The Things They Carried Theme Analysis

One motif that I found prominent in "The things they carried" was the motif of Solitude/ loneliness. These two words correspond to each other in the fact that they are each associated with the act of being left to dwell in the unknown parts of one’s self and “The Things They Carried” was no exception. In the story O’Brien makes it evident that solitude/loneliness is just as big a threat as ammunition or the enemy. He stressed the preeminence of the thought that a soldier being left alone to his thoughts and phobia’s is a dangerous thing. The motif is also presented through Sanders story about how the imagination can destroy a soldier from the inside out. This creates a negative connotation between paranoia and solitude which stresses the theme