The Things They Carried, a novel by Tim O’Brien, is a collection of war stories told from a fictional Vietnam veteran’s perspective. O’Brien elucidates the physical and emotional barrier war creates between men and women to help demonstrate the frustration soldiers have with women in war.…
Tim O’Brien is a very gifted author, but he is also a veteran of the Vietnam War and fought with the United States in that controversial war. Tim O’Brien was drafted into the Vietnam War in 1968. He served as an infantryman, and obtained the rank of sergeant and won a Purple Heart after being wounded by shrapnel. He was discharged from the Vietnam War in 1970. I believe that O’Brien’s own images and past experiences he encountered in the Vietnam War gave him inspiration to write the story “The Things They Carried.” O’Brien tells the story in third person narrative form about Lt. Jimmy Cross and his platoon of young American men in the Vietnam War. In “The Things They Carried” we can see differences and similarities between the characters…
A platoon of seventeen soldiers from America travel in booby-trap swamps and through the hills of Vietnam. “They been ordered to set ambushes, execute night patrols, and search out and destroy the massive tunnel complexes south of Chu Lai constructed by Viet Cong guerrillas” (McCarthy). On their voyage the men carry something with them; the things they carry have a meaning to each soldier which distinguishes them. The men are not completely prepared to deal with the stresses of war emotionally. The story circles around Lieutenant Jimmy Cross and the burden he feels for the death of Lavender, one of his soldiers. “The Things They Carried” reflects on each soldier and their way of trying to escape from the war. American writer Tim O’Brien had many outstanding works including “The Things They Carried”. This work illustrates O’Brien’s use of style,…
The Things They Carried, written by Tim O’Brien, is a book depicting the experiences of a soldier during the Vietnam War. As narrated by the author, the book contains real-life happenings. He served from 1969-1970 as an infantryman in the U.S. Army. The journey O’Brien takes is described through the stories he tells about the people he was stationed with. One member of his platoon, Kiowa, was fatally struck by a mortar.…
The short story "The Things They Carried" by Tim O'Brien takes place in Vietnam during the Vietnam War. In this story we are introduced to First Lieutenant Jimmy Cross and his platoon. They all differ in age and ethnicity, and have different views on the Vietnam War. One thing that they all have in common is that they bear the weight of their country on their back, but they also have different emotions weighing on their hearts at the same time. We see three different sides to Lieutenant Jimmy Cross, the soldier, the love stricken man and the leader that has learned a valuable lesson. Each of his characters carries something different.…
In “The Things They Carried,” O’Brien takes us back to the Vietnam War. He demonstrates to the reader that not only does each United States soldier carry something physical with them, but they also carry an emotional burden as well. What each man carries is a combination of thoughts, emotions, and past experiences.…
He never once describes the men in the war as brave or courageous, he actually talks a lot about their fears and the emotional baggage they carry. The reader soon finds that Jimmy has a girl back home named Martha. He loves her with all his heart but these feelings seem to be unrequited as Martha treats him as a good friend rather than a potential boyfriend or lover. He describes a night when he had taken Martha to a movie and kissing her goodbye that night after taking her home. “Right then, he thought, he should've have done something brave…...He should’ve risked it” (5). This shows how Cross feels that taking risks, even as small as kissing a date goodnight or touching her, are more brave than any mission carried out by the soldiers. Thoughts of their relationship always occupy Cross’s mind and distract him from his duties. His lack of attention costs one man his life, having lasting effects on Cross’s conscience and gives him an eternal sense of guilt over his actions. This showed how emotionally fragile Vietnam soldiers were and the amount of stress and tragedy being put on them on a day to day basis. Another example of this is when Cross’s fellow soldier, Kiowa, dies in an accidental explosion. Cross is found squatting in the muck of a lake, almost in a daze, contemplating the death of all those around him and what it means and who is to blame. He tried to tell himself that “No apologies were necessary, because in fact it was one of those freak things, and the war was full of freaks, and nothing could ever change it anyway. Which was the truth, the exact truth. Lieutenant Cross went deeper into the muck, the dark water at his throat, and tried to [convince] himself it was the truth” (176). This symbolizes the breaking point of Cross and how he really is no longer courageous. He takes tragedies to heart and feels…
In the very first story The Things They Carried, everyone is changed by they death of Ted Lavender, especially Lieutenant Cross. Lavender was a very nervous and careful soldier. While most of the soldiers carried sentimental items or items specifically for war, Ted carried tranquilizers to keep him sane throughout the war. Because he was so nervous and careful, it was surprising that he was the one to die first in the story. Directly after his death, as Lieutenant Cross was leading his men to Than Khe, he found himself quivering at the thought of his…
