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…
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
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).
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).
The most interesting thing I found while reading this story is that even though the soldiers carried a ton of weight around with them, they insisted on carrying as much as possible to insist they were prepared for any given situation. Also, just as we are all different individuals, each soldier carried their own personal things that depended on their own habits and hobbies. Some examples of the necessities the soldiers had to carry with them include, “Among the necessities or near-necessities were P-38 can openers, pockets knives, heat tabs, wrist-watches, dog tags, mosquito repellent, chewing gum, candy, cigarettes, salt tablets, packets of Kool-Aid, lighters, matches, sewing kits, Military Payment Certificates, C-rations, and two or three canteens of water (O’Brien 125). These were just some of the things these men had to carry with them just to undergo some of the conditions surrounding them. Besides those items I explained things like weapons and magazines made up most of the majority of the weight.
A deeper meaning into what a soldier carried along to the war from which it was necessary supplies to good luck charms or something that reminded one of home. The things each person carried shows more into who the soldier really is or who he wants to be in front of the other soldiers-trying to become someone else. The different pieces each carry will remind them of home “Jimmy Cross carried letters from a girl named Martha…Mitchell Sanders carried condoms…Kiowa…carried an illustrated New Testament…” (Tim O’Brien The Things They Carried pg. 3) Every soldier carried what was necessary like food, guns, bullets etc. but the personal things they carried made everyone different form that crowded but big space between each soldier. Tim O’Brien uses this description to introduce the characters and how each one starts from one po...
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.
O'Brien's repeated use of the phrase "they carried" attempts to create a realization in the reader that soldiers in wars always carry some kind of weight; there is always some type of burden that servicemen and women will forever hold onto both throughout the war and long after it has finished. The specification of what the soldier bear shows that the heaviness is both physical and emotional and in most cases the concrete objects carried manifest into the continued emotional distress that lasts a lifetime (sentence about what they carry from novel) "The Things They Carried" emphasis this certain phrase in order for those that do not have the experience of going to understand the constant pressure of burdens they are under. O'Brien draws on
“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.
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.
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.
In “The Things They Carried,” Tim O’Brien brings to light the effects of war on soldiers, both physically and psychologically. The title of the story would lead the reader to believe the story is only about the provisions and apparatus a soldier would physically carry into war. After reading the entire story, it becomes evident that there are many burdens seen and unseen that soldiers face during times of war.
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
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.
“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...
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.