The book, “The Things They Carried,” by Tim O’Brien represents war’s emotional and physical burdens. The author captures his story and his colleagues, other soldiers who endure moral, emotional, and physical difficulties. The physical commitment includes military gear and other objects from those they left behind. They had guns and ammunition, medical kits, and radio. The emotional burdens they carried were terror that lurked around at night, the grief of losing fellow soldiers, and the strong desire to be with their loved ones.
Symbolism and characterization help the author communicate and paint a picture of the situation around Lt. Jimmy Cross. He carried photographs of his love and obsession, Martha, to symbolize his wanting to be with her (O’Brien 1). Henry Dobbins carried his lover’s pantyhose as the only thing that reminded him of his loved one. It symbolizes the desire to escape the terror and emotional torture and come back to those closest to him (Schwenkel 103). O’Brien describes the items on the soldier’s backs to symbolize the psychological torture at war. There were appropriate weapons for every situation in the war. For example, during an ambush, the soldiers grab peculiar odds and ends, such as slingshots and moccasins, symbolizing unpreparedness.
The most dominant theme in ‘The Things They Carried, is emotional. The author discusses different emotions portrayed in the story. There was pain, shame, anger, loss, contempt, and failure. Lt. Cross blames himself for the death of Ted Lavender because he was thinking about Martha when he was shot (O’Brien 9). He hated himself because he loved Martha more than he loved his men. He vows to tell his fellow soldiers the truth due to guilt. The soldiers are overwhelmed by the death of their colleagues. There is relief when Lee Skunk crawls out of the tunnels after being presumed dead. The men shouted with joy and celebrated.
The theme of love in ‘The Things They Carried’ is brought by Lt. Cross’s love for Martha. He would daydream and fantasize about her all day and carry her photos everywhere he went. Staring at them would bring flashbacks, for example, how he touched her knees when they watched Bonny and Clyde at the theatres (O’Brien 3). He keeps wondering whether she loves him as he loves her. However, when he realizes that his obsession with Martha is doing him more harm than good, he decides to get rid of the memories by burning her letters. Therefore, love is the most dominant theme in the book.
As part of his physical load, Lt. Jimmy Cross carries a compass and a map to guide his men in the right direction. To avoid disheartening his team, he must demonstrate strength as the group’s leader (Schwenkel 104). Even if the terror attacks occur at night, he must repel them in order to keep his troops from becoming psychologically weakened. Jimmy travels with a letter from Martha, his infatuation and love, despite his uncertainty about her feelings for him. As he reads Martha’s letter, his thought process reveals a man pining for love.
The story’s setting is an excellent representation of the theme of emotional and psychological burdens during wartime. The author depicts hardship, failure, fear, and shame in Vietnam in various settings throughout his short story. Than Khe village is one such location (O’Brien 9). Jimmy arranged for his men to launch a vicious offensive against a helpless village, after which only the ruins of the village remained. The destruction the soldiers are subjected to is linked to the horrific destruction of property and lives (Hvashøj 7). The image of Jimmy holding his “entrenching tool, weighing five pounds” and the emotional distress that follows Lavender’s death demonstrate O’Brien’s skill at fusing setting and characters to bring out compelling themes.
The author employs characters to depict the underlying circumstances and emotions of others’ lives. Despite her absence from the war, Martha plays an essential role in the short story. She sends mixed signals to Jimmy about her feelings for him. As the object of his obsession, she occasionally causes him to deviate from his leadership duties. Jimmy is leading his crew to dig a tunnel when he becomes preoccupied with memories of her. The author’s focus is that the tunnel collapsed with Lavender therein due to his lack of concentration (O’Brien 7). Koiwa also exemplifies the theme of emotional burden in the story. He is religious and a compassionate friend to all his fellow men. He encourages people to vent their emotional distress to achieve healing. With his help, the readers can understand the emotional burdens of the characters.
O’Brien employs his storytelling ability to depict soldiers’ difficulties in combat. He portrays the war as far more difficult on the soldiers than most people realize. Soldiers must carry emotional burdens alongside their weapons and equipment, which may stem from the lives they left behind or the fear and anguish of combat. This short story reminds all the soldiers who put their lives on the line so that others can live in peace.
Work Cited
Hvashøj, Mathilde Sortland. Staging Trauma: Trauma and Masculinity in the War Fiction of Ernest Hemingway and Tim O’Brien. MS thesis. The University of Bergen, 2022.
O’Brien, Tim. The Things They Carried: A Work of Fiction, Boston, MA: Wadsworth /Cengage Learning, 1990. Print.
Schwenkel, Christina. “The Things They Carried (and Kept): Revisiting Ostalgie in the Global South.” Comparative Studies in Society and History 64.2 (2022): 478-509.