the reader. For example, the author repeats the phrases “the things they carried” and “they carried” throughout the book. O’Brien tells the story interchangeably as his present self and through “Tim the soldier who describes the experiences of O’Brien through a second person narrative” (Nagel 130).

The result is an alternating form of realism and imagination, which the author acknowledges when he states that “the thing about a story is that you dream it as you tell it, hoping that others might then dream along with you, and in this way memory and imagination and language combine to make spirits in the head. There is the illusion of aliveness.” (O’Brien 230).

In reference to the statement, the author in essence questions the actuality of a “true war story,” which is also sustained by the fact that according to Tim, his story is merely a dream (Beidler 122). “O’Brien creates an element of doubt in the book by interlinking fact and fiction by extensively employing imagination and reality” (Nagel 128-129).

For example, in chapter eleven “The Man I Killed,” he imagines that the man he has killed “was born in 1946. His parents were farmers. He was neither a Communist nor a fighter and all he hoped for was that the Americans would go away…He had delicate fingers and might have been a scholar.

The other boys at school might have teased him because he may have had a woman’s walk and a love for mathematics” (O’Brien 129-130). However, in the chapter titled “Notes” O’Brien goes on to define real events in his life such as in 1975 when he received a handwritten letter from Norman Bowker that describes the effects of the war on a former soldier and encouraged O’Brien to write about the effects of the Vietnam War (Nagel 138).

The difficulty in writing truth about war arises from the fact that wartime conditions are unstable, rushed and marred with confusion. A soldier’s emotions and senses are exclusively focused to staying alive and conquering the enemy which “creates a ‘tunnel-vision’ mindset, superseding senses associated with hindsight and recollection” (Nagel 142). In addition, soldiers are trained to be brave and confident but, as humans, they are still “prone to natural reactions such as fear and cowardice in addition to fatal mistakes such as killing a fellow soldier by mistake” (Nagel 142).

However, the acknowledgement of such a mistake may lead to criticism or punishment, which compels soldiers to only “portray their actions as heroic regardless of their experiences” (Nagel 145). As a result, the stories of war are biased which greatly compromises the integrity of facts, which is possibly “the main reason why narrator Tim states he will conceal parts of Jimmy Cross’ story” (Nagel 151). The truth is especially slanting when war occurs in an isolated region such as Vietnam as compared to a large-scale war such as World War II.

The writer applies diction to achieve in creating more vivid events to emphasize on the emotions in a certain event. This is so because he wants to sway the audience to feel what he felt. For example, in the story Good Form, O’Brien gives reasons why he tells stories. “What stories can do, I guess, is make things present. I can look at things I never looked at. I can attach faces to grief and love and pity and God. I can be brave. I can make myself feel again.” (180)

The writer emphasizes on how his emotions can be expressed in both imaginary and fiction narrations. To achieve in making a story important, he must express his feelings by narrating the event in a way that influences the reader’s perception by placing a reader on the battle field and this is achieved by effective enunciation (Ringnalda 78).

O’Brien uses imagery in his writing, for example in “The Man I Killed”, the author writes, “His jaw was in his throat, his upper lip and teeth were gone, his one eye was shut, his other eye was a star shaped hole, his eyebrows were thin and arched like a woman’s…” (124).

This is a clear description of use of imagery as a figure of speech. Imagery exactly captures and expresses feelings to the audience by creation of images in the audience mind. Juxtaposition is another figure speech that is able to express fiction importance by fully showing how similar and close it is to reality in a story. O’Brien explains how in a happening-truth that “there were many bodies, real bodies with real faces, but I was young then and I was afraid to look” (180). In this statement, the writer explains the reality of the story as if he was still there (Biess and Moeller 45).

When Norman circles the lake in his hometown, having in mind all the things he had lost it symbolizes Norman as a satellite that is unable to resist the magnetic force of the lake. Finally, when he submerges himself in the lake, it symbolizes his later suicide. In ‘Field Trip’, the narrator judges the field with the same old emotions, not knowing the outcome would not be the same.

Embarking to the location of Kiowa’s death twenty years later, he is surprised to find the field at peace and more strangely is the absence of the feeling he felt whenever he was approached with the place that has symbolized everything vulgar and violent from his past.

Surprisingly, when the narrator enters into the fields, he re-emerges with a new outlook, finally having freed himself from the shackles of bitterness the fields were redesigned for baptism and he cleansed himself from the destruction of the war (Beidler 132). Mark Fossie’s lover who is from America is a symbol of the goodness in America. In“Sweetheart of Song Tra Bong”, however, reflects the changes that happen to the innocent girl. When she is trans-located from Cleveland suburbs and settles on the mountains of Vietnam.

The occurrence of the war and the loud silence of the mountain have a seductive effect on the young girl. Once innocent girl is now able to amass instinctive ransacks and to lock off channels, the innocence she had fades so does the love Mark had for her. She rubs off her youthful dreams of getting married to Mark after his return and they finally separate (Biess and Moeller 55).

Works Cited

Beidler Philip. Re-writing America: Vietnam Authors in Their Generation .Georgia: University of Georgia, 1991. Print

Biess, Frank, & Robert Moeller. Histories of the Aftermath: The Legacies of the Second World War in Europe. London: Berghahn Books, 2010. Print.

Nagel, James. The Contemporary American Short-Story Cycle: The Ethnic Resonance of Genre. California: LSU Press, 2004. 119- 148. Print.

O’Brien, Tim. The Things They Carried. New York: Broadway, 1998. Print.

Ringnalda, Don. Fighting and Writing the Vietnam War. Mississippi: University of Mississippi Press of Mississippi, 2008. Print.

Abstract

This research paper attempts to analyze the purpose of the structure in the books The Things They Carried and A Rose for Emily. It further assesses the impact of the mode in which the information in the books is arranged compared to if it were set in a sequential manner. It also looks into the differences and similarities of both authors as well as the tone of the book as it appears to readers.

