As soldiers, every member in the Alpha Company had to physically carry items in order to protect and defend themselves. These items include necessities like steel helmets, fatigue jackets, trousers, and jungle boots. Furthermore, the things they carried depended on their habits. For instance, Henry Dobbins carried extra rations because he was a big man while Dave Jensen carried a toothbrush, dental floss and bars of soap as he practiced field hygiene (2). The things they carried were also dependent on their mission. For example, a mission in the mountains would require mosquito netting, machetes, canvas tarps, and extra bug juice (8). In addition, the things they carried were determined by superstition. Lieutenant Cross carried his good-luck pebble, and Dave Jensen carried a rabbit’s foot (12). …show more content…
Soldiers rely on this superstition as a way to survive the war.
The soldiers also carried diseases like malaria, dysentery, lice, ringworm, leeches, paddy algae, and various rots and molds (14). This signifies how poor and close the soldiers living conditions were. The items they carried were not only a physical burden but also a reminder of the fear which lies underneath. Jimmy Cross, for instance, carries two pictures of his lover Martha (4). Martha reminds Jimmy of happier times back in college which takes his mind off the pressure from the responsibility he has to keep the soldiers alive. Similarly, Henry Dobbins wraps his girlfriend’s pantyhose around his neck as both a good luck charm and a reminder of the loving memories he had with her (111). Despite his girlfriend breaking up with him, he still carries the pantyhose for comfort as “the magic doesn’t go away.” The things the soldiers physically carried also had emotional
weight. While the members of the Alpha Company had to physically carry items, the weight of the figurative things they carried were much more significant. For example, Lieutenant Jimmy Cross carried the immense responsibility of leading the soldiers. Due to this obligation, Jimmy felt incredibly guilty for Ted Lavender’s death because at that moment he was daydreaming about Martha (11). Jimmy felt so guilty that the morning after, he burned the two photographs of Martha (22). Several years after the war ended, Jimmy confined with Tim O’Brien that he still carried the guilt of Ted Lavender’s death (26). This signifies the permanent psychological effects that war can have on soldiers. For Tim O’Brien, the guilt of participating in the war and going against his principles was so intense that he considered hiding in Canada to escape the draft (45). But the guilt of abandoning his family and shaming them was more extreme than his ethics. To avoid embarrassing his family and not completing his obligations to the USA, Tim decided to accept the draft and go to Vietnam. This confusion and struggle that Tim endured shows how other draftees feel making life altering decisions.Similarly, Norman Bowker could not ease back into his normal life in the US and found himself aimlessly driving around in his father’s van, unable to hold jobs more than ten weeks, and dropping out of college (131). He didn’t know what to do with his life and felt as he had no purpose. But it was apparent that he felt incredibly guilty that he survived the war and not his close friend Kiowa. For instance, he was angered when Tim O’Brien didn’t mention Kiowa at all in his postwar story “Speaking of Courage” (153). Norman’s guilt that Kiowa died because of him was too much for him to bear, and he was unable to live with himself. Unfortunately, Norman committed suicide by hanging himself at his local YMCA. Norman’s unfortunate end signifies how soldiers feel postwar, unable to move on from the horrifying incidents in the war.
‘The Things They Carried’ by Tim O’Brien provides a insider’s view of war and its distractions, both externally in dealing with combat and internally dealing with the reality of war and its effect on each solder. The story, while set in Vietnam, is as relevant today with the conflicts in Iraq and Afghanistan as it was in the 1960’s and 1970’s in Southeast Asia. With over one million soldiers having completed anywhere from one to three tours in combat in the last 10 years, the real conflict might just be inside the soldier. O’Brien reflects this in his writing technique, using a blend of fiction and autobiographical facts to present a series of short narratives about a small unit of soldiers. While a war story, it is also an unrequited love story too, opening with Jimmy Cross holding letters from a girl he hoped would fall in love with him. (O’Brien 1990).
