People from all walks of life carry burdens with them everywhere they go. Not only physical burdens, but emotional burdens too. Soldiers in war display these burdens in a more extreme setting, a setting where one small mistake could cost them their life at any given moment. In "The Things They Carried", Tim O'Brien conveys the scale of a typical soldiers' hardships, the many ways they cope with them, and how fear of dishonor drives them to push on.. The soldiers in The Things They Carried hauled great burdens, physically and emotionally. Throughout the story, the narrator goes to great lengths to describe the load the soldiers carried. He describes the weapons they carry or pick up off the enemy, the supplies for each soldier and his role, even personal belongings. Anything to help them get through the hazards presented by their mission. For example, when describing the M-16 rifle they used, the narrator states, " The weapon weighed 7.5 pounds unloaded, 8.2 pounds with its full twenty-round magazine," (O' Brien 369). As the story goes on, the narrator shifts more from the weight of …show more content…
the gear to the soldiers' emotions. While describing the ammo of the grenade launcher they used, the narrator mentions, "The typical load was twenty-five rounds. But Ted Lavender, who was scared, carried thirty-four rounds when he was shot and killed," (369-370). The remainder of the paragraph goes on to talk about Lavender's death in greater detail, and by the end of the story the author is describing how they carry themselves as a result of their emotional burdens. This is done to contrast the already impressive physical weight that the soldiers carry with the greater emotional weight they also must carry and is much harder to put down. Soldiers cope with their burdens, such as loss, in a variety of ways. The most obvious instance is how the main character, Jimmy Cross, coped with his thoughts after Lavender's death by choosing to be a better leader. Other soldiers talk, some make jokes, some carry illusions, and all of them expend unused equipment and use drugs to overcome their burdens and carry out their responsibilities. Even their acts were a way of coping, "There were numerous such poses. Some carried themselves with a sort of wistful resignation, others with pride or stiff soldierly discipline or good humor or macho zeal. They were afraid of dying but even more afraid to show it," (380). The soldiers have to cope not only to carry out their mission, but to protect their reputation as well, something many people see as important to them. This is also why many are at war in the first place. In such conditions, many soldiers dream of home, an escape from war where the weight of their hardships were much lighter, and they could consider themselves free.
Yet they carry on with their burdens, and continue their purposeless march, from one location to the next. The only alternative was to give up and go home, but everyone pushes forward. The author says they are afraid of their self-image, "It was not courage, exactly; the object was not valor. Rather, they were too frightened to be cowards," (381). To them, if they were to give up, they would be abandoning their duty as soldiers and disgrace themselves to friends and family. The few that did leave were ridiculed by the rest, even though they have their own thoughts of being airlifted home. Those few no longer had to carry their burdens, and could do what they pleased, free of their duties, death, and fears of being at
war. In "The Things They Carried," soldiers carry a great deal of hardships, cope with them in different ways, depending on the soldier, and carry on to avoid dishonor. Civilians in life face similar situations where they have hardships they must deal with as they go through life, sometimes wishing they could just give up but continuing for one reason or another. I know I sometimes feel like the soldiers from the story, the big difference between us is the danger that soldiers are put in at war means they might not get a second chance. This story shows that people at home should be thankful they do not have to deal with the great hardships of war, and the freedom they have to do what they want.
Although their physical loads did not weigh the soldiers down, they definitely became their necessities. Certain physical burdens became items that helped them escape from the reality of being at war. Even though these men had things they had to carry, they elected to carry more. The items they carried were intended to illustrate aspects of their personality. All of them carried great loads of memories, fears, and desires. These abstract objects were an essential part of them and therefore could not be put down. They continued to carry these emotional burdens along with them throughout the war. And as Lieutenant Jimmy Cross came to realize, “It was very sad…the things men carried inside. The things men did or felt they had to
An early example of zeugma comes from Quintilian, the ancient Roman rhetorician, who cites the following from Cicero: "Lust conquered shame, boldness fear, madness reason," where the verb "conquered" is understood to also govern the final two phrases in the sentence (Crowley 203).
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.
“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.
In the short story, “The Things They Carried” by Tim O’Brien, each soldier carries many items during times of war and strife, but each necessity differs. This short story depicts what each soldier carries mentally, physically, and emotionally on his shoulders as long, fatiguing weeks wain on during the Vietnam War. Author Tim O’Brien is a Vietnam War veteran, an author, the narrator, and a teacher. The main character, First Lieutenant Jimmy Cross, is a Vietnam War soldier who is away at war fighting a mind battle about a woman he left behind in New Jersey because he is sick with love while trying to fulfill his duties as a soldier to keep America free. Tim O’Brien depicts in “The Things They Carried” a troubled man who also shoulders the burden of guilt when he loses one of his men to an ambush.
