The Things I Carry Analysis

Tim O’Brien starts the book The Things They Carried with a chapter that literally tells the audience what each soldier carries. This ranges from mandatory equipment to sentimental items. These sentimental items also indicate the figurative things that the soldiers carry. The first chapter is all about O’Brien stating which man in the unit carries the guns and radios.

In “The Things They Carried” by Tim O’Brien, the author emphasizes on the items to tell the story. Lieutenant Jimmy Cross carried letters and a rock from Martha. In the war, Cross would focus on his love towards Martha to carry him out through his days and his sufferings. All the men carried something to get their minds off the war. They did not want to be cowards, so they stuck it out and moved on. They used these items to motivate them. For the letters Cross states, “They were signed Love, Martha, but Lieutenant Cross understood that love was only a way of signing…” (p.366). Martha just added to the illusion to Cross. She never mentioned the war and never said she loved him. She just kept teasing him. However, Cross just kept “humped” his

The things the soldiers carried defined their character, both the physical things and the metaphorical things. All of the men physically carried their gear, which included things like their helmet, jungle boots, grenades, firearms, and sometimes each other. Mentally they had to carry their brutal memories of war and the terrible things they encountered. 1st Lieutenant Jimmy Cross carried letter from his girlfriend Martha, 2 photographs of her, and a pebble good luck charm; all of these things show that he is compassionate and cares deeply about his girlfriend. He also carried the lives of his men on his shoulders. Dave Jensen can be characterized as a hygienic person; he carried extra socks, a toothbrush, floss, soap, and foot powder. Along with his hygienic items, he carried a rabbit 's foot for good luck. Many other men carried things that symbolized important things; Norman Bowker carried a tongue from an enemy and a diary, Rat Kiley carried comic books, and Kiowa carried a pair of moccasins, an illustrated new testament, and his grandfather’s hatchet. Each man carried memories, stress, and knowledge. Personally I carry memories, that are each important in their own ways, and I carry a little wooden lady bug with me for good luck.

The things I carry are both figurative and literal. I carry a pen, a pencil, a textbook or two, and paper. I carry memories, experiences, pain, guilt, cowardice, love and happiness. In the novel The Things They Carried by Tim O’Brien, O’Brien centralizes on why people carry what they do, physical or not. To be honest, I carry what I do because I must. If I don’t carry that one textbook that one day, I’ll regret it. If I forget what it was like have my first icecream cone, what if felt like the instant my mouth froze up and the inside of my head pounded so loudly I almost screamed, I will be less of who I am today. What I carry defines me. In the novel, the tangible and intangible loads the soldiers carry define them; such as Lt. Cross's who carry’s a picture of and intangible feelings for Martha. What the soldiers burdened themselves with was largely determined, emotionally or physically, was by necessity.

For countless of people today, the Vietnam war is just something from the past, but for Tim O’Brien, the Vietnam War will endlessly be with him. This one year in Vietnam changes the lives of this platoon from emotional pain, physical pain, as well as muscle pain will commence to cloud their vision. The weight of the things that they carried takes great effect on them that they have to continue to endure on this one year trip in Vietnam and remember these memories for the rest of their lives..

People carry things with them all the time on a daily basis. They might be physical, emotional or spiritual things. Some people could carry a traumatic past while others simply carry a bag of groceries into their house. The things one carries defines them as a person and brings out their qualities as well as their defects. Some people might think of those things as burdens while others see them as a way out of reality or as something to push them forward, something to believe in.

Human beings carry many different things with them, both physical and metaphorical. In Tim O’Brien’s “The Things They Carried,” he presents an exploration of the many burdens that people can carry. Throughout the story, he presents many detailed descriptions of the equipment and tangible things that the characters carry with them to help them survive their ordeal physically. O’Brien also describes the various ‘things’ that the men carry both physically and emotionally to help them deal with the mental and emotional stress of war. O’Brien also details the additional ‘things’ that the men pick up over the course of their experiences, both physical and mental/emotional. Through the metaphor of carrying objects, the descriptions of the items and

Thematic Statement: “The Things They Carried”- The mental and morale that a person go through is intense because it becomes the fundamental that will be throughout the whole story.

The main topic of this novel is burdens. O’Brien is writing about what burdens the soldiers and he had to carry throughout war, physically and emotionally. One way I know is because of the title- “The Things They Carried.” This title almost summarizes the whole book. O’Brien frequently showed and explained the burdens that were inner conflicts of his and outer conflicts too. In the chapter “The things They Carried,” O’Brien showed an emotional burden that he carries about him loving “Martha more than his men and as a consequence” his friend Lavender got killed. O’Brien described this emotional burden as “something he would have to carry like a stone in his stomach for the rest of the war.”

I only carry a small amount of things. I carry some physical things and some emotional things. The physical things are usual things that most girls carry, stuff that we could use at any time. The emotional things usually put weight on my shoulders and when I start to think about then my mood gets worse. I carry stress, so much stress. I stress about everything and anything. Stress is not a good thing and can can weight gain, pimples, binge eating, lack of eating or more. Alot of people carry stress, you might not be able to see it on the outside because not alot of people show it.

The title of the book The Things They Carried is significant by being able to tell the soldiers’ story and how they coped with being at war. While the soldiers transport the necessary items to survive, they also carry items that symbolize what is important to them.

Like most my age, I am always equipped with a smart phone. Many would deem it necessary in this day and age. Some people get them as young as 10 years old. I only carry one per my parent's request. Not to say that I don’t enjoy the perks of having it with me: access to any answer for any question that might be asked, the capability to talk to my family and friends at any given moment throughout the day, and plenty of applications to screw around with if I find myself with extra time. It weighs almost nothing, so light that at any given moment I will panic because I worry I lost it. It holds a different kind of weight though. It is heavy in the moments that it is “lost”, when there is a fear that it is not with me,

and carrying it signifies a way of doing penance to ultimately cleanse it. Therefore, in order to

Small Meaning: O’Brien is giving the all the different ways war can be interpreted by a soldier. They live that lifestyle for so

In “The Things They Carried,” by Tim O’Brien the theme of “carrying” both physical and emotional objects by the main characters can be found in the novel. While these men carry the same standard physical army gear, they differentiate with personal tangible and intangible items. From Lieutenant Cross’s responsibility of his men, to Henry Dobbin’s girlfriend’s pantyhose for its magic, each man faced the war with these things attached.