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. …show more content…
Along with carrying the responsibility of keeping all his soldiers alive, he carries the load of always wondering if the girl he left back home loves him. While reminiscing about the love of his life, Martha, leadership slips his mind and one of his soldiers, Ted Lavender, is killed. He is then stuck with another strain on his back. In the chapter “Love,” Jimmy confides in O’Brien that he has never forgiven himself for Ted’s death. Some physical burdens the soldiers carry are drugs, pantyhose and Bibles but most of these fail to keep them safe. Faced with the heavy strain of fear, the men also carry the weight of their reputations. Although every member of the Alpha Company experiences fear at some point, showing fear will only reveal vulnerability to both the enemy and sometimes cruel fellow soldiers. While they all carry heavy physical loads, they also all carry heavy emotional loads, composed of grief, terror, love, and