...Every day we go through, a million and one things occur. We either completely forget about it in the next instant or we carry it with us for the rest of our eternity. It’s possible to carry the memory of the generous tip the nice women gave you or the exact moment the wrong words came out of your mouth. We can carry these things called burdens, either physically or emotionally. “The Things They Carried’ by Tim O’Brien is a novel whose theme is not only related to soldiers but to everyday people as well. The theme of this novel lies in the struggles that soldiers bear, both physically and emotionally. The title —The Things They Carried— and most of the stories in the book are about the burdens that war forces upon the soldiers. The problems almost always seem too much for them to carry. The “things” in the title that O’Brien’s characters carry are both literal and figurative....
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...The Soldiers Burdens Throughout the book The Things They Carried we met many different characters with many different thoughts and issues. We learned that no matter the background of the soldier, they all had things that they had to deal with constantly besides the fear of death and war. I will be sharing stories of three different soldiers who had to deal with these issues heavily. They are Tim O’Brien, Norman Bowker, and Rat Kiley. These three soldiers have done extraordinary things for the war but picked up a few not so good memories as well. Coming back from war was an easy thing to do for some of them but others couldn't handle normal life anymore. Tim O’Brien was the author of the book and faced fear and adversity several times. He once...
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...who gave into post-traumatic stress. PTSD must have been common in the group of soldiers in Tim O’Brien’s “The Things They Carried” due to the amount of burdens each soldier carried. Throughout the story, O’Brien demonstrates theme of psychological, physical and mental burdens carried by every soldier. He emphasizes these burdens by discussing the weight that the soldiers carry; their psychological and mental stress they have to undertake as each of them experience the brutality of the Vietnam War. The physical burden that each soldier carried was a necessity for them due to their emotional burdens that they carried. O'Brien depicted of all the things the men carried in order to create illustrations for the reader. One important use of description the author uses is weight. He uses weight to describe the burden of items that are carried by the soldiers in this story. “The weapon weighed 7.5 pounds unloaded, 8.2 pounds with its full 20-round magazine.” He continues later saying “Among the grunts, some carried the M-79 grenade launcher, 5.9 pounds unloaded, a reasonably light weapon except for the ammunition, which was heavy. A single round weighted 10 ounces. The typical load was twenty-five pounds.” This gives the reader a sense of the struggle that the men endure in carrying these things. When fighting during the war, the physical baggage added up, creating a burden on each soldier’s back. Carrying at least fifty pounds of equipment on their backs, the soldiers were obviously...
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..."The Things They Carried," Tim O'Brien describes a group of soldiers marching through Vietnam. He does this by describing the items that each of them carries with him during the march. The things that the soldiers carry with them are both tangible and intangible items and what these things are depends upon the individual soldier. They carry the basic "necessities" for survival (if one can consider such things as M&M's a necessity) and the bare minimum to make life as livable as possible. But they also carry memories, and fears, and it is intangible items like these that are the prime focus of the story. The weight of these abstract items is as real as that of any physical ones, and unlike those physical objects, they are not so easily cast away. Throughout the story, O'Brien alternates between narrative passages and simple descriptions of the items that the soldiers are carrying. This fragmentation brings focus to the things the men are carrying, both tangible and intangible, without downplaying the narration. In the descriptive segments of the story, O'Brien is very exact in his descriptions and seems to be merely cataloging what is being carried: "As a first lieutenant and platoon leader, Jimmy Cross carried a compass, maps, code books, binoculars, and a .45(c)caliber pistol that weighed 2.9 pounds full loaded." O'Brien gives only straight forward descriptions in these segments and the writing is void of any feeling or sentiment. When describing the intangible things, however...
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...Everyone carries luggage literally or figuratively, people carry a variety of things with them, wallets with pictures of family, credit cards, small trinkets etc. The things they carried by Tim O’Brien can be looked at in two different ways, are what they’re carrying merely items or do they have a deeper meaning for each individual. The items carried by the men in this story serve several purposes for each individual, whether its superstition, sentimental or essential to their military jobs. By using cataloging and paying close attention to the details, in The things they carried there are several characters in which we can look deeper into the items they carry, and how they affect each character and how that plays into who they are outside of their military life. Before we look into each individual character, first it is important to look at how each character is the same in what they carry. The story has an extensive list of items that each person carries as basic military items. General items they carried include P-38 can openers, pocket knives, heat tabs, wrist watches, dog tags, mosquito repellent, chewing gum, candy, cigarettes, salt tablets, packets of Kool-Aid, lighters, matches, sewing kits,military payment certificates, C rations and Two or three canteens of water. These lightweight items are the basic essentials that a military man needs and thusly they do not burden the soldier too much. However throughout the story the mentioning of weight is repeated several...
