The Soldier In Tim O Brien's The Things They Carried

Throughout Tim O’Brien’s The Things They Carried, there is a constant theme about all the things that the soldiers carry. In the opening chapter, The Things They Carried, the soldiers are carrying tangible and intangible items. The tangible items included things they carried like mosquito repellant, pocket knives, wound compress, tents, weapons, and ammunition for the purpose of basic survival in the war. As the rank of the soldiers increase, the responsibility that needed to be carried also increases. Being the highest rank, Lieutenant Jimmy Cross carried the compass, maps, and the soldiers’ lives in his hands. Rat Kiley, the medic, carries the pain medication and malaria tablets to keep the men from getting disease. Besides the survival items,

Guilt had such a big impact because in a war like this, someone had to take the blame for the deaths. Most of the blame was self-blame that caused the men to feel guilty for killing someone or for having someone die, on what they felt was, their own hands. Even if they were not the ones to pull the trigger, they would pick up the blame and make excuses like being in the wrong place at the wrong time, making the wrong calls and decisions, being distracted, or not being prepared enough. “He had loved Martha more than his men, and as a consequence Lavender was now dead, and this was something he would have to carry like a stone in his stomach for the rest of the war.”(The Things They Carried.42) Lieutenant Cross was so distracted with thoughts of Martha and whether or not she was a virgin, that he was putting his men’s lives at risk. Due to the fact that Cross was so distracted in his thoughts, Lieutenant Lavender was shot in the head and killed. Even right after Lavender’s death, Cross is still caught up in thoughts of Martha. It is not until later that evening that the death of Lavender finally comes to Cross’ attention. He ends up crying in the bottom of a hole that he had dug. The next morning, in that same hole, he burns any reminder of Martha and then fully takes the blame for Lavender’s death. Dave Jensen had also been feeling guilty for not killing his friend, Lee Strunk when he had the chance. Jensen felt guilty for not putting

Originally he wanted to run away to Canada and escape the draft, but instead he gave in and went to the war. “I survived, but it’s not a happy ending. I was a coward. I went to the war.” (On the Rainy River.79) O’Brien only went to war because he did not want to be judged and seen as a coward for escaping the draft for war. After leaving the war, he feels weak for not being strong enough to not have gone to the war from the beginning. This, in turn, makes these soldiers cowards for not being a bigger person and not being strong enough to stand up for something that they do not want to do (Cliffnotes). Dealing with this cowardness in complete silence is the heaviest burden of all because it is intangible in the sense that they could never shake the cowardness from their mind and