Things They Carried Rhetorical Analysis

The Emotional burdens of war The story I chose is “The Things They Carried” by the author Tim O’Brien. In the course of this essay I will highlight the physical and intangible “burdens” required by a soldier to overcome war which are of vital importance to inhibit the outcomes of a state of devastation. The story gives us insights about what each soldier carried to the combat zone and this was largely determined by necessities, but each man differed in their necessity. It gives a picture of the things a soldier needs to meet his basic needs during war. The basic necessities required in every situation or event lead to an enormous burden but the emotional consequences as an outcome of war lead to a greater burden and so did these emotional
burdens help the soldiers develop in any way? The existence of the soldiers was determined by their basic needs during war. They were inseparable by the bond of their existence and the ability to survive the treacherous conditions. Each soldier accepted the extreme importance of these basic necessities and related it to their natural habitat. Thus these people needed these basic physical necessities but could not ignore the emotional consequences and burdens that lived with them every moment. “Among the necessities or near necessities were P 38 can openers, pocket knives, heat tabs, wrist watches, dog tabs, chewing gum, candy, cigarettes...” These were a few goods that they took with them in order to live life in the barren lands during war. Every soldier designated by rank was compelled to carry a few things in order to execute the orders of that position. Each soldier carried his basic needs according to their ranks “What they carried was partly a function of rank, partly of field specialty.” and of course all of them carried weapons, which signified this terrible power. The sound resonating from the shot of fire from these weapons “They carried all they could bear, and then some, including the silent awe for the terrible power of the things they carried” represented a feeling of reverential respect mixed with fear or wonder. For example the lieutenant and platoon leader Jimmy Cross carried books, maps, binoculars and a compass and also carried a good-luck pebble“ The things they carried were determined to some extent by superstition” given to him by his girlfriend Martha. This helped him to avoid thinking of the war and reminded him of the lovely fantasies with his girlfriend. But “The situation in war was highly unpredictable and death could be awaiting the bravest at any moment” this lead them to such a profound state of mind that emotions could not be neglected amidst all the other relative “burdens” and as a result separation from loved ones was considered severe. Thereby enforcing the importance of the basic necessities amongst their lives but neglecting these basic necessities could prove fatal.
Not ignoring their physical needs and their ability to survive there were other far greater “burdens” that distinguished them from each other. These emotional burdens inflicted a sense of longing and loss to the wounded, bravest, coward and terrorized the functionality of a stable mind. “They carried the emotional baggage of men who might die. Grief, terror, love longing-these were intangibles, but the intangibles had their own mass and specific gravity, they had tangible weight.” These emotions could be anything ranging from passion to hatred. The soldiers carried the emotional repercussions of dying men within themselves. All those emotions described above were intangibles, things that did not physically exist but still were “heavy” to “carry”. These had to be dealt with the mind and not by the body even though they do have a physical weight. These emotions existed widely in respect of consistency and were encountered in daily life by the soldiers. The soldiers had to accept these different emotions, but each had some importance on the nature of effect. These emotions provided a sense of urgency within the soldiers and therefore gave them the ability to accept, deal and harness their power to rattle the disturbing thoughts. These emotions inflicted importance regarding to the ability to survive in war and hence the urgency. On the contrary they were unable to deal with these emotions in a healthy way and so “They carried shameful memories.” For example Jimmy Cross stood at the beginning of a tunnel lost in fantasies about Martha and did not worry about the safety of his platoon “ trouble, he thought-a cave in maybe. And then suddenly, without willing it, he was thinking about Martha”. Therefore Jimmy Cross was unconcerned or reluctantly unaware of the situation as “He was just a kid at war, in love”.
Shame was considered to be the degenerating component in a soldier’s life. If these men fought for honor, respect and integrity with the utmost valor for the country then shame was a light of hope amidst the darkest tunnels and “Afterward, when the firing ended, they would blink and peek up. They would touch their bodies, feeling shame, then quickly hiding it.” This component of shame led them to realize the mistakes they made and gave reason to amend these mistakes so that they would not relapse. The shame of not being able to be tough enough to survive the treacherous conditions and the mistake of not being focused in war led to immense dissatisfaction. Therefore considering the mistakes as the darkest tunnels of shame, it was the light to a brighter future. Considering the situation and the circumstances regarding the position and event of the soldiers, they determined their outcomes with “the things they carried.” “They carried the common secret of cowardice barely restrained, the instinct to run or freeze or hide, and in many respects this was the heaviest burden of all, for it could never be put down, it required perfect balance and perfect posture.” Every soldier has a unique fear separate than the other that surpasses the will of bravery and condemns the mind to a provocative decision, which is the reason to run or freeze or hide in the curiosity of avenging life to death. This notion was considered to be the heaviest and most remorseful burden. Since the only option of survival would be to perfectly maintain the status of balance and posture amongst such emotions and keep the mind in careful compromise. This compromise filled with the curiosity of survival provided the soldiers with the strength and the fuel needed to overcome disastrous situations. “ He realized it was only a gesture. Stupid he thought. Sentimental, too, but mostly stupid.” Jimmy Cross decided to burn the letters Martha had given to him and the photographs. He decided to do this after lavenders death and did so because the letters would remind him of his loved one during a critical situation. This would lead him to think about it and maybe daydream, losing his command over the situation and poising a threat to his life. Therefore he tried to overcome the fear of losing his love and rather pay more attention to duty. This immense grief of loved ones being separated by war was one of “The things men carried inside. The things men felt they did or they had to do.” Each soldier carried his/ her basic necessities along with the emotional consequences of war and the hope to live a day longer.
This meant that even though they were required to carry the physical load and bear the emotional consequences, they still had to “fight” for survival. Every characteristic or thought was taken in a positive manner and helped them develop confidence and motivation that lead them to overcome the devastation of war. For example there was an epiphany for Jimmy Cross at the end of the story when he realized the predicament of not being focused in war. This lead him to burn the letters, which shows a great deal of confidence and motivation, developed during war. The act of him burning the letter made sure that he was willing to forget the fantasies about his girlfriend Martha and become focused in war. He had managed to acquire the courage by simply an incident that could have potentially proven to be fatal. Therefore this helped in developing confidence and the ability to be focused while also motivating him to be alert in war. Therefore this gives us insight that the author provides details about the consequences of war faced by the soldiers not only physically but also mentally such as fear, love and grief. The ability or mental strength required to overcome the atrocities of war is immense and this is intensified by gravity of the precarious situation. “They carried their reputation.” Thereby leading to this conclusion that war has many social and personal consequences that are reluctantly compelled onto a soldier but it undeniably lead to the development of confidence and
motivation.

Kennedy X J, Dana Gioia. An Introduction to Fiction. (11TH Edition). Boston: Longman, 2010.