The Things They Carried By Tim O Brien: An Analysis

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“The Things They Carried” is an accumulation of stories written by Tim O’Brien reminiscing about his life both before, during, and after the war. It is more of a collection of stories than a novel therefore there is no clear beginning, middle and end however it functions as an independent piece of work because it’s loyal to the characters and themes portrayed throughout the book. The first story introduces readers to O’Brien’s platoon leader, Jimmy Cross. This story switches between Cross’ infatuation and a woman named Martha who he’s in love with, as well as the death of Ted Lavender and a list of the physical and emotional things the soldiers carried during war. The first story, “Love” consists of Jimmy Cross visiting O’Brien after the war is over and swapping stories over some gin, Cross also admits that he’s still in love with Martha. …show more content…

At the end of this story O’Brien says that he must continue to write war stories because they’re all that will be left when his memory is gone. “On the Rainy River” shows the time when O’Brien almost moved to Canada to avoid going to war, however in the end he goes back because he fears embarrassment more than he fears death itself. “Enemies” shows the true extent to which war can affect you mentally and drive you off the edge. “Friends” shows the tight bond war buddies make no matter what goes on between them, they have each other’s

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