Summary Of The Things They Carried By Tim O Brien

The story “The things they carried” is a touching story that depicts the emotional and physical baggage they carried. Each Man carried something according to their size and rank, but all carried the feeling of fear of what is to come as well as love. In the story “The things they carried” by Tim O’Brien, it illustrates the experiences of soldiers at war in Vietnam. Tim first describes the feelings and movements of Lt Jimmy Cross and his thoughts about a lady named Martha, whether she is a virgin or not. He thinks about how he loves her so much and how he wants her to love him back but in the letters he receives from her it shows that she doesn’t feel the same way. Throughout the story Cross does not just continue to reminiscence memories

“Henry Dobbins carried extra rations. Dave Jensen Carried a toothbrush. Ted Lavender carried tranquilizers. Norman carried a diary. Rat Kiley carried comic books. Mitchell Sanders carried condoms. Kiowa carried a New Testament bible.” The protagonist gave great details to tell us what each man carried but they also carried love, fear, and grief. The things they carried became clear that was physical, psychological and emotional weights brought by the war. After the deathLavender, Cross sees the reality of the circumstance he is in. His fantasy of a future with Martha has helped create a nice escape but knows that the escape didn’t help save his friend. He burns his letters with Martha because he blames them for the death of

Norman wanted to help others and make a name for him, hence the diary and he did want to bring medals home to his father. Norman killed himself because of the immense blame and self-hatred but Jimmy did not go that far. Jimmy did not fulfill his obligation and duties to his country. Jimmy was able to express his feelings of anger and shame after the war unlike mute Norman. In some way I think that their duties should have been switch, because if Norman was a team leader he would have truly help his men. If Jimmy was an ordinary soldier it would be understandable to use Martha as an escape because he did not want to be at war, he wanted to be with her but not everyone can get what they