One of the most overlooked aspects in the life of a soldier is the weight of the things they carry. In Tim O'Brien's story, "The Things They Carried," O'Brien details the plight of Vietnam soldiers along with how they shoulder the numerous burdens placed upon them. Literally, the heavy supplies weigh down each soldier -- but the physical load imposed on each soldier symbolizes the psychological baggage a soldier carries during war. Though O'Brien lists the things each soldier carries, the focal point centers around the leader, Lieutenant Jimmy Cross, and his roles in the war. Lt. Cross has multiple burdens, but his emotional baggage is the most pressing. Of all the weights burdened upon Lt. Cross, the heaviest baggage is located in his own mind. Specifically, the heaviest things Lt. Cross carries are an emotional obsession over Martha's love, the physical consequences caused by his daydreaming of Martha, and an unrelenting guilt about Ted Lavender's death.
All of these items were carried for two simple reasons, to survive, and to kill, which was of course their job. Next, the things that each individual chose to carry, for many of the men, these items were things that they personally believed that they could not live without, but to others would be unnecessary for survival. For First Lieutenant Jimmy Cross. It was pictures of Martha, and also letters from her whom. he loved unrequitedly.
For young people, the Vietnam War is a thing of the past and they can
Vietnam War was one of the hardest wars ever fought. There are several reasons for this statement. It was basically impossible to conquer the territory because there were no boundaries. The soldiers had to put up with the climate, land, diseases and most importantly themselves. This essay is about yet another reason: the relationship between the soldiers and the officers.
Henry Dobbins is the guy who loves to eat so he made sure he took some extra food. Ted Lavender was the scaredy cat of the group so he carried tranquilizers with him. Dave Jense is the paranoid one, so he takes soap and a toothbrush to prevent germs and disease as best he can. Kiowa has a bible with him showing us he is the dedicated religious type. Mitchell Sanders, the funny one, has condoms with him. I'll let you decide on that one. Norman Bowker has a diary and Rat Kiley carried comic books, most likely as a way to "get away" from everything at the end of the day. Regardless of the personal items each one takes, they all share 2 items in common; their boots and their helmets. Almost all of them also have pictures with them but Jimmy Cross takes 2 very special ones. He has 2 pictures of the woman he loves, Martha. What these guys are truly carrying is some extreme emotional and physical troubles. Amongst his personal items Jimmy Cross also takes with him navigation tools. Rat Kiley has with him the medicine, surgical tape, painkillers, and other things that end up weighing alot. Ted Lavender is very scared, so he also has with him a large supply of ammunition. They all carry with them as much as they can. Weather it be for protection or entertainment, including fear and amazement of the thin...
From this, the soldiers have become robotic due to the war, as they no longer possess any emotion or individuality among themselves and thus are no longer differentiable. In order to restore what’s left of their respective identities, the soldiers must carry items that one may assume are “trivial”, when in actuality they are the most significant “things” they carry. For instance, O’Brien details the story behind what one of the soldiers in Cross’ platoon named Kiowa carries by stating, “Kiowa, a devout Baptist, carried an illustrated New Testament that had been presented to him by his father, who taught Sunday school in Oklahoma City, Oklahoma” (3). This is the only item Kiowa possesses to reminisce on his
The word "hero" is so often used to describe people who overcome great difficulties and rise to the challenge that is set before them without even considering the overwhelming odds they are up against. In our culture, heroes are glorified in literature and in the media in various shapes and forms. However, I believe that many of the greatest heroes in our society never receive the credit that they deserve, much less fame or publicity. I believe that a hero is simply someone who stands up for what he/she believes in. A person does not have to rush into a burning building and save someone's life to be a hero. Someone who is a true friend can be a hero. A hero is someone who makes a difference in the lives of others simply by his/her presence. In Tim O'Brien's novel, The Things They Carried, the true heroes stand out in my mind as those who were true friends and fought for what they believed in. These men and women faced the atrocities of war on a daily basis, as explained by critic David R. Jarraway's essay, "'Excremental Assault' in Tim O'Brien: Trauma and Recovery in Vietnam War Literature" and by Vietnam Veteran Jim Carter. Yet these characters became heroes not by going to drastic measures to do something that would draw attention to themselves, but by being true to their own beliefs and by making a difference to the people around them.