Analysis

The mode in which information in both stories is arranged is proper. In a narrative, it is important for an author to present the story in such a way that it does not flow in a chronological manner. There are two main reasons for this. First, such an arrangement helps in releasing the tension that the story may build among readers. Secondly, it presents a chance for the author to inform the readers of what is happening or happened elsewhere. These are important strategies in any piece of art be it written or oral. Reed (23) notes that any piece of work that rotates around the same environment and theme can be boring to readers. When an author takes his or her readers from one environment to another, it is easy to capture their attention to follow the story. This technique helps to maintain the concentration of the readers.

In the ‘The Things They Carried’, the writer moves us from one episode to another. The book could have been less interesting if it just discussed how the war was (Bloom 5). William Faulkner in ‘A Rose for Emily’ also takes us from Emily’s home to the outside world (Faulkner 23). This adds value to the book because it shows the author’s ability to narrate stories that cover more than one environment. The settings in these books vary depending on time and place in the all the episodes.

One aspect that is evidently common among the two authors is their ability to remain neutral regardless of the issue at hand. They do not ridicule the actions of the characters in their books. They do not attempt to persuade the readers to see their point of view. Rather, they leave the reader to analyze a situation and judge. When telling the readers about how the soldiers had detached with reality because of their superstitious nature, O’Brian presents the story in such a way that the reader cannot tell what his views are concerning the theme. This style is common in most works of art where the authors conceal their viewpoints on issues that are emerging in their writing. As Reed (56) notes, this style gives the reader a chance to make a self analysis on the matter in question without the influence of the authors.

In both books, the narrator is unidentified. The writing styles in both books do not identify the storyteller since the stories are told by an anonymous person. In A Rose for Emily, the story is told from an anonymous resident’s point of view (Faulkner 7). There is no mention of a narrator. The author has however identified the protagonists of the story. Despite this, the story has been presented in a fascinating manner to attract the reader’s attention. First, chapters of the book give brief by clear description of the characters so that the reader can identify with them. By giving the descriptions of the characters or their beliefs, the author creates awareness to the reader on the kind of people that will be ‘meeting’ in the story.

However, the styles used by both authors differ. While O’Brian’s book is written from the past to the present, Faulkner’s book uses flashback and overshadowing to pass the intended message effectively. The narration in O’Brian’s book tells the story from the time the soldiers set off to Vietnam. The aspect of flashback in this book is very minimal (O’Brian 17-37). Faulkner uses flashback to present events that take place before the beginning of the story. This can be illustrated at the start and end of the story. The story begins by a description of the scene of Emily’s funeral. This is a flashback because the story ends with the narrator’s memory of how the town’s people discovered the corpse of Grieson in Emily’s home soon after her funeral (Faulkner 3). In addition, overshadowing builds the expectations of the readers on events that are yet to happen. This therefore serves as one of the most outstanding difference between the two authors. The mode in which the stories are presented gives the readers an idea of the styles that each author uses in their written work.

The titles play an important role of giving the readers ideas of the messages the authors intend to present. This is not always the case since some titles are not straight forward. In some instances the readers have to go through the whole book to get the message of the story. The title A Rose for Emily does not give the reader a very clear idea of what the author wants to discuss. The only correct hypothesis that the readers can make is that one of the characters in the book is called Emily. Many people would associate such a story with pleasant experiences while this is not the case. The title used therefore conceals a hidden meaning because it does not give a straight forward idea on the content of the book. Reed (67) sees the idea of titles as one way of identifying serious readers. He further notes that committed readers do not judge the book by its cover or title. O’Brian’s Things They Carried can give the readers a thought on the contents of the book. First, the presumption would be that the characters in this story set out for a journey and carried with them ‘some things’ (O’Brian 47). The reader can be sure that those things (whatever they were) have been mentioned in the story.

O’Brian uses a melancholic tone in presenting the narrative. The mood that revolves around the book reflects sadness. One of the main themes in the story is isolation. Soldiers feel separated from the rest in the world to an extent that they feel that however much they try to express their experiences to their peers and family, they will never be understood. Following this, they feel of isolated when they return home. Their experiences in Vietnam are also expressed in a sad way. Some like Tim attempt to run away from this hostile environment.

Faulkner uses a serious and sympathetic tone (Faulkner 78-140). Emily is not comfortable in her own home. Her father does not seem pleased with any of his daughter’s suitors. One of the main themes that have been discussed in the story is death. Death is prevalent in this story. About five deaths are mentioned throughout the book. In everyday life, death brings about solemn moods.

As a reader I take a sad mood. This is basically because both stories focus on sad events which happen to us sometimes. This mood is further enhanced by the fact that the events are common experiences. This therefore reminds me of all the real events like these that I have witnessed in my life. The mood that the books set has a direct effect on the readers. Human suffering and death are catastrophic to all human beings. According to Reed (45), when we watch a movie or read a sad story, we tend to be affected by its events. This is manifested by our reflection on the events after it comes to an end. We may ask questions like, why did it have to end that way? What if that happened to me? Do such events happen in real life? This generally shows that the events in both books arouse the emotions of the readers.

Conclusion

This paper focused on the books Things They Carried by O’Brian and A Rose for Emily by Faulkner. The two books possess common features and at the same time differ in presentation styles. O’Brian’s book is presented in a melancholic tone (Bloom 5) while Faulkner’s is presented in a serious and sympathetic tone. The events in both stories affected me as a reader because they left me in a sad mood.

Works Cited

Bloom, Harold, ‘‘Tim O’Brien’s The Things They Carried’’, Philadelphia: Chelsea House Publishers, 2005. pp. 3-137. Web.

Faulkner, William. A Rose for Emily, Bellevue, WA: Merrill, 2001. pp. 1-140.

O’Brian, Tim. The Things They Carried, New York: Perfection Learning Prebound, 2010. pp 1-233.

Reed, Mary, Teaching Powerful Personal Narratives: Strategies for College Applications and High School Classrooms, Melbourne: Maupin House Publishing, Inc. 2004. pp. 23-67.

