The Things They Carried Rhetorical Analysis

O'Brien's repeated use of the phrase "they carried" attempts to create a realization in the reader that soldiers in wars always carry some kind of weight; there is always some type of burden that servicemen and women will forever hold onto both throughout the war and long after it has finished. The specification of what the soldier bear shows that the heaviness is both physical and emotional and in most cases the concrete objects carried manifest into the continued emotional distress that lasts a lifetime (sentence about what they carry from novel) "The Things They Carried" emphasis this certain phrase in order for those that do not have the experience of going to understand the constant pressure of burdens they are under. O'Brien draws on

his own memories in combat, specifically his time as foot soldier during the Vietnam War, when creating his short story "The Things They Carried" to help his audience realize what war does to soldiers after they have finished serving and the ways it changes them. He was "trying to reveal....the uncertainties of war" (Kaplan) to those who were unaware by displaying all the ways that it burdens everyone involved. "The Things They Carried" finally shows those who knew nothing about warfare a full understanding of what happens and how soldiers will always feel always feel that carry some weight from their time serving their country. O'Brien incorporates some truth into his characters and events in order to show the impact war has on the people, especially soldiers, and explore the ways that war changed people and their lives for years after it had ended.
By placing it throughout the entire short story and even naming the title after the phrase it serves as a constant reminder that the soldiers never forget the weight that surrounds them and neither should the reader. The repetitiveness of the phrase "the things they carried" or "they carried" is meant to serve as a persistent reminder to readers not to forget the burdens that are with these people. O'Brien wants his audience to know how the things the soldiers carried are forever with them and hinder their progress in warfare and in life after their time as a soldier has concluded. O'Brien’s use of the same phrases frequently throughout "The Things They Carried" serves a purpose that the author wants the reader to constantly remember the words the things they carried just like soldiers remember the actual meaning of the things they carried. To the reader it is just a phrase but to soldiers they know it embodies the effects war has on a person that has served. After the war has finished there are persistent flashbacks, memories, and burdens that soldiers have to deal with every day and O'Brien wants to remind the reader of these everyday struggles by repeating the phrases as a mirror to the soldiers being reminded of their daily burdens. The soldiers may also feel frustrated that they do not get a reprieve from the constant burden of their weights and have to keep carrying something every day. "The Things They Carried" attempts to make the audience and readers understand how much the soldiers carry during and after the war in different ways. O'Brien uses the repetition of this phrase in order to form realization among readers that those who participate and experience warfare are always carrying something whether it is something physical or emotional. By repeating the words the reader is unable to forget about what the burdens because they are constantly reminded of it much like those who serve who’s burdens are persistent and never leave.
Tim O'Brien's attempts to resurrect the people he lost and the memories he experienced during his time as a soldier in the Vietnam War through his story "The Things They Carried" and manages to blur the lines between nonfiction and fiction through his writing and allow the reader to relate to the soldiers more and the constant burdens that they have with them.

By allowing the reader the "[privilege of] the soldiers experience" (Chattarji) it shows how difficult it is to get rid of the weight as begins to define you and the more it becomes a part of a person the harder it is to remove an aspect of yourself. In his repetition, O'Brien wants to give readers a deeper meaning into the everyday struggles of soldiers. He portrays the ways that soldiers were effected in the war and focused on the burdens that developed. O'Brien highlights how war changes those involved as "[the individual dreams of soldiers rise and fall and] their hopes riddled by disillusionment, their fantasies broken by shrapnel edged realities" (Timmeran). Wartime altered soldier’s perception and caused them to develop these emotional and physical weights that followed them for years. When many solider returned they were now stuck with daily burdens that had started since the day they landed in Vietnam. Constantly, these soldiers endured the long lasting results of participating in the war and unable to escape or forget the weight that they endure. "The Things They Carried" serves as a constant reminder to readers about the true realities of soldiers and the impact of war. How soldiers are not stable as they return home because of these weights that have become a part of them and how simple acts such as carrying around a weapon has now manifested itself into an emotional burden that will not leave. Often the realities of being a soldier are not portrayed accurately but O'Brien attempts to put into perspective what it really is like to go through warfare by drawing on his own experiences as a foot

soldier. He attempts to incorporate the true problems and effects of war into his works and writings through a constant reminder to readers of the phrase the things they carried. O'Brien hopes to achieve by this short story the audience's full understanding of physical and emotional loads that soldiers have after the war and begin during the course of their service. In the end "The Things They Carried" is meant for readers to finally understand what soldiers go through during the course of the war and after it is over.