Preview

The Things They Carry

Good Essays
Open Document
Open Document
624 Words
Grammar
Grammar
Plagiarism
Plagiarism
Writing
Writing
Score
Score
The Things They Carry
The Things I Carry Essay
12/5/12
Steven Gaulin

I am similar to the character in the book because I also carry things around with me. The things I carry drastically differ from what he carries due to laws, point of view and the situation though.
I typically carry a necklace my mom gave me, cell phone, wallet, car keys, and clothing on my body. I feel like I would be lost with those items and am constantly checking my pockets to make sure I have them on me. Those are some physical things I carry on me. Lets go over some mental things I carry. I like to carry strength and pride with me. I won’t let people walk all over me and I take pride in the things I enjoy doing. I don’t like to hint sad weaknesses to other people, and if I have something that bothers me I typically get over it with time.
Each physical item has its purpose as in why I carry it. Its pretty basic too, I carry my keys to my car, which I love, since me and my car have seen a lot together and she brings me many places in exchange for her favorite type of drink, also known as gasoline. It’s got a special feeling to it every time I get in it. Just knowing you did all the modifications to it yourself to define your version of perfection for that vehicle.
My necklace was a gift from my mom and I always wear it and rarely take it off. So I guess you could say it has that special effect to it when its around my neck since it was a gift. I always have a wallet in my back right pocket, ever since I was a little kid, even though I had nothing to put in it as a little kid but maybe some pictures and a dollar or two because nothing was more important than trying to be like dad with a wallet. Now I’m just about 17 and my wallet serves its purpose so its kind of like a necessity since I store my, cards, ID, and money inside that leather flap. A wallet probably doesn’t that important, since every man carries one but I am very protective of it since I earned everything in it and I have a mini panic

You May Also Find These Documents Helpful

  • Satisfactory Essays

    The Things They Carried by Tim O’Brien is based on the hardships of soldiers when they returned from war. This story is told by 22 chapters, each chapter contains a story, all of the stories are linked together. In the beginning of the story the author describes and lists the items that soldiers carry in combat. These items consisted of matches, food, pictures, money, ammo, grenades, etc.…

    • 332 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Satisfactory Essays
  • Good Essays

    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…

    • 472 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    In the short story “The Things They Carried” Tim O’brien uses physical objects that each solider is carrying to try to give us a glimpse of their lives and some insight into their personalities. Most of the things the soldiers carried were determined by necessity, such as can openers, heat tabs, helmets and canteens of water. (269). While the reasoning for O 'brien 's “The Things They Carried” is to speak about the physical objects each soldier carried with them, the internal things they carried were much more meaningful.…

    • 677 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    Tim O'Brien, in his short story “The Things They Carried,” writes about what soldiers in Vietnam carried, literally and figuratively. He discusses what they “humped,” the tangible things and the intangible ones too. For example, all the men carried flak jackets which had a real defined weight but also they carried fear and “all the emotional baggage of men who might die” (21). We can touch the flak jacket but not the fear or Jimmy Cross' love for Martha.…

    • 502 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Better Essays

    In the short story “The Things They Carried,” written by Tim O’Brien, there is a lot of symbolism in each specific object that was mentioned. According to Dictionary.com, a symbolism is the practice of representing things by symbols, or of investing things with a symbolic meaning or character. A symbol is something used for or regarded as representing something else; a material object representing something, often something immaterial; emblem, token, or sign. The things each soldier carried defined each individual soldier. The story was very detailed in the objects the soldiers carried which tied into the emotional things the soldiers carried.…

    • 1663 Words
    • 7 Pages
    Better Essays
  • Good Essays

    Tim O’Brien wrote The Things They Carry, an emotional story about soldiers leaving home to fight in the Vietnam War and the items they carried with them. O’Brien begins his story, when soldiers go into combat and overseas to serve our country include military issue equipment as well as personal items, which hold memories of fear or emotional value. O’Brien shows readers the weight soldiers carry while serving in the military. The love for family and country are important and how memories can be carried to aid in relieving stress of the battle.…

    • 627 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    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.…