The Things They Carried by Tim O’Brien is a story about the war in Vietnam presented from the point of view of simple soldiers who are regarded as adolescents despite the fact that they are only 19. Reading this story one may understand what war meant for those boys who used to be always at home, to play with their friends, go out dating with girls, who used to live careless lives; now they appeared in dangerous situations which they feel helpless about.

The story is full of symbols which intensify the impression from reading the book. The very title of this piece of writing is symbolic which is going to be considered in detail. As it has been mentioned, The Things They Carried by Tim O’Brien is full of different symbols which help understand the full meaning of the story along with the significance of the title and its impact on the vision of the piece of writing.

First of all, the symbolism of the title should be discussed. The Things They Carried in the Tim O’Brien’s story is the title which depicts the very idea of the plot. The story describes the life of soldiers who are taken from their ordinary lives to the war. The title paves the way to the discussion.

The main idea of the title is fully understood when one reads the story up to the end, when one plunges into the world of solders’ discussions, memories, the things they carried with them and the way those things helped the reader understand the inner world of every soldier. Leaving behind the discussion of the things as objects, it should be stated that along with those objects each soldier experienced a lot of other ‘things” like emotions.

Soldiers’ lives discussed in the story are complicated due to the fact that these soldiers used to be ordinary kids with no responsibility bearing for others. Fear, pain, remorse and similar feelings are part and parcel of each soldier who participates in the war. Therefore, using the word “things” in the title of the story, the author means not only the objects which are present in the pocket of each soldier, what the author really means are the feelings and emotions soldiers have to suffer while at war.

It should be mentioned that the feelings perfectly fit the story telling, however. It seems that the author tries to tell the readers that the things soldiers carry tell much about their personalities, their past and present lives, about their identities, etc. The symbolic meaning of the title helps understand the theme and the purpose of the story which is really important in getting the author’s idea.

Turning to the discussion of the very things the soldiers carry as the symbolic issues, it should be mentioned that each of the soldiers carries both things that are similar for all and their personal objects which are often unseen to others. The similar objects at the war are their guns and the hope to stay alive and come back home to their beloved, parents, friends. Protective gears are also the symbols of their hope.

The author discusses the armory in detail. Depending on the objects and things carried by the soldiers, their positions may be understood, “what they carried was partly a function of rank, partly of field specialty” (Tim O’Brien 5). The lieutenant carried “a compass, maps, code books, binoculars and a.45 caliber pistol” (Tim O’Brien 5). However, after this statement, the author states that he also carries “a strobe light and the responsibility for the lives of his men” (Tim O’Brien 5).

Medic carried “a canvas satchel filled with morphine and plasma and malaria tables and surgical tape… and the things the medic must carry” (Tim O’Brien 5). There are many similar descriptions in the book where the author points out the responsibilities of the soldiers via the objects they have to carry with them.

The things people carry are those which will help each of them to survive during the war (“The Things They Carried” 56). It becomes obvious if one looks at the book’s characters, their needs and perception of the surrounding reality from different angles.

The things soldiers carry in their hands and in their minds symbolize the war as the effect and its consequences for each soldier as the result. Performing its duties, each soldier has to follow the tasks he/she is assigned. Each person has its own place and destiny. This is exactly what the author wants to say.

Having one’s own place in this life, people are to perform specific functions and the inability to do them leads to certain consequences. The result of Cross’s inattentiveness is the remorse because of the death of one of his soldiers. Therefore, the author wants to say that everything is in the hands of a person.

Such notions as duty, God, and country are inevitable and invisible items which help soldiers remain people at the war. Some parts in the text dwell upon the cruelty and unseen violence. Trying to imagine the war the reader sees murders which can bring nothing but sorrows and grief. What is more, showing the uselessness of this Vietnam War and its difference with the World War II, the author states, “They moved like mules.

By daylight they took sniper fire, at night they were mortared, but it was not battle, it was just the endless march, village to village, without purpose, nothing won or lost. They marched for the sake of the march” (Tim O’Brien 14).

The absence of any purpose or idea, the monotony of the actions which seem to be useless are part and parcel of the war life and no one knows when it will end, no one understands what it is all for and about. 19 years old adolescents fighting at war (those who were kinds yesterday) are shocked by the cruelty of the it. The author decides to take19 year old soldiers not by chance, he wants to underline the uselessness of the wars, their devastating nature and absence of any sense.

The death of a young Vietnamese soldier is Jimmy Cross’s failure and mistake because he is guilty of violating his responsibilities. Dreaming about Martha, Cross forgets about war operation which causes Ted Lavender’s death. Jimmy Cross blames himself because during the military operation, instead of participating in the battle, he is reading Martha’s letters remembering his life before the war. Ted’s death is a symbol of the feeling of guilt for the actions and deaths that happen during the war.

At the same time, if to look at the situation from another angle, Cross is not guilty of the war, of all violence and deaths which happen there (Kaplan 48). No one is guilty except for those who start wars but never take part in them. Still, the feeling of guilt follows all the soldiers at the war who happen to be near those who die.

The author makes Cross guilty of the death of that man. Still, the main idea of the symbol is to show that the whole humanity is guilty in wars and deaths. The symbol makes one think about the reasons some people die when they do not want to; others do not care about their lives at all but they remain alive, and others like Cross, are bothered about their personal problems.

The feeling of guilt is very important at the war as it means that a person has not lost the qualities of a human being. Frankly speaking, it is easy to lose traits of a personality when all around are killing; the author shows that it is possible to conserve the guilt and other human qualities despite everything.

Kathleen in her novel aims at depicting the reader who forms personal point of view. O’Brien’s daughter Kathleen listens to the stories of her father, and responds to them expressing her personal opinions. It seems that the author tries to guess the reaction of the reader and this is exactly what Kathleen is there for.

