Tim O Brien's The Things They Carried

“The Things They Carried” by Tim O’Brien is a short story base on the lives of a group of soldiers during the later years of the war in Vietnam. In this story, O’Brien examines the burdens of the soldiers and the effects that these burdens can have on man in life-threatening situations. The author describes these burdens referring to the weight that the soldiers carry. These soldiers have to go trough great physical strain but also mental and emotional difficulties that weigh them down immeasurably.
The most obvious need of the men in the story is the supplies that they carry that will keep them physically alive. O'Brien makes this clear by listing every detail and accounting for every ounce of food, clothing and weaponry. He also establishes
Cross bears the emotional burden of his love for Martha, a love that he believes interferes with his duties and induces feelings of guilt and responsibility for the death of one of his men. In the end, Cross must leave the burden of his love behind, as he realizes that it is not sustaining him, but destroying him. The unrequited love is simply too much for him to bear, so he burns Martha's letters and resigns to get rid of the pebble (23-4). This scene is faintly reminiscent of Christ at Gesthemane, for Cross is alone and suffering great anxiety of spirit as his friends sleep. The reader clearly sees the cross of emotional desolation and guilt that rests across his shoulders. With this scene of Cross's recognition of the crushing burden of his love for Martha, O'Brien reveals the symbolism of Cross's name. Fittingly, Cross is the one to realize the magnitude of the burdens that the men carry. "It was very sad, he thought. The things men carried inside. The things men did or felt they had to do." (24) His name obviously symbolizes his own personal burdens that have been masked as "necessary," as well as those of the men who trudged alongside of