The Things They Carried Analysis Essay

Tim O’Brien’s short story, “The Things They Carried” shows how a soldier balances his life at war and his personal life. The story is centered around the death of a platoon member at war and the horrible conditions of Vietnam. An unnamed male narrator tells the short story by listing the items the soldiers carry while in the Vietnam war. The items that Lieutenant Jimmy Cross carries are tangible items and intangible items. By creating a list, the narrator can describe the experience of the Vietnam war but also prepare the narrator to discuss the more emotional issues. The narrator tells the story in third person point-of-view to distance himself from the story. By using third person point-of-view, it is easier for the narrator to tell the story

These items are all the things that make life more bearable in Vietnam. The story begins by introducing First Lieutenant Jimmy Cross. The narrator says, “First Lieutenant Jimmy Cross carried letters from a girl named Martha, a junior at Mount Sebastian College in Ney Jersey. The were not love letters but [he] was hoping[.] [. . .] The letters weighed 10 ounces” (469). The narrator starts off with the letters because they make it easier to discuss the more difficult things that a soldier carries at war. Then, the narrator says, “The things they carried were largely determined by necessity. Among the necessities or near necessities were P-38 can openers, pocket knifes, heat tabs, wristwatches, dog tags, mosquito repellent, chewing gum, candy, cigarettes, salt tablets, [and] packets of Kool-Aid” (470). In this scene, the narrator starts off listing to everyday items because these items are easier to discuss without being up emotional issues. The narrator ends the second paragraph by saying, “Because the nights were cold, and because the monsoons were wet, each [soldier] carried a green poncho[.] [. . .] [W]hen Ted Lavender was shot, they used his poncho to wrap him up, then carry him across the patty, then lift him into the chopper” (470). By listing the poncho, the narrator is able to jump into a more serious thing on the list that they carried, which is Ted Lavender. The readers can imply that the

The narrator says, “In addition to the three standard weapons—the M-60, M-16, and M-79—they carried whatever presented itself, or whatever seem appropriate as a means of killing or staying alive” (472). The narrator goes in-depth about particular items that helps the soldiers stay alive. Right before, the narrator gets into the touchier subject of Ted Lavender’s death, he mentions Martha, he says, “Lieutenant Cross gazed at the tunnel. But he was not there. He was buried with Martha under the white sand at the Jersey shore. They were pressed together, and the pebble in his mouth was her tongue” (475). Readers can suggest that the narrator jumps from topic to topic because he’s afraid to address the more serious topic of Ted Lavender’s death. Later, the narrator finally mentions more about Lavender’s death, he says, “[R]ight then Ted Lavender was shot in the head on his way back from peeing. He lay with his mouth open. The teeth were broken. There was a swollen black bruise under his left eye. The cheekbone was gone. Oh shit, Rat Kiley said, the guy’s dead” (475). By jumping from topic to topic, the reader can get a sense of how a soldier deals with things at war through the baggage that they carry around with