When O’Brien tells a story about a killed Vietnam soldier, he changes the story not to hurt a vulnerable young daughter. In this way the author tries to show that his story may be presented to a large scope of audience, the lecture should just depict the information from another angle to make sure that impressive people get it in different way.

Therefore, it may be considered that the significance of Kathleen as the symbolic representation of the reader is to show that each story may be told to the wide audience, it is just important to make sure that the issue or the fact offered for consideration forms the correct point of view (Smith 16). One more reason for creating the image of Kathleen is the presentation of the gap in communication between the teller and the reader.

No matter how clear the author of the story tries to present the facts and explain the reasons for his actions, the reader will always have different point of view and will not always have an opportunity to understand why the character has acted in this or that way (Calloway 251). Kathleen is able to understand most of the actions committed by O’Brien at the war, still, she cannot get some of them; this issue creates a gap between the daughter and her father in the story; or the reader and the author of the book as a symbolic interpretation.

Linda seems to be an ordinary character presented in the story with the purpose of discussion of the author’s past. However, this girl who died of a brain tumor in the fifth grade, is a symbol of the author’s grief and pain which support a person who experiences death of close to him people. Remembering the dead soldier, we cannot say that these two characters symbolize the same.

Linda is a symbol of human confusion and sadness which surround those who have to survive and overcome the death of a relative. Linda is not just the memory of a girl who used to know the author (Blyn 189). She is the symbol of the feelings all people suffer from when one of their precious people passes away. Linda is immortalized in the story to show that after people die we are unable to forget them and they live in our hearts and memories for ever.

Therefore, one may summarize that the story The Things They Carried by Tim O’Brien is full of different symbols which may be interpreted in different ways. However, having read the story up to the end, one understands that each character, each event is presented in the novel not randomly, not by chance, everything is done on purpose. The whole story suggests that people we meet, the events which occur to with us happen not accidentally.

The things the soldiers possess in the novel, the feelings they experience at the war, other characters present are aimed at reflecting various symbols which help the author to make sure that each line makes a reader think about their lives, people, values surrounding them. The story is about ordinary people like everyone of us; when reading it each one may see him/herself or his/her friends through the prism of the events in the story. The feelings highlighted in the novel are universal, that is why the readers perceive the story as something personal.

Works Cited

“The Things They Carried.” MHQ: Quarterly Journal of Military History 24.2 (2012): 56. Print.

Blyn, Robin. “O’Brien’s The Things They Carried.” Explicator 61.3 (2003): 189. Print.

Calloway, Catherine. “How To Tell A True War Story’: Metafiction in The Things They Carried.” Critique 36.4 (1995): 249. Print.

Kaplan, Steven. “The Undying Uncertainty Of The Narrator In Tim O’Brien’s The Things They Carried.” Critique 35.1 (1993): 43. Print.

O’Brien, Tim. The Things They Carried. New York: Houghton Mifflin Harcourt, 2009. Print.

Smith, Jack. “The things he carries: For Tim O’Brien, the Vietnam war has remained a crucible in his fiction, but the power of imagination and memory, and ‘our elusive interior worlds,’ loom large, too.” Writer 123.7 (2010): 16. Print.

In the stories in Tim O‘Brien‘s The Things They Carried, we see characters faced with situation the typical character wouldn‘t normally have to deal with. These American soldiers in Vietnam are constantly being forced to be wary of enemy soldiers, and a moment’s lapse in attention can be disastrous. The episode where Lavender was killed was one such instance. The Squad leader, Jimmy Cross, who is characterized as a person who was perhaps not ready to leady his unit as the story begins finds himself day dreaming about a girl he is in love with back home. During this time, Lavender gets killed by an enemy soldier.

It’s hard to think of these characters as enemies though. If it were not for the war, which soldiers on either side of the conflict were not personally responsible for, there would be no reason for these people to consider each other enemies. It was the leaders of each respective side who decided upon the actions that put the soldiers in conflict with each other, and it is difficult to initially blame them for what happens, even if they do terrible things. After Lavender dies, Jimmy Cross takes his soldiers to the nearest village and takes retribution on the villagers: “Jimmy Cross led his men into the village of Than Khe. They burned everything. They shot chickens and dogs, they trashed the village well, they called in artillery and watched the wreckage” (16). The story discusses how these soldiers were not prepared to be put in these situations, and when one of them dies, in one sense you can see how they would react poorly and destroy the village of Than Khe. However, the ability to understand why they would do what they did does is not the same thing as justifying their actions. We can see that it was wrong and see why they did it at the same time.

Personally, as a pacifist, I am less likely to agree with the view that they were at war and these kinds of things simply happen in war. As mentioned, soldiers on both sides wouldn’t ever have met each other if not for the war, and it was only because of the war that they were in conflict at all with each other. However, many people decided to refrain from participating in the war because of this very reason. The conflict in Vietnam posed no direct threat to America in any way; it took place simply because of the international conflict of America and communism in general. Later in the book, the narrator/Tim O’Brien character decides that he doesn’t want to be viewed as a coward for not going to war, even though he on principle did not agree with the war. I feel that the more cowardly thing to have done was to bend on his principles due to the opinions of others. People were ridiculed and sent to jail for being conscientious objectors, but these people stuck by their principles regardless of the consequences. And they were never in a position where they had to make a choice to take another person’s life in order to not be killed themselves.

Regardless of the actions of the characters after the death, nothing could change the simple fact: “ Lavender was dead. You couldn’t burn the blame” (23). These soldiers were in a bad position, true, but that does not in any way excuse what happened to the village of Than Khe. There was not anything that could be done about Lavender’s death, and the burning of Than Khe most certainly did not even the score in regards to his death. The only thing that happened was that more people needlessly died. These soldiers still had a choice, and they made the wrong choices, regardless of what happened to their own soldiers. I can’t find any excuse for what they did.

Works Cited

O’Brien, Tim, The Things They Carried. New York, Houghton Mifflin, 1990.

