Dissecting 'The Things They Carried': An Analysis

The Importance of the Things They Carry.

College prep lit

The title of a book sets the stage of the story and proves to be one of the most important parts. In Tim O’Brien’s novel The Things They Carried it tells about exactly that it talks about all the things that soldiers carry with them and how it comes to affect them. Soldiers carry a huge variety of things many never think about being important and it affects each soldier in a different way.

One of the most important things that all soldiers carry is relics from their past relationships. Two people from the story that are most affected by these relics are Lieutenant Jimmy Cross and Henry Dobbins. Cross seems to be the most affected by the pictures that were given to him from a girl

named Martha. These pictures bring him back to what life was like before and often carries him into a sort of trance; he does not focus on the task at hand and many times puts himself into a potentially dangerous setting. Dobbins on the other hand, uses his item to bring him good luck. He wears his girlfriend's pantyhose around his neck as a sort of good luck talisman. All these carried items served one purpose they comforted the men and brought them back to a better place. “Henry Dobbins carried his girlfriend's pantyhose wrapped around his neck as a comforter.” (page 10). They carry things that make the horror a little more bearable
Many people function best when they have a something to follow like a religion or something that brings them high enlightenment. This spiritual sense often gives people a way to express their feelings without actual face to face talk. Soldiers carry items all the way from the New Testament to premium dope. Kiowa Bowker and Lavender are some of the best examples of spiritual type carry. Being a devout baptist Kiowa carries a small edition of the New Testament given by his father. This allows him to constantly carry with him the safety of God as well fade into a different holy place where he can be safe to express his problems. Bowker carries a diary which allows him to leave his legacy and allow for his story to be heard. A diary lets the user blow off the steam that they need to talk about but never feel right talking to other people about. Lavender brings about a whole new meaning of spiritual nirvana. Lavender carries premium dope and tranquilizers to allow him a polluted sense of what he is really doing. At any given moment he is able to take a tranquilizer and cool his nerves as well as make himself an easier target. When they have down time he uses his dope to help him forget about where and what he is doing as well as make this a little less stressful.
Out of all the things that soldiers carry there are always the essentials; food, water, medicine, weapons.

Even though these such things are needed for essential survival soldiers still find a way to incorporate their own spin on them to make life better. Strunk, Kiowa, and Dobbins are great examples of mashing essentials with back home life. Strunk carries a slingshot, which allows him to always have a reliable weapon where he find ammunition practically anywhere. “Strunk carried his slingshot; ammo, he claimed, would never be a problem.” (Page 9). This is a very useful thing to have when you never know when you can be stuck without your service weapons. Kiowa carries a weapon that would be a hit or miss on usefulness. In jungle warfare with the distance between you and your enemy; your grandfather's hatchet is basically useless. On the other hand, if you are in some variety of close quarter combat, then the old trusty hatchet could prove to be one of the most useful tools carried. Weapons were not the only essentials that were carried to also bring comfort. Dobbins in particular carried canned peaches in a thick, delicious syrup. This kind of item brings a sweet down-home kind of comfort where the basic MRE would not. Many soldiers also carried things like Kool-aid to sweeten up their water and make it a little more

exciting.
Soldiers carry many things that have a special meaning to them personally and no one else. There are three main bodies that almost everything a soldier carries can be broken up into. Things from relationships, spiritual or religious items, and essentials cover the great majority of what soldiers carry with them. Above all else a soldier carries what he personally wants to and no one can make that decision for him.