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...What We Learn from “The Things They Carried” “War is a bitch” (O’Brien 30), said Azar, an American soldier who joined Vietnam War. War doesn’t bring anything good to anybody. It just creates sorrow and pains to people. In “The Things They Carried”, the author Tim O’Brien shows us a realistic picture of what the war in Vietnam was like. He demonstrates how brutal the war is and the horrible reality of death in war, and how soldiers deal with the pain. This novel should be on the reading selections of The Interpretation of Literature because as it is a novel composed of war stories, it brings some enlightening endeavor and educational experiences to make us understand more about the war. To make us have an objective perspective of what happened in Vietnam War in 1968, O’Brien let us know a little about each soldier and what they carried with them along with the war in the first chapter. The “things” that the soldiers carried were both literal and figurative. The soldiers carry out of necessity for survival, such as guns, helmets, and other forms of weaponry, as well as things they carry more out of habit. First Lieutenant Jimmy Cross carried letters from Martha, a girl that he loved. “Henry Dobbins, who was a big man, carried extra rations, Dave Jensen, who practiced field hygiene, carried a toothbrush, dental floss, and several hotel-sized bars of soap. Ted Lavender, who was scared, carried tranquilizers”(2). O’Brien also describes specifically the weight of the item that...
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...Mark Koon Professor Paquette English 102 / F / 8:00 AM Friday, October 15, 2015 The Things They Carried In the short story, “The Things They Carried” by Tim O’Brien a Lieutenant by the name of Jimmy Cross and his squad carry a list of many things, some of these things heavy physical loads and some heavy emotional loads composed of grief, terror, love, and guilt. The things each soldier carries depends on the soldier himself including his priorities and his constitutions and also his rank or his specialty for example Lieutenant Jimmy Cross carries maps, compasses, and the heavy burden of the responsibility of his men’s lives. A nervous soldier named Ted Lavender carries marijuana and tranquilizers to calm himself down and the religious soldier Kiowa carries an illustrated New Testament and every single one of these men carry the figurative weight of memory, fear, and hope and the literal weight of one another. In this short story the author uses the title symbolically for both the seen and unseen things that men at war carry and to represent the traumas and hardships they have suffered that they will carry for the rest of their lives. These soldiers know they can die at any moment and so when the inevitable happens and a soldier is actually killed in action extra tension stems from the fact that Lt. Cross knows he is responsible. When Ted Lavender is killed in action one of the soldier’s, Kiowa, cannot stop marveling at how fast and hard Lavender hit the ground. “Boom-Down”...
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...English 1302-017 March 13, 2016 The Things They Carried The story of “The Things They Carried” by Tim O’Brien is about a soldier and a platoon leader named Lieutenant Jimmy Cross who was assigned to lead a group of soldiers on a combat mission in Vietnam. Lieutenant Jimmy Cross constantly daydreams about Martha, the woman he’s in love with. He blamed himself and felt guilty for one of the soldier’s (Ted Lavender) death due to his lack of attention and vigilance. The story talks about the experiences and the conditions that these soldiers endured in Vietnam. The setting, language and tone of the story suggest that the impact of war not only causes physical strain, but it also causes an emotional, psychological,...
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...Cross carried letters from a girl named Martha. Henry Dobbins carried peaches. Dave Jensen carried a toothbrush, dental floss, and bars of soap. Ted Lavender carried six or seven ounces of premium dope. Mitchell Sanders carried condoms. Some emotional burdens would be hopelessness, love, fear, guilt, and trust. I thought of hopelessness after I read when they were waiting to get picked up by the chopper and it made me think they all carry a slight emotional burden of hopelessness. Feelings were you don’t know when you will be out of war, when you will be home, and if you will get picked up from the chopper. The burden of love because Jimmy Cross is battling with his emotions and imagination of him and Martha together. The burden of fear because all these men carry things that help them not to be scared anymore, or cover up their fear with these items. The burden of trust because in the book, Kiowa reads the Old Testament. I thought he reads this because he doesn’t have any trust in himself or his men. The burden of guilt comes to mind immediately after Strunk emerges from the tunnel; Ted Lavender is shot and killed by a sniper. Cross may have thought it was his fault for letting one of his men die, while daydreaming about Martha. 2. During the time they were at war I think the physical things are more of a burden. Physically it makes them carry an awful lot of unnecessary weight. Also it may make them think about home, which could be a good thing. Physical burdens don’t...
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...The Vietnam War: Weight of Emotions “The Things They Carried” is a short story that describes a group of soldiers and the tangible and intangible items with which they chose to burden their bag packs and hearts. The author creatively manipulates two different ideas, such as ambiguous morality and loneliness to exaggerate the theme which is of physical and emotional burdens. The soldiers carried vital items for survival during this difficult time of their lives. The men tried to take comfort in the personal items and memories they brought with them while they were away from home. With a list of each item a solider took to war, the author carefully pieces together a puzzle about who these characters are. O’Brien’s use of imagery helps to visualize the battle field and understand the soldiers. As the story starts to unfold, the reader is greeted by a love struck narrator by the name of Lieutenant Cross. O’Brien describes the relationship between the narrator and Martha, a girl from back home who he is in love with, but she in return does not share the same feelings. Cross carries letters she wrote and fantasizes daily of their illusive love. His love for Martha becomes more of an obsession. “He loved her so much he could not stop thinking about her” (O’Brien 598). His constant question of her love for him causes Cross to fall short of his responsibilities as the leader of the platoon. “Slowly, a bit distracted, he would get up and move among his men, checking the perimeter--he...