In particular, The Things They Carried depicts this consequence of war through the repetition of phrases such as “they carried” and “they would” to indicate the homogeneity among the soldiers when fighting as a collective. Additionally, it is important to note how prevalently longer sentences are incorporated within the text to suggest the plethora of items they carry in common for the war, as O’Brien elaborates, “They carried M-14s and CAR-15s and Swedish Ks and grease guns and captured AK-47s and Chi-Coms and RPGs…” (7). In this case O’Brien’s inclusion of “and” allows him to extend his sentences in order to convey how uniform the soldier’s identities have become due to the war, as they are now only responsible for carrying their necessary weapons and equipment. Another passage that suggests the soldiers’ uniformity is when O’Brien depicts their lifelessness while marching by claiming, “They marched for the sake of the march. They plodded along slowly, dumbly, leaning forward against the heat, unthinking, all blood and bone, simple grunts…but no volition, no will, because it was automatic,” (15).
I wonder what it was like to witness the Vietnam War firsthand in combat. Well, in the short story, “The Things they Carried,” by Tim O’Brien, the theme was portrayed as the physical and emotional burdens that soldiers had to deal with during the Vietnam War. Throughout the story, the author goes into great detail about the heavy physical loads that the soldiers had to carry with them. Even the way O’Brien describes the many loads seems to grab your attention on the extreme conditions these men had to go through just to survive another day.
The novel, “The Things They Carried”, is about the experiences of Tim O’Brian and his fellow platoon members during their time fighting in the Vietnam War. They face much adversity that can only be encountered in the horrors of fighting a war. The men experience death of friends, civilians, enemies and at points loss of their rationale. In turn, the soldiers use a spectrum of methods to cope with the hardships of war, dark humor, daydreaming, and violent actions all allow an escape from the horrors of Vietnam that they experience most days.
Tim O’Brien’s The Things They Carried is a very uniquely written book. This book is comprised of countless stories that, though are out of order, intertwine and capture the reader’s attention through the end of the novel. This book, which is more a collection of short stories rather than one story that has a beginning and an end, uses a format that will keep the reader coming back for more.
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
“The Things They Carried” is a story about the Vietnam war, in the simplest of terms. It focuses on one particular team of soldiers and their experiences during the war. O’Brien’s writing is complex and has many layers. In the story, O’Brien lists the items the soldiers physically carry in a stark comparison to the things they carry mentally throughout the war. The author uses symbolism, metaphors, and imagery to show the soldiers loss of innocence and the effects of war on an individual.
Written by author Tim O’Brien after his own experience in Vietnam, “The Things They Carried” is a short story that introduces the reader to the experiences of soldiers away at war. O’Brien uses potent metaphors with a third person narrator to shape each character. In doing so, the reader is able to sympathize with the internal and external struggles the men endure. These symbolic comparisons often give even the smallest details great literary weight, due to their dual meanings. The symbolism in “The Things They Carried” guides the reader through the complex development of characters by establishing their humanity during the inhumane circumstance of war, articulating what the men need for emotional and spiritual survival, and by revealing the character’s psychological burdens.
The Roman philosopher Seneca the Younger once said “Perjor est bello timor ipse belli”, which translates to: “the dread of war is worse than war itself”. With this quote, Seneca identifies that war has both its physical and mental tolls on its participants. The psychological and emotional scars of war do much more damage to a solider than the actual physical battles. Tim O’ Brien repeats this idea many years later in his novel “The Things They Carried”, by describing how emotional burdens outweigh the physical loads that those in war must endure. What keeps them alive is the hope that they may one day return home to their loved ones. Yet, the weight of these intangible “items” such as “grief, terror, love, longing” overshadow the physical load they must endure since they are not easily cast away.
My research essay will be focusing on Tim O’Brien’s piece, “The Things They Carried”. I plan to emphasize my paper on Lieutenant Cross’s struggle to cope with the death of one of his soldiers. I will also explore his ever-changing emotional attitude towards Martha, a girl he met at Mount Sebastian College, and its affect on his leadership capabilities. Additionally, my paper will place focus on O’Brien’s use of symbolism towards the listing of military equipment and incorporation of their exact weights. My essay will use both historical and psychological approaches to acquire a greater understanding of the stress felt by service members and the cultural attitude towards soldiers during this time period.
In the “Things They Carried”, O’Brien characterizes the soldiers and conveys the emotional burden of war by the things the men carried with them. The emotional burden of leaving their belongings, friends and family at home was incredibly difficult for the soldiers so anything the soldiers brought from home was a good representation