The Things They Carried’ is one of the short stories in the book “Literature: An Introduction to Fiction, Poetry, Drama, and Writing.” The story was written by Tim O’Brien who, according to his military life experiences between 1968 and 1970 served as an infantry fighter in Vietnam. Though the characters of this story are fictional, O’Brien obviously created a realistic setting in the story based on his personal experiences in combat.

By doing so, he was able to depict the harsh realities and emotional problems that soldiers go through in war environments. This analysis became evident in the story as depicted by the actions of the principal character, Lieutenant Jimmy Cross. Lieutenant Cross carried a heavy burden within himself after failing to concentrate in the war. Consequently, he lost his sense of reality by constantly daydreaming about a girl known as Martha.

The beginning of the short story is a simple one explaining the things soldiers carried as they went to war. O’Brien found it difficult to discuss most of the topics in the story hence he employed a distant way of telling the story of the Vietnam War. His intention was to convey the message that the war did not affect him much. However, the structure and the feelings created by the events starting from noble events to distressing ones are important in the story.

They form the basis of the discussion of emotional experiences that affected the soldiers in combat. In the end, it was clear that the things that soldiers carried were not at all ‘things.’ The soldiers had to deal with the emotional feelings of men who were exposed to the risk of death. Things like terror, love and fear were not tangible but the weight they had on the soldiers was tangible. The author says that the soldiers carried with them shameful memories and a feeling of cowardice (O’Brien 21).

The presentation of such passages causes the reader to share in the grief of the soldiers. The author gives details that compel the reader to look at the soldiers as fellow human beings and people who go through the experiences of normal human beings. Just like other human beings, the soldiers had their troubles and emotions.

Fear, cowardice and shame were some of the burdens they carried while at war. These were burdens that troubled them contributing towards their character change. O’Brien uses characters like Mary Anne Bell and Mark Fossie to show how the soldiers were changed from innocent people into savages.

As the author gives an explanation of the things soldiers carried, he presents the major themes of imagination and memory in the story. O’Brien succeeds in showing how these two themes can facilitate mental escape. For instance, Lieutenant Cross always thought of Martha even as he performed his normal duties during the war. He did not have memories of her but only imagined of their romantic trips together.

These imaginations of Lieutenant Cross are described by the author as full of pretence. The importance of the deeds of Lieutenant Cross is shown when O’Brien gives information about the photograph of Martha and letters from her that were carried by Lt Cross. These symbolized the love Cross had for Martha.

O’Brien deviates from using literary techniques where he describes the physical things of the soldiers and presents the most important characters in the story. He provides important details of the things that were carried by the soldiers. The explanation of the things carried by the soldiers helps the reader to look at them in a more realistic manner.

The author aims at helping the reader connect with the feelings of the soldiers and take the situation as if it was real. Details such as the weight of things like radios, grenades and weapons seem trivial but assist the readers in getting a real picture of the weight of the war (O’Brien 399).

O’Brien uses the death of Lavender to present the situation Lieutenant. Cross found himself in since his role in the war conflicted with his conscience and the imaginations that brought peace to him. Lieutenant Cross burnt the letters from Martha and accepted that he was responsible for the death of Lavender.

This conflict in his line of thought informs the reader that one should be careful to differentiate fantasy from truth. Although he burned what seemed to be a constant reminder of Martha, his memory of her did not disappear. In addition, he carried a burden of guiltiness and pain for what he did.

Lieutenant Cross is used by the author to explain the concept of mental escapism. Mental escapism is defined as the act of focusing on unimportant things in order to avoid unpleasant conditions. Lieutenant Cross was supposed to focus on the war but instead he spent all his time thinking about Martha.

After the death of Kiowa, he was also supposed to look for his body but instead he concentrated on thinking about the letter he had to write to Kiowa’s father. He managed to concentrate on issues that were not related to the war yet he was compelled to carry a heavy burden because of that. The short story was an important contribution towards the Literature of war in Vietnam with O’Brien being credited for his ability in memorializing war experiences.

Works Cited

O’Brien, Tim. Literature: An Introduction to Fiction, Poetry, Drama, and Writing. New York: Longman, 2010. Print.

“The Things They Carried” is a short story written by Tim O’Brien to present to the readers his own autobiography and a war memoir. O’Brien complicates the narration by creating the protagonist who actually shares his real name. The story is about a platoon of soldiers from the American soil fighting in the Vietnam War.

The title of the story “The Things They Carried” is effective for it describes the soldiers and the kind of valuables they brought along in their missions. This is evidenced by the introduction of the story where Tim O’Brien gives a detailed description of the main characters and what they carry from the physical items to emotional ones as well. This paper will focus on the title of the story “The Things They Carried” and how it acts as a guide to the meaning of the story.

Through the use of literary techniques, the author gives detailed accounts of the tangible and intangible things which the soldiers take with them and which most of the times burden them. Each of the soldier’s possessions defines the kind of people they really are. The things that the soldiers carry depend on several factors like their constitutions, priorities, missions, necessity, and sometimes superstition.

The narrator says “they carried malaria tablets, love letters, 28 pound mine detectors, dope, illustrated bibles, and each other.” If the soldiers happen to arrive home safely and sound, “they carried unrelenting images of a nightmarish war” (O’Brien, 2009). The title of the story fits well with its meaning as evidenced by the first point of view of the narrator when describing the things they carry.

Jimmy Cross the Lieutenant of the company carries letters written by his girlfriend Martha everywhere he goes. Even though the girl has not given Jimmy a sign or an indication of love, he still carries the letters as a reminder of his love for her. Jimmy’s backpack carries each letter written by Martha and his mouth carries “her good luck charm” (O’Brien, 2009).

After marching the whole day, Jimmy would sit down, unwrap the letters and fantasize that Martha will one day come to her senses and returning his love. Apart from the letters, Jimmy does carry Martha’s photographs to serve as a memory of her. It was only once that he got the chance to go on a movie date with Martha.

