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The Things They Carried 'By Tim O' Brien: Chapter Analysis

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In chapter 1, “The Things They Carried”, O’Brien introduces his readers to the men he served with in Vietnam. O’Brien uses the list of physical objects that the members of the members of his unit in Vietnam to portray the things that are important to a soldier and their emotional burden. Based on chapter 1, O’Brien demonstrates the emotional burden soldiers must carry. For instance, Cross was “… grieving for Ted Lavender, but mostly for himself, and for himself…” (O’Brien 16). Ted Lavender was a soldier who smoked and used tranquilizers because of his fear of dying. Lieutenant Cross was crying not because of the death of Ted Lavender, but for himself. Cross noticed that when a soldier is distracted by intangible things such as emotions it would

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