An Analysis Of Tim O 'Brien's The Things They Carried'
Rebecca Porter
Professor Ippolito
Introduction to Literature
February 9, 2014
An Analysis of Tim O’Brien’s The Things They Carried In Tim O’Brien’s The Things They Carried, the narrator tells the story of a platoon of men serving in the military during the Vietnam War. The narrator of this story follows the men, led by Lieutenant Jimmy Cross through the treacherous, unknown terrain of Vietnam. As most of us know from stories told by Vietnam veterans, including my Uncle Ed who was a Navy Seal during that war, the conditions were horrific; US involvement was highly protested, and soldiers lucky enough to return home saw a society that treated them more like criminals than heroes.
In this story, he describes the tangible necessities …show more content…
For Lieutenant Cross, it was the letters he received from Martha and his love for her. “More than anything, he wanted Martha to love him as he loved her, but the letters were mostly chatty, elusive on the matter of love.” (114). He also carried her pictures and the pebble she sent as a good luck charm, items that kept him in daydreams from the reality of war. For other men, their necessities differed: Kiowa carried the New Testament, Norman Bowker carried a diary, and Ted Lavender carried …show more content…
They carried lice and ringworm and leeches and paddy algae and various rots and molds.” (120). The dust from the soil in Vietnam, the lack of knowledge on where they were going and their duties. These burdens they carried were the things they struggled with the most: “they carried 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.” (123).
As the story plays out, the men are seen with all that they carry, which equals out to the weight of the world. They carry the burdens of war, the fear of not knowing what they are doing or where they are going, the longing for their familiar homes and places, the grief for men lost in senseless violence. They carry so much more than the world really sees.
In the rare discussions I have had with my uncle that explain the Vietnam War, I have learned only a portion of the struggle these men faced; the pain of carrying out senseless acts ordered by their leaders and the struggle for understanding when they arrive home to be called murders, baby killers, and criminals. The struggle to carry around the weight of so much and forced to do so with a brave
Professor Ippolito
Introduction to Literature
February 9, 2014
An Analysis of Tim O’Brien’s The Things They Carried In Tim O’Brien’s The Things They Carried, the narrator tells the story of a platoon of men serving in the military during the Vietnam War. The narrator of this story follows the men, led by Lieutenant Jimmy Cross through the treacherous, unknown terrain of Vietnam. As most of us know from stories told by Vietnam veterans, including my Uncle Ed who was a Navy Seal during that war, the conditions were horrific; US involvement was highly protested, and soldiers lucky enough to return home saw a society that treated them more like criminals than heroes.
In this story, he describes the tangible necessities …show more content…
For Lieutenant Cross, it was the letters he received from Martha and his love for her. “More than anything, he wanted Martha to love him as he loved her, but the letters were mostly chatty, elusive on the matter of love.” (114). He also carried her pictures and the pebble she sent as a good luck charm, items that kept him in daydreams from the reality of war. For other men, their necessities differed: Kiowa carried the New Testament, Norman Bowker carried a diary, and Ted Lavender carried …show more content…
They carried lice and ringworm and leeches and paddy algae and various rots and molds.” (120). The dust from the soil in Vietnam, the lack of knowledge on where they were going and their duties. These burdens they carried were the things they struggled with the most: “they carried 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.” (123).
As the story plays out, the men are seen with all that they carry, which equals out to the weight of the world. They carry the burdens of war, the fear of not knowing what they are doing or where they are going, the longing for their familiar homes and places, the grief for men lost in senseless violence. They carry so much more than the world really sees.
In the rare discussions I have had with my uncle that explain the Vietnam War, I have learned only a portion of the struggle these men faced; the pain of carrying out senseless acts ordered by their leaders and the struggle for understanding when they arrive home to be called murders, baby killers, and criminals. The struggle to carry around the weight of so much and forced to do so with a brave