During the movie, he had touched her knee and the look she gave him made Jimmy withdraw his hand fast. O’Brien explains that, while on mission, Jimmy wishes that “he had carried her upstairs, tied her to the bed, and touched her knee the whole night” (2009).

The description of the physical items carried by the men on their day to day events give the story a meaning. The narrator O’Brien makes it possible for the reader to realize this; he explains the physical items as mosquito repellants, chewing gums, and pocket knives among others (2009).

Henry Dobbins one of the platoon members carries a large machine gun and extra rations of food to nourish his huge body. At the same time, Dobbins superstitious nature makes him carry and tie the pantyhose of his girlfriend around the neck. Ted Lavender who is ever nervous carries tranquilizers and marijuana to use when he need to calm down. Kiowa who is a religious man carries the New Testament Bible given to him by his father in all missions. The things that these men carry are highly determined by the kind of necessities they have.

One Dave Jensen is a very hygienic man and as a result, he carries his tooth brush wherever he goes together with dental floss and bar soaps stolen from Sydney, Australia. As a matter of necessity, the men are required to carry important items like wrist watches, mosquito repellants, can openers, heat tabs, pocket knives, lighters, sewing kits, matches, salt, cigarettes, water, food rations, and Military payment Certificates among other items.

Steel helmets and camouflage covers are equally a necessity which each man has to carry. For clothing, the men would carry fatigue trousers and jackets, boots, socks, and foot powder to protect them against foot diseases. While Mitchell Sanders carries condoms, Norman Bowker carries his diary, and Rat Kiley values his comic books and carries them everywhere.

According to O’Brien, the land is full of booby traps, therefore it is a necessity for every man to carry “steel centered, nylon covered flak jacket” (2009).

With the cold nights, it is a requirement that the men carry plastic ponchos which are green in color, to use as raincoats during the monsoons or makeshift tent or even a groundsheet. All these items are universal and essential as evidenced by Ted Lavender’s situation after he is shot; using the poncho, the men wrap him well and carry him across the paddies to the chopper which takes him away for treatment.

Depending on psychology and topography, the men carry the right kind of weapons and enough ammunition. According to the type of mission, the men carry varied weapons to suit the varied situations. They carry M-14S, shotguns, Simonov carbines, bayonets, Smith and Wesson handguns, and silencers among the many types of weapons.

In most situations, Lee Strunk carries his slingshot which he calls “the weapon of last resort” (O’Brien, 2009). Kiowa would carry the hatchet which his grandfather was fond of using and Mitchell Sanders carries brass knuckles. Each man is required to carry grenades; the grenades could be smoke grenades, white phosphoric grenades or tear gas grenades.

Tim O’Brien explains that “they carried all they could bear, and then some; including a silent awe for the terrible power of the things they carried” (O’Brien, 2009).

The things they carry also vary with the kind of mission to attend; on a mountainous mission, the men carry machetes, tarps, mosquito nets, and bug juice. On night and ambush missions, each man carries the most valued item in their lives. The title the things they carried gives meaning to the entire story as evidenced by the stuff the soldiers carry.

Superstition plays a role in the things the men carry; Jimmy Cross does not leave his good luck charm in the form of a pebble given to him by Martha. Dave Jenson carries along a rabbit foot and Norman Bowker carries the thumb given to him by Mitchell Sanders.

The men carry stationary, pens and pencils, safety pins, signal flares, razor blades, candles, fingernail clippers, trip flares, wire, hats, statuettes of the Buddha, and so much more.In conclusion, the things the men carry change after Ted Lavender’s death. With Lieutenant Jimmy Cross blaming himself for fantasizing about Martha instead of saving Ted, he burns everything that reminds him of her.

The title of the story gives its meaning; of all the things the men carry, the greatest burden is their emotions. They carry loads of desires, memories, and fears as well. To show the seriousness of the intangible burden, the lieutenant Jimmy Cross says “it is very sad the things the men carried inside” (O’Brien, 2009).

Reference

O’Brien, T. (2009). The things they carried: A work of fiction. Boston: Houghton Mifflin

The Things They Carried, Tim O’Brien’s is a fictional story that surpasses the field of Vietnam War fiction. Essentially, it surpasses the fiction in general even though the author categorizes it as a work of fiction. The story, narrated in first-person narrator covers the events before and after the war.

The story exposes the soldiers’ dilemma, fears, and feelings during and after the war. The author explores the historical, social and economic setting of the time, which is evident in the contemporary world (O’Brien 1).

The soldiers are depicted as young men who are unprepared for the war. This is evident by the intangible emotional fear they carry along with memories of their loved ones. Tim O’Brien’s captures the historical negative effects of Vietnam War on US economy.

The soldiers carried some food supplies, pictures of their girlfriends, fear, sadness and confusion. This in essence portrayed their social status, a characteristic exhibited by a present day soldier when going to war.

The Irony of being at war is that Peace and conflict are both inevitable; it is the way we handle either of the two that determines our opinion of life in general both in the present and future, that is clearly depicted in the book where O’Brien is the Protagonist re-living his experience at war through the pages of his book as the fictional character.

Age, we see that this is an important qualification required when recruiting troops to join the army in fighting any war. Among other things, lack of maturity was largely the cause of death as young men under nineteen, were not equipped with the emotional stability required to deal with the Ugliness of war.

When drafted, one is not left with much choice and the decision made is unfortunately more often than no based on fear other than ethics. With the alternative of going to jail many of the young men reluctantly motivated only by the embarrassment of shame.

Among the striking things possessed by the soldiers were weapons, protective gears for survival purposes. Personal items included a bible, foot powder, comic books, marijuana and a hatchet. O’Brien asserts that dignity could never be put down and was perhaps the hardest emotion to carry but could not be surrendered.

O’Brien observes that fear and panic in the midst of the noise of battle was a common phenomenon. Ironically, some soldiers were at the brink of crying, wishing that they had not come (O’Brien 21). The narrator brings forward the constant stream of distressing memories of the war, attempts of realism and insights. Fear among the soldiers was covered up with unusual stunts and tough speeches.