    • 450 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    When referring to the items in the story the narrator uses them to symbolize, the characters, photos, and letters. “The items structure both the story and the book.”(Henningfeld 1) Allowing a great deal of vision in the story, the narrator shares his stories and as well as other characters who also tell their stories. Soldiers items that they are carrying is more of a metaphor because what each soldier is actually carrying is fear, the feeling of being alive, and his haunting memories.…

    • 823 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Powerful Essays

    Looking at the title alone, the reader can safely infer that something is being carried, and that's exactly what O'Brien writes about. The book shows two different types of baggage, physical and intangible. Some of the physical items include books, gear, and mementos while the intangible things range from guilt to love. The importance of these various items outline who each character is. Besides carrying their gear, each solider carries fear and sadness for their safety and for those who they long to see. But, the main character Jimmy Cross carries more than the rest of his men; he carries the responsibility of keeping these men safe and keeping them alive. As the story progresses, there are comparisons between war and love relating to the physical objects that are being…

    • 1607 Words
    • 7 Pages
    Powerful Essays
  • Good Essays

    In reading the novel “The Things They Carried” in my english class this year, I have learned that most, if not all, people carry intangible and tangible things with them everyday. In my readings, I found that the soldiers in the novel carry their tangible things to help with what they are carrying intangibly. Regardless, the things we carry make us stand out in our own way; they make us who we are. I, for example, carry the emotional stress that attacks me everyday, and a ring that I love.…

    • 622 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    O’brien repeatedly states what each soldier is carrying for two reasons. The first reason is character development. The more the reader knows about a character’s possessions the more he/she effectively knows about the characters themselves. An example of this would be how Cross carries a picture of a girl, fantasizing whether or not she is a virgin. Dobbins carries extra rations and his girlfriend’s pantyhose around his neck. This implies superstition and an above average weight. Ted Lavender carries weed and tranquilizers to placate his anxiety. This suggests an inability to cope with death or violence; perhaps wartime as a whole. Finally Kiowa carries an illustrated copy of the new testament and a knife given to him by his father. These possessions allude to the fact that he is a man of god with a respect for his father. I think it id ironic, though, that all of these men’s non-military items are of no real consequence in the war. They don’t do anything. It could be argued…

    • 1168 Words
    • 5 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    The Things I Carry

    • 716 Words
    • 3 Pages

    The Things I Carry by Tim O’brien discusses the weight the soldiers who fought in Vietnam and the emotional damage they all faced. Just like these soldiers in the book we all carry something emotional or physical. We all carry certain things memories, emotions, and physical items these objects have an impact on our daily life. One of the most important physical objects I carry is my planner. My planner carries my information, quotes, journal entries, and much more.…

    • 716 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    As an individual’s, we carried something in our lives that meant something that could be a small object or something inside us. In “The Things They Carried,” many outlook on the things the soldiers carried or dealt. It shows us the many reasons why and how the soldiers possessed these things individually and how it was important for them. This doesn’t happen only in the war but in a daily day, we carry something special that has meaning. It could be any small object that tells something about us or a feeling that we carry inside. One object that I carry with me in a daily basis is a book called, “His Footsteps My Footstep.” Something else that I carried that tells something about me will be photos of my nephews. An additional thing that I carried will be the weight of stress. There are many other ways or objects that we carry that are significant to us that may not be to others.…

    • 752 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Satisfactory Essays

    Brown Bag Speech

    • 529 Words
    • 3 Pages

    The second thing I chose to put in my bag are some pictures of my family. I have my grandparents, all my aunts and uncles, my mother and sister, my fiancé and baby, and finally my dog Dori. The reason I chose these pictures to put in my bag is because I couldn’t stress enough how much my family members mean to me. I have had several friends either lose their brother, mother, or even grandparents, and it makes me WANT to cherish every moment with my family and REALIZE that I should. It also makes me thank God for the family that he blessed me with.…

    • 529 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Satisfactory Essays
  • Good Essays

    Every time I leave the house, I carry my phone, my keys, and my purse, which has money and my license inside of it. I also carry non-physical items like stress of making it to college and achieving my goals, another one is public speaking, and as well as my low self-esteem. Out of physical and non-physical, the non-physical is the one that puts more weight on me.…

    • 700 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Good Essays