In the fictional story, “The Things They Carried” by Tim O’Brien describes an event that occurred during the Vietnam war. The story itself is so fascinating in so many ways, it sorts of studies the nature of young men in the time of war. The thing you first notice about this story is how it goes about character development, and how it exhaustedly it lists all of the things that the men’s carry. With the profound irony being that it’s not the physical weight of all of the things they are carrying that are going to cost them problems in life but it’s the non-physical things that they carry, the emotions, experiences, memories, regrets, and problems that are going to be the baggage which will be distracting. Some of the big elements in this …show more content…
story are not just the cost of distraction. Jimmy crosses distraction with spending all of his time thinking about Martha, a girl back home, who probably doesn’t love him at all, but he really wants her to love him because it gives him something to think about, and something to take his mind off of the war with. This story is also about the various obsessions of youth and the nature of regret, and what Jimmy Cross wishes he could have done. He wishes he could go back and kiss Martha, and do all of these things that he would have done differently, then of course after Ted Lavender ends up getting killed, he wishes he could have done more stuff differently. So Jimmy Cross is dealing with a situation, which he tries to put himself in another situation other than the situation that he was in, which led him into trouble. Something’s about this story that are particularly profound is the large question of why the men, even though they are scared, even though this is a terrifying situation, why don’t they just quit?
They don’t quit because of honor, heroism, or bravery. Coward-ness, traditional expectations, and masculinity are things that prevents them from actually just thinking that this is too much for them to handle. “They carried all the emotional baggage of men who might die. Grief, terror, love, longing--- these were intangibles, but the intangibles had their own mass and specific gravity, then had tangible weight.” “It was not courage, exactly; the object was not valor. Rather, they were too frightened to be cowards.” Because to just lay down and quit, and not engage in this war would put them in a situation where they are cowards and that’s what they are afraid to deal with. They were not brave enough to just lay down and not do it anymore, so they went on and kept going with the war. There are some passages in the story where they are talking about that, such as, “For the most part they carried themselves with poise, a kind of dignity. Now and then, however, there were times of panic, when they squealed or wanted to squeal but couldn’t, when they twitched and made moaning sounds and covered their heads and said Dear Jesus and flopped around on the earth and fired their weapons blindly and cringed and sobbed and begged for the noise to stop and went wild and made stupid promises to
themselves and to God and to their mothers and fathers, hoping not to die.” The structure of this story is particularly interesting, how it says that Ted Lavender died, then it goes back a little bit, then it goes back to Ted Lavender’s death, then goes back a little bit, then goes back to his death. The story structure is very novel-like, how it slowly but surely gives the readers the details of this particular circumstance and how sometimes its troubling to deal with it over and over again. It helps us consider Jimmy Cross, how he lusts over Martha, even though he’s suppose to be the person to be in charge. Despite of how young Jimmy Cross is, the guys that he’s in charge over are younger. There are instances where the story clearly gives the reader an idea of how young these guys are. There’s a part where the guys are talking about morals, in which it says, “You want my opinion, Mitchell Sanders said, there’s a definite moral here. He put his hand on the dead boy’s wrist. He was quiet for a time, as if counting a pulse, then he patted the stomach, almost affectionately, and used Kiowa’s hunting hatchet to remove the thumb. Henry Dobbins asked what the moral was. Moral? You know. Moral.” The reader can see that Mitchell Sanders doesn’t even know what the word moral means, that’s how young these guys are. He doesn’t know what moral is, he just has a notion that a moral is something important, he says that there is a moral here, but he doesn’t actually know what it is.
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.
“They carried all the emotional baggage of men who might die. Grief, terror, love, longing- these were intangibles, but the intangibles had their own mass and specific gravity, they had tangible weight.” (O’Brien 604) “The Things They Carried”, written by Tim O’brien, portrays a platoon of soldiers in The Vietnam War by the baggage that they carry, both mentally and physically. The main character, whom was assigned to be First Lieutenant of the platoon, is twenty-four year old Jimmy Cross. Lt. Cross is a prime example of a leader who is too immature to handle the responsibility of their role. He is constantly daydreaming about Martha, obsessing over the letters and gifts she has sent him, rather than leading his men. Martha is a student at a college back in Lt. Cross’s hometown. Lt. cross and his men all have baggage that weighs them down, but as the assigned leader, Lt. Cross has to free himself of these distractions. In “The Things They Carried” Lt. Cross’s inexperience and lack of focus, combined with his ample emotional and physical baggage, stand in the way of him fulfilling his responsibilities as the First Lieutenant of his platoon.
In the novel “The Things They Carried” by Tim O’Brien, there are a lot of characters that carry burdens which manifest later into themes of the novel. The novel is about the Vietnam war and the experience of drafted 18-24-year-old individuals serving in a platoon squad together. For instance, Lieutenant Jimmy Cross who is a vital member of the Alpha Company carries vital things that later translate into the theme. Lieutenant Jimmy Cross carries compasses, maps, and responsibilities for the Alpha Company such as marching in a line and keeping guns clean. The character accompanied with all his objects is used as a metaphor for the war that has no structure. He is a leader in the eyes of the Alpha Company who see him as the oldest and wisest but
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. The 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
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.
The Things They Carried is a collection of stories about the Vietnam War, but in reality, the book centers around the relationships the men make, their connections to the world they left behind and the connections that they formed to Vietnam. The stories are not war stories, but stories about love, respect and the bonds made between men when they spend day after day fighting just to stay alive.
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
Men killed, and died, because they were embarrassed not to. It was what had brought them to the war in the first place” (O’Brien 21). The soldiers did not go to war for glory or honor, but simply to avoid the “blush of dishonor” (21). In fact, O’Brien states “It was not courage, exactly; the object was not valor.
In Tim O'Brien's The Things They Carried the issue of maturity is an ever occurring theme within the novel that sets out to tackle and open up for discussion of it on a broader level. Specifically within the chapters "Friends" and "Enemies" it is clear that both Lee Strunk and Dave Jensen are wedged in a personal psychological war. This issue faces many young adults but is perverted by the war and the tragic loss of innocent life. Many feel that the purpose of O'Brien's The Things They Carried is to show hardships and reality of war. While that is true, the most important issue and debate brought up is the rapid transformation of our young soldiers while they have to face the atrocities of war. Although, Lee Strunk and Dave Jensen originate as bitter enemies, they conclude there relationship as friends who have maturely evolved due to there encounters in war and self reflection.
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.
Soon enough the war will be part of the past for most but for them they are in battle every time they close their eyes. "Let the months and years come, they can take nothing from me, they can take nothing anymore. I am so alone and so without hope that I can confront them without fear" (Chapter 12). These men have nothing left. Nothing else can happen in life to them that will cause any more damage.
The Things They Carried by Tim O’Brien offers readers very unique and interesting view of the Vietnam War and the mentality of a soldier.
Imagine walking through a rainy, humid tropical rain forest with forty to fifty pounds of precious luggage strapped to your back wondering where and when the next shot will be fired. Wondering whether or not you will live to see another day of combat with your brothers. American soldiers carried this burden with them every day while in combat during the Vietnam War. In the short story, “The Things They Carried” by Tim O’Brien, he explains the positive and negative effects of the things that soldiers carried with them during the Vietnam War.