The human nature of the soldiers is clearly depicted by the things they carried. O’Brien lists the items that were carried by the soldiers, and this way, he individualizes and humanizes them. The intangible items carried by the soldiers were even more symbolic.

O’Brien observes that the items were heavier than their tangible backpacks. Although the soldiers appear to have no idea of what they were fighting, their country, God and the weight of duty characterized their intangible items. He writes, “It was not battle, it was just the endless march, village to village, without purpose, nothing won or lost. They marched for the sake of the march” (O’Brien 15).

Another irony depicted by the story is the soldiers’ real motivation; fear of being referred as cowards. Every soldier is said to have death as his ultimate fear, but death was better than humiliation.

In the history books, the Vietnam War is best described as America’s longest war dated back to President Harry Truman who committed fifteen million dollars aid to the French forces in Indochina in 1950 to the fall of Saigon in 1975. In the years the funding of wars has been on the increasing prompting more and more soldiers dehumanize each other to cope with the deaths of their comrades.

The pain of losing their comrades affected the soldiers during and after the war. According to the narrator, “soldiers used a hard vocabulary to contain the terrible softness” (O’Brien 20). He observes that soldiers formed intimate relationship, just like any other colleagues in an organization.

Nevertheless, soldiers used language to trivialize their bonds when death occurred to their comrades. In place of the word die or dead, they used words like greased, zapped, offend, lit up, to describe the deaths of their friends thus proving the fact that though death is inevitable, none of us want to live in the reality of it.

The Things They Carried is very relevant to Peace and Conflict studies. The book clearly points out the unwillingness and unpreparedness of the soldiers when going to war.

We see an inner conflict as depicted by O’Brien and a continuous struggle to release the pain and anguish that has builds up as a result of experiences from the war affecting the family around him trying to find meaning and redemption in his war stories. The characters in the story acts to speak loudly against the option of going to war, a war like the Vietnam War.

Work Cited

O’Brien, Tim. The Things They Carried. New York, NY: Broadway Publishers, 1998. Print.

Introduction

The main theme of “The Things They Carried” by O’Brien is the events that were happening during the Vietnam War. The war does not revolve around things such as heroism or tactics. It is characterized by boredom and terrific moments. Apart from that, it is a backdrop that defines the force against the lives of the soldiers.

O’Brien emphasizes the fact that it is not easy to generalize what is entailed in war. The short story addresses different themes, but war is among its central topics. Tim O’Brien is among the characters that play essential roles in the story. There is a close connection between OBrien and the theme of war. This essay will discuss the relationship between O’Brien as a character and the war as the central theme of “The Things They Carried.”

War as the Central Theme of “The Things They Carried”

O’Brien focuses on telling war stories. TTTC is a work of fiction. Throughout the story, there is an interplay between fact and fiction.

O’Brien tells the story authoritatively because he was there during the actual war. That is the connection between O’Brien’s biography and the story’s central theme that was mentioned in the above paragraph of the essay. The examples of it in “The Things They Carried” are numerous. Regarding the Vietnam War, no one can tell the story better than a person like O’Brien, who witnessed the action. Assuming a position of authority, O’Brien goes ahead to define the parameters characteristic of a true war story.

He says that a true war story lacks morals. It never instructs nor encourages virtue and does not even suggest models of the right human behavior nor restrain men from doing the things they always do.

T. O’Brien does not agree with the thesis that war stories are vehicles for restitution or change. He represents war as hell, mystery, terror, and discovery.

He adds that it is a nasty and thrilling experience that makes people men and also leaves them dead. He says that the irreconcilable opposites need to be together because their oxymoronic togetherness articulates the reality of war. He writes that the recollection of the death of Curt Lemon is possible when the ‘surreal seemingness, which makes the story seem untrue, but which represents the hard and exact truth is seemed’ (O’Brien 78).

The above quote shows that O’Brien deals with the challenge of representation, the weakness of language to convey meaning, flavor, boredom, and the feelings of war. Inscription and re-inscription are the only ways through which he hopes to pass the message on the truth of war appropriately. That is what makes the theme of war in the story a circular and repetitive idea.

For every assertion of truth, it is essential to qualify and represent it for it to be considered authentic. O’Brien creates a situation that conveys the message that no heroism or morality is derived from the experiences of war. It is the source of guilt and shame only. O’Brien presents war as a disembodied presence with a life of its own, where deadly equipment like napalm and white phosphorus undergo a magical transformation into morally acceptable objects of beauty.

He portrays astuteness to the extent that he acknowledges the fact that describing such destruction as beautiful is in itself ugly truth. However, the justification for the truth bases on the role the truth plays.

Ugly truths like the fascination that war begets are bound to be expressed, although in expressing such truths, war is anesthetized and domesticated. The absolute moral indifference that O’Brien relates to bombing raids and artillery barrages is only defendable if the attacks or bombardments have no human agencies behind them (O’Brien 80).

The fact that there are always human agencies behind war and the eloquent portrayal by O’Brien that war maims and kills makes it challenging to uphold an opinion of the moral or aesthetic perspective of war. The unleashing of such negative impacts of war trivializes any morality in war. In presenting an alternative moral view, O’Brien perpetrates a mythic fascination with the horrific occurrences associated with war.

O’Brien says that although war is hell, it is comprised of many other contradictions. A firefight is followed by a mysterious experience of surviving the ordeal.

He says that war is ambiguous and concurs with a story told by Sanders of men who heard things in the forest during the war. He, therefore, concludes by saying that a true war story does not tell the absolute truth. He recalls the circumstances that led to the death of Lemon as he smiled and talked but was killed within a second.

His body was thrown into a tree, and they were instructed to retrieve it with Jensen. O’Brien says that true war stories are identifiable by the questions that follow the war. He retells the story of a man who has nearly killed a grenade as he tried to protect his friends. His message is that war stories that seem true never actually happened.