“The Things They Carried” is about the thoughts and actions of Jimmy Cross, a lieutenant of an Army unit on active combat duty in the Vietnam War. Lt. Cross is worried by thoughts of Martha, a young woman he dated before he joined the Army. He thinks about letters she wrote him, whether or not she is a virgin. And about how much he loves her and wants her to love him. Her letters do not indicate that she feels the same way. The narrator lists things that the soldiers carry with them, both tangible and intangible, such as Lt. Cross's picture of and feelings for Martha.…
In “The Things They Carried,” a short story by Tim O’Brien, the reader is able to see, in great detail, each of the characters ways of dealing with the atrocities of the Vietnam War by what they choose to carry; how symbolically they use these objects as a means for remembrance of what they have left behind, to escape what they deal with each day, and for some, a false sense of security and/or control over the violence and death that surrounds them.…
The Things They Carried by Tim O’Brien is a semi-autobiographical novel based on O’Brien’s experience in the Vietnam War. In the book, O’brien tells about the events leading up to him being drafted, war stories, and some narratives about his comrades. He says that he did not join the war because of morals, but because he was scared not to. Throughout the book, the characters have been coping with death/mortality, social obligations/pressures, guilt/shame, and moral conflicts. O’Brien shares his thoughts on what makes a “true war story” which is very interesting. Overall, O’Brien induces thought and feeling through the interesting medium of stories and language.…
The Vietnam War was a long costly armed conflict that wounded the U.S. The communist regime of North Vietnam was a war fought by the Viet Cong against South Vietnam and its principal ally, the United States. The war was increasingly unpopular at home it ended with the withdrawal of U.S. forces. More than 3 million people, including 58,000 Americans, were killed in the conflict. Tim O’Brien the author of “The Things They Carried” is book that recounts his own experience in the Vietnam War and allows him to give a vivid description on the war. He enters the war as scared young man. The war leaves a guilt-ridden middle-aged man who tells stories about Vietnam in order to cope with his painful memories. O’Brien uses imagery and symbolism in order to…
Ted Lavender was a man who got shot in the war, killing him. The emotional burden that Jimmy Cross held over it shows what relations you gain when youre in there. The author says “On the morning after Ted Lavender died, First Lieutenant Jimmy Cross crouched at the bottom of his foxhole and burned Martha’s Letters.” (O’Brien 7). Whenever Ted Lavender was shot, Jimmy took it out on himself. But not only did he take it out on himself, he took it out on his love for Martha. He could feel as if he put all his focus on loving and day dreaming about them being together, and not as if he was there for his men when they needed him. Jimmy Cross has many emotional burdens with his time he spent in the war. Another part in the story says “He carried a strobe light and the responsibility for the lives of his men.” (O’Brien 4) This meaning, Jimmy was always carrying around a “strobe light”, but symbolizing that he feels the need to be watching them and taking care after them at all times; coming with the emotional and physical burdens he gets with them.…
Many people weren't very happy with the vietnam war because of how the u.s. involved themselves in the war and how it ended. The book The Things They Carried is a story about a veterans experiences in war and talks about how after leaving the war how it affected him. The war caused many soldiers such as Jimmy Cross from O'brien's book to feel a lot of grief and regret and stress.” He had loved martha more than his men, and as a consequence Lavender was now dead, and this was something he would…
The death of Lavender has caused Lieutenant Cross to resent ever dreaming about Martha. For example, O’Brien notes that, “He felt shame. He hated himself. 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” (1256). Because of his lack of attentiveness Lieutenant Cross has to carry Lavenders murder with him forever. Cross now realizes how much of a distraction Martha and her letters are, and how he is not a part of her world. He realizes he must rid himself of all distraction to prevent anything like Lavenders death from happening again. To rid himself of Martha, he decides to burn his pictures of her and her letters. O’Brien notes that, “On the morning after Ted Lavender died, First Lieutenant Jimmy Cross crouched at the bottom of his foxhole and burned Martha's letters. Then he burned the two photographs…He realized it was only a gesture…Besides, the letters were in his head” (1259). Lieutenant Cross has to rid himself of Martha so that he and his men can survive. Any distractions, even for a single moment in time can be harmful. Lieutenant cross now knows he was using Martha as a scape goat and it is now time for him to live in his reality and take his job…