Tim O Brien's The Things They Carried: Literary Analysis

Kendall
Professor Vazquez
ENC 1102 T-TH 12:30 – 1:45
11 February 2013

“Coping through what they carried ” Tim O’Brien’s “The Things They Carried” was set in the time of the Vietnam War, and portrayed that each of the soldiers had something they carried. These things that each of the men carried represented them and how they coped when they were in the war. They needed these things as a necessity. Sometimes the things would get in the way of their thoughts and cause them to be distracted from their duties. The first paragraph of this short story begins by giving us and explanation of a first lieutenant solider carrying letter. As the narrator states “ They were not love letters, but lieutenant Cross was hoping”. (1159) He was hoping they were because they would give him strength to keep fighting to make it home alive after the war. The Lieutenant would look forward to read them every night, and picture them together. The other soldiers carried things they needed, but also things that would give them strength to cope with the situation they were in. Ted Lavender was another main character in this short story. He “carried six to seven
ounces of premium dope”. (1160) He needed this as an essential to keep him going, to have strength to survive the harsh conditions. These things they carried was more than a necessity, it was a way for them to escape what was going on around them. Most men carried photographs.
“ Lieutenant Cross carried two of Martha”. (1160) He would look at them at night and think of the time they went to the movies and should have done more. When Ted Lavender was killed in mid-April Lieutenant Cross “ Blamed himself ”. (1161) He was distracted by thinking about Martha. Before Lavender was killed, Lieutenant Cross received a good luck charm from Martha. “ It was simple, orange and violet, oval shaped”. (1162) He would keep this with him and it would help him get through the war alive. The soldiers also carried things by superstition. “ Dave Jensen carried a rabbits foot, Norman Bowker carried a thumb of a VC corpse”. (1165) He carried it, as a reminder that the war was intense and there was nobody had any morals. They killed because that is what they were told to
do. The Narrator also claims that they “carried themselves with poise, a kind of dignity”. (1168) They were there to fight a war. Although there were times of panic, most times there was none. They needed to get through this to get home. They also carried emotional things. These things made it easier for them to have strength to keep going. They all had hard to deal with memories. Even though at the end of the story “Lieutenant Cross Dug a hole and burned the letters and pictures of Martha”. (1170-1171) He needed them through out the journey of the war to give him strength and keep him sane. Lieutenant Jimmy Cross and the rest of his group had to learn to live through the war they were in. The things they carried were necessities, but they needed these thins for strength to cope and survive. They were able to get through this hard time by getting strength from the things they carried. Although some of the things they carried were physical, they also carried emotional baggage. Through all of this, they learned to cope with the situation they were in all different ways.

Works Cited
Abcarian, Richard, Richard Abcarian, Marvin Klotz, and Samuel Cohen. "The Things They Carried." Literature: The Human Experience. 11th ed. Boston: Bedford, 2013. 1159-172. Print.