Conclusion

This essay analyzes Tim O’Brien’s “The Things They Carried”. It is a compelling short story of the Vietnam War. In summary, war is its central theme, as shown in numerous researches. This paper on “The Things They Carried” aims to connect O’Brien’s biography with the main issue of the plot.

In the story, different characters are used to express various themes, such as emotional and physical burdens, among others. However, the issue of war runs throughout the story. O Brien is himself one of the characters in the story and tells the story of the war as a person who witnessed it. He is closely connected with the theme of war in the story, such that without him, the issue cannot be brought out so clearly.

Works Cited

O’Brien, Tim. The Things They Carried. New York: Broadway Books, 1998. Print.

The Things They Carried is a fictional chef-d’oeuvre by Tim O’Brien, which catalogs among other things, the different things that soldiers carried to the Vietnam War. These soldiers carried emotional and physical burdens alike. Obrien notes, “They carried the emotional baggage of men who might die.

Grief, terror, love, longing-these were intangibles, but the intangibles had their own mass and specific gravity, they had tangible weight. They carried shameful memories…cowardice…they carried the soldier’s fear (20). The psychological effects of the Vietnam War tore the soldiers psychologically especially Lieutenant Cross.

The psychological burden of guilt surfaces immediately after the story starts. Jimmy Cross, a lieutenant enlisted to take care of the other soldiers is the victim of the guilt burden. Jimmy witnessed as a bullet broke open Lavender’s skull. Given the fact that he was the one in charge of the other soldiers’ well-being, he felt he could have done something to prevent Lavender’s death.

Unfortunately, he could do nothing at that point; Lavender was dead and gone for good. Jimmy became emotionally troubled because instead of concentrating on the security and well-being of fellow soldiers he could only think of Martha. Consequently, Lavender died due to his lack of concentration or so he thought.

Jimmy could not live up to this duty and when Lavender died before his eyes, he realized how careless he had been in executing his duties. All these feelings culminated into guilt feelings, an emotional burden that he had to bear so long as the war continued. What a terrible emotional baggage for one to carry!

Cross sincerely loved Martha and no matter how hard he tried to subdue these feelings, they resurfaced with time. This psychological burden weighed so heavily on him that at times he lost focus on the war. O’Brien observes, “He loved her so much…though painful, he wondered who had been with her that afternoon” (8).

Though painful, Jimmy decided to forget Martha completely, bear the psychological turmoil attached to it, and focus on the war. Forgetting a lover is not an easy task, it takes more than a willing heart, it takes absolute resolve, and this comes with its psychological upheavals.

Emotionally, Cross was a torn person, full of sorrows and heavy laden with emotional burdens. O’Brien deliberately explores Jimmy’s case to show the psychological burdens that the soldiers brought along together with the things they carried. Lieutenant Jimmy Cross was not alone in this predicament, as aforementioned, every soldier had his fair share of emotional baggage, as shown by the few soldiers O’Brien chose to use in The Things They Carried.

Family ties are usually very strong and separating someone from his/her family amounts to emotional torture; something that the soldiers had to live with. For instance, Kiowa, “…carried an illustrated New Testament that had been presented to him by his father…” (O’Brien 3). Nothing could remind Kiowa of his dad like that treasured bible; every time he saw the bible, he would remember his beloved father.

Henry Dobbins on his part carried a pair of pantyhose and he would poke his noses into the paper containing the panties from time to time. Not that Henry Dobbins loved his girlfriend’s panties; no, he missed her and this burdened him psychologically.

In conclusion, the intangible things that the soldiers carried into the Vietnam War had real weight, to some extent, heavier than the physical burdens. Jimmy Cross carried the guilt of letting Lavender die while engrossed in thoughts of his ever-elusive lover, Martha.

Kiowa carried the emotional burden of his father and grandfather and the possibility of not seeing them once again weighed heavily on him. Collectively, these soldiers experienced different forms of psychological torture, especially Cross who had to forget his lover and bear the guilt of seeing Lavender die from his carelessness.

Works Cited

O’Brien, Tim. The Things They Carried. New York: Houghton Mifflin, 1990.

Tim O Brien’s story The Things They Carried opens a soldier’s perspective of the Vietnam War. The story’s main idea emphasizes how small things such as personal belongings could become an object of emotional attachment through deep inner meaning. The soldiers were allowed to “hump” small objects as a reminder of the world that they left behind (O’Brien, 1990, p.1139). The objects represented a thread that connected the soldiers in the depressing war setting to the real world that still exists somewhere. I understand how long combats could affect the human mind to the point of giving up and losing moral stability. I felt sad that people had to face such events and desperately hold on to their fading memories. The story is similar to An Occurrence at Owl Creek Bridge because of the war context and fictional elements, as The Things They Carried presents a mix of fictional and real-life events. However, there were enough real details in the story for me to understand that there are no possible outcomes that could justify soldiers’ suffering.

I once saw a young woman in a café, that placed her bag on the seat near her. With a heavy sigh, she put her phone aside on the table and looked at her bag. A keychain was attached to one of the bag’s shoulder straps from the inner side of the bag, with a fun plushy colorful cartoon character. The colorful character seemed odd and unfitting to the woman’s minimalistic clothing with muted neutral tones of green and grey. The woman pulled the keychain toy closer and delicately stroked the plush fibers. The keychain toy appeared worn out, with a couple of dark spots, and some parts of the material missing. Besides the toy, the woman’s bag contained a notebook and several folders with papers with graphics and tables sticking out. It was clear that the woman was a mother who took a break for a coffee to recollect her thoughts after a stressful day at work. Looking at the funny keychain reminded her of her daughter and her family and calmed the woman’s nerves.

Reference

O’Brien, T. (1990). The Things They Carried. In R. Bausch and R.V. Cassil (Eds.), The Norton anthology of short fiction (8^th ed, pp. 1138-1150). W. W. Norton & Company, Inc.