The Things They Carried by Tim O’Brien

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Recommended: What do the things they carried tell us about the nature of the Vietnam War

“The Things They Carried” by Tim O’Brien is a short story written about the Vietnam War. The title has two meanings. The first is their duties and equipment for the war. The second, the emotional sorrows they were put through while at war. Their wants and needs, the constant worry of death were just a few of the emotional baggage they carried. During the Vietnam War, like all wars, there were hard times. Being a soldier wasn’t easy. Soldiers always see death, whether it be another soldier or an enemy. In “The Things They Carried,” Tim O’Brien explores the motivation of solders in the Vietnam War to understand their role in combat, to stay in good health, and accept the death of a fellow soldier.

“What they carried was partly a function of rank, partly of field specialty” (O’Brien 96), for the army does well at following the chain of command. The army believes every soldier has to earn their rank more importantly every solider is thought this since they sign up. Every soldier has a role based on rank. In “The Things They Carried” First Lieutenant Cross was in charge of the platoon. In the beginning of their tour in Vietnam there were 17 men. At the end there were 16. Throughout the story you only hear about 8 of the 17 men. The short story talks about the different positions the men were in the platoon and what they had to carry with them that was standard operation procedure. Jimmy Cross was the First Lieutenant and Platoon Leader. He carried a compass, maps, code books, binoculars, and a pistol. Mitchell Sanders was an RTO, and had to carry the radio. Rat Kiley being the medic carried a satchel with morphine and other necessities that a medic would carry for combat. Henry Dobbins was the machine gunner, he carried the M-6...

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.... Jimmy was leader and should have been patrolling to make sure the platoon was safe. Instead he was dreaming about Martha and Lavender was shot and killed. Now Cross had a new motivation, he would forget about Martha and be a better leader. He didn’t want any more men to die because of his careless day dreaming. The other men had the motivation of fear to keep them working and in good health. The only thing they would all dream about would be the plane that would take them away from Vietnam.

Works Cited
O’Brien, Tim. The Things They Carried. New York: Broadway Books, 1998,1990.

Roberts,Edgar V. Literature: An Introduction to Reading and Writing. New York: Longman,2009.

Wesley, Marilyn "Truth and Fiction in Tim O'Brien's If I Die in a Combat Zone and The Things They Carried." College Literature 29.2 (2002): 1. Academic Search Complete. EBSCO. Web. 2 Dec. 2009.

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