Story Analysis: The Things They Carried By Tim O Brien
Carley Argentieri
Literature 101
Quinn
Rough Draft
The Things They Carried
By: Tim O’Brien
The Things They Carried by Tim O’Brien is a series of short stories that focuses on the lives of a platoon of soldiers during the Vietnam War, the items they carry; both mandatory and not, and how they deal with the hardships while serving. Of course the items that these military men are required to carry are extremely important to their survival, I have chosen to focus more on the smaller more personal items, most being the emotional baggage they carry. The story begins with the items that were carried by the soldiers to make their life in Vietnam a little more tolerable. Lt. Jimmy Cross carries letters from a young girls named Martha, Henry Dobbins carried extra food, Dave Jensen carried all the necessary items to remain in good hygiene, Ted Lavender carried tranquilizers, …show more content…
out of fear, others carried books, condoms, the New Testament, diaries, photographs, even the “distrust of a white man.” Each man in the platoon carried something different based on his ranking; compasses, radios, medication, etc. (need to finish)
Author of “’Unraveling the deeper meaning”: Exile and the Embodies Poetics of Displacement in Tim O’Brien’s The Things They Carried,” Tina Chen states “ O’Brien’s war stories, which are ultimately ‘never about war,’ reflect the difficult choices force upon those who have confronted the contradictions of combat:” (80). The stories told are not only about war, though they may be in that setting, they are stories about the characters and what they struggled with. Could the soldiers be at “war” with themselves and their emotions? Through out the remainder of the story the narrator continues to list all of the things the men carried; however, as the physical belongings begin to dwindle but the emotional aspect continues to grow.
O’Brien still mentions items that are carried but rarely are they actual objects. Most of which are feelings, thoughts or attitudes the men carry through out the war. “They carried all the emotional baggage of men who might die. Grief, terror, love longin” (O’Brien, excerpt 8) For example; Lt. Jimmy Cross carries the love for Martha by carrying the picture, letter and the stone. All of these items are what he believed kept him going, they had given him the strength to carry on. After Ted Lavender is shot, Lt. Cross carries the guilt of his death, he felt as though he hadn’t don’t his job protecting his men. “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” (O’Brien, 7). Lt. Cross’ story shows the battles one in the service goes
through
Literature 101
Quinn
Rough Draft
The Things They Carried
By: Tim O’Brien
The Things They Carried by Tim O’Brien is a series of short stories that focuses on the lives of a platoon of soldiers during the Vietnam War, the items they carry; both mandatory and not, and how they deal with the hardships while serving. Of course the items that these military men are required to carry are extremely important to their survival, I have chosen to focus more on the smaller more personal items, most being the emotional baggage they carry. The story begins with the items that were carried by the soldiers to make their life in Vietnam a little more tolerable. Lt. Jimmy Cross carries letters from a young girls named Martha, Henry Dobbins carried extra food, Dave Jensen carried all the necessary items to remain in good hygiene, Ted Lavender carried tranquilizers, …show more content…
out of fear, others carried books, condoms, the New Testament, diaries, photographs, even the “distrust of a white man.” Each man in the platoon carried something different based on his ranking; compasses, radios, medication, etc. (need to finish)
Author of “’Unraveling the deeper meaning”: Exile and the Embodies Poetics of Displacement in Tim O’Brien’s The Things They Carried,” Tina Chen states “ O’Brien’s war stories, which are ultimately ‘never about war,’ reflect the difficult choices force upon those who have confronted the contradictions of combat:” (80). The stories told are not only about war, though they may be in that setting, they are stories about the characters and what they struggled with. Could the soldiers be at “war” with themselves and their emotions? Through out the remainder of the story the narrator continues to list all of the things the men carried; however, as the physical belongings begin to dwindle but the emotional aspect continues to grow.
O’Brien still mentions items that are carried but rarely are they actual objects. Most of which are feelings, thoughts or attitudes the men carry through out the war. “They carried all the emotional baggage of men who might die. Grief, terror, love longin” (O’Brien, excerpt 8) For example; Lt. Jimmy Cross carries the love for Martha by carrying the picture, letter and the stone. All of these items are what he believed kept him going, they had given him the strength to carry on. After Ted Lavender is shot, Lt. Cross carries the guilt of his death, he felt as though he hadn’t don’t his job protecting his men. “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” (O’Brien, 7). Lt. Cross’ story shows the battles one in the service goes
through