The theme of emotional weight and its effect on soldiers in the Vietnam conflict is one that O'Brien tackles. By placing physical items next to intangible things like emotions in a list format, O'Brien forces his reader to acknowledge the weight and effect of both of these things on the person who carries them. Lt. Jimmy Cross' inner fear that he was the cause of Ted Lavender's death was symbolized by Martha's pebble and letters. He felt that when he burned the pictures he was conquering his fear, even though no one can simply burn their emotions away. To a certain extent, these men are defined by the things that they carry, "And for all the ambiguities of Vietnam, all the mysteries and unknowns, there was at least the single abiding certainty that they would never be at a loss for things to carry," (O'Brien, 16).
One of the clearest points in The Things They Carried is that of the importance of certain objects or feelings used by the soldiers of Alpha Company to survive the war. Jimmy Cross, the leader the group, carries a picture of a Martha, a girl who writes him from the states. Jimmy knows that there is no real relationship between the two, but he uses the picture the help keep him connected to the world he was forced to leave behind. He creates stories in his head about what will happen when he makes it back home, alive. The Bible carried by Kiowa was given to him by his father. When the book is mentioned, it is referring to the smell of the New Testament: the leather, glue, ink and paper. Kiowa carries the Bible as more of a remembrance then as a show of his faith. The stockings carried by Henry Dobbins came from his girlfriend. He carefully raps them around his neck each time the company moves out. Even after his girlfriend ends the relationship, Henry continues to wear the stockings because in his mind, their symbolism has not changed. All these items are psychological tools used by the soldiers to keep them connected to their homes and loved ones. The items are not important just because of who gave them to the soldiers, rather they are important because they seem like t...
The novel “The Things They Carried” by Tim O’ Brien takes place in the Vietnam War. The protagonist, Lieutenant Cross, is a soldier who is madly in love with a college student named Martha. He carries around photos and letters from her. However, the first few chapters illustrate how this profound love makes him weak in the war.
In the book The Things They Carried, Tim O’Brien uses many themes to help draw connections between the book and the reader. O’Brien’s “On The Rainy River” chapter contains countless motifs that make this chapter so compelling. “On The Rainy River” describes his decision whether to enter the draft or to flee to Canada where he would not get condemned. The main theme in this chapter is embarrassment. First Lieutenant Tim O’Brien goes insane from the embarrassment he would face if he did not enter the draft.
The items they carried not only helped them stay alive but also brought them joy. The character jimmy cross shows that the pictures he had of Martha brought him happiness and utterly kept him going. The things they would carry varied by the mission they must conduct. Basically the things they would have during their missions helped them out and also fed them or brought them entertainment. Another example, would be the poncho that the solders carried when ted died they used the poncho to place him inside it until the helicopter arrived that would take his
Before O’Brien introduces the characters, he introduces the items they carry as symbols of their humanity. The reader has a chance to develop curiosity for the depth of each character presented and is not instantly alienated by the war setting. In the first paragraph O’Brien introduces the letters Lieutenant Cross carries by writing, “First Lieutenant Jimmy Cross carried letters from a girl named Martha, a junior at Mount Sebastian College in New Jersey. They were not love letters, but Lieutenant Cross was hoping” (O'Brien 337). The letters are one of the most prominent symbols the reader encounters and at the story’s opening, act as a symbol of home, youth, and hope. Because he carries these dainty baubles, Cross seems more vulnerable, therefore, more human. The reader sees this again when introduced to more of the soldiers inventory, “Among the necessities or near-necessities were P-38 can openers, pocket knives, heat tabs, wristwatches, dog tags, mosqui...
Many of these items were used for personal hygiene, grooming, and keeping uniforms in repair. Today these diminutive legacies provide us with a very personal and tangible connection to the soldiers of the Civil War. Confederate and Union soldiers added various clothing and equipment to their military issue. To make their life more tolerable, they brought various personal items to camp or were given them by family and friends. Few soldiers owned all the items in this exhibit, although most had at least some of them.