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The Things They Carried By Tim O Brien: An Analysis

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The Things They Carried By Tim O Brien: An Analysis
In the book “The Things They Carried” by Tim O’Brien all of the people carry something. Some of the things they carry are things they need to survive. Most of them carry things that remind them of home or things they left behind. Every single person carries one thing in common, “they all carry respect for the power of the things they carry.”

The men carry things they need like mosquito repellent and marijuana, pocket knives and chewing gum. They carried friendship and hate. An example of friendship and hate is when Dave Jensen and Lee Strunk got into a fight over a pocket knife. Jensen beat Strunk over and over breaking his nose. After that Jensen became very nervous that Strunk was going to come after him. He was so worried he almost went crazy. Eventually Jensen …show more content…
Henry Dobbins carries his girlfriend’s pantyhose around his neck, Kiowa carries a bible, Jimmy cross carries letters and a lucky pebble from Martha. When Lavender died Cross is mad and he didn’t want anybody to get shot again so he eliminated his distractions and burned the letters from Martha. He felt like it was his fault Lavender died and couldn’t stand the thought of it.

My thoughts on the things they carried are as followed: I believe that the soldiers carry personal things to remind them what they have to live for. War is a mental game about what side wants it more. I think that the things they carry push them harder to stay alive. They carry weapons and necessities to help them achieve their goal of staying alive.

All in all the things they carry represent them. They define who they are and what they love. They symbolize certain aspects in their life. In this paper I went over some physical things they carried, many personal things they carried, and some mental thoughts they carried. I also explained to you their meanings and what the things they carried represent. Thank
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