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...The Things They Carried by Tim O’Brien ENG 1300 W5A2 Andrea Carr South University Online The Things They Carried by Tim O’Brien “The Things They Carried” is one of several short stories written by Tim O’Brien that brilliantly portrays a squad of young American soldiers in the Vietnam War. Each of the short stories builds on the last but in The Things They Carried the author places focus on how immature boys cope and their transformation into young men and responsible leaders. O’Brien is not a character in the story but the fact that he is fluent with military lingo and conveys great passion and a working knowledge of the military suggests that he was a soldier. He tells his war story of soldiers’ experiences with obsession, duty, regret, burden, comradely and maturing. He achieves this by describing every facet of the items they carried with great accuracy and detail. The things they carried as they are depicted in the story represent literal things, emotional things, psychological things and symbolic things all weighing in at different levels of importance. There were physical as well as emotional things they carried on their missions, both were equally burdensome. O’Brien states that during missions many of these items were discarded no regardless of their importance to achieve a higher level of comfort. The author further states that the choppers would effortlessly replace the discarded items. In research conducted by Michael Tavel Clarke he implies...
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...The Things They Carried Microessay Prompt #1 Throughout the novel The Things They Carried, the author, Tim O’Brien, juxtaposes the items that the men both physically and emotionally “carry” by comparing the connotations they hold to reflect how society demands a sacrifice of your own self interest and pride. O’Brien elucidates that society in the end prevails, as the men in the novel are constantly suppressed with the emotional burden of keeping up with the war. O’Brien explains that the constant emotional baggage of trying to survive in the war was always present and “carried” despite the fact that many of the men also carried personal items in order to maintain their connections with the outside world, speaking to how pervasive society’s...
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...TEST 09.03 The American presidential election: * What phase /stage are we still in now, - and what is the situation in the two main parties after “Super Tuesday”?¨ Right now we are in the pre-election stage, where the candidates from the different parties will fight for representatives and to be a candidate for their party. After Super Tuesday: Democrats: On the democrat side, we can see that Hillary is in the lead, much more so than Bernie sanders. Hillary has gained quite the popularity and is already acting as if she will be the next president. Bernie Sanders managed to get some wins but not enough to beat Hillary. It is not looking too good for Bernie Sanders. Republicans: On the republican side, we have three representatives. Donald Trump, Marko Rubio and Ted Cruz. Donald Trump is in the big lead right now, and it seems more likely that he will be the candidate for the Republican Party. Second in lead after Trump is Ted Cruz. Marko Rubio is also gaining some traction now after Super Tuesday, but has a long to go if he wants to beat Trump. What seems likely now after Super Tuesday is that from the Democratic Party we will see Hillary Clinton, and from the Republican Party we will see Donald Trump. * Donald Trump has done much better than generally expected: Discuss possible reasons for Trump`s success: I think that the number one reason for Trump’s success is that he is a businessperson more than he is a politician, which means a lot to some people in...
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...It’s Not Just Physical: The Things They Carried Through Vietnam Soldiers of the Vietnam War marched miles and miles through the humid broiling forests of Vietnam. So the question every soldier asks themselves is, to hump or not to hump, though maybe not in those exact words. As Tim O’Brien so eloquently puts it in his novel, The Things They Carried, “To carry something was to hump it” (O’Brien 3). Already carrying twelve to eighteen pounds of necessities, an item must be of great significance for a soldier to lug the extra weight. Ted Lavender carried six to seven ounces of “premium dope” and an extra twenty pounds of ammunition, Kiowa carried an illustrated New Testament, and Henry Dobbins carried his girlfriend’s pantyhose wrapped around...
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...The Things They Carried, by Tim O’Brien, is a short story written and based on his own experiences and trials that he faced in the Vietnam war. Many people remain skeptical about the authenticity of the story, as the short passage does contain horrid details that make people question if this drama should be considered a documentary rather than a novel. While writing this short story, Tim O’Brien did in fact mean to portray his work as a fictional story while at the same time continue to use detailed description and realism to capture the audience's attention and try to draw them into the actual events in the story. Tim O'Brien's overall goal was not to create a novel or a documentary but instead help portray the hardships of the Vietnam war to the reader by creating a gateway that would allow each person to experience and feel the burden of the emotional and physical weight on the soldiers who were desperately fighting for their families, countries, and lives. Some of the major themes that are shown in the novel include the terms hardship and baggage. Throughout the story, O’Brien uses the term “baggage” as a symbol to help portray the hardships that these soldiers had to endure day after day throughout the war. As the story goes on it shows not only the literal meaning of what they carried but also symbolically the burdens that...
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