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A Sense Of Thing Analysis

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The Importance of Things
Detailed lists of everyday objects carried by soldiers in Vietnam may seem uninteresting or unconnected at times, but by citing these very items, candy, cigarettes, and letters from home, the author gives the reader a preview of the soldier who carries them. These items are a representation of what they hold dear in the world. By specifying the exact weight of the items they carry the author gives you insight into the struggle each soldier must endure. In "The Things They Carried," author Tim O’Brien uses lists of ordinary objects carried in the soldiers’ gear to give the reader a glimpse into the personality of each soldier and what they find important.
“First Lieutenant Jimmy Cross carried letters from a girl named …show more content…

Much as for Brown the “thingness of the object” is the psychoanalytic “Thing in excess of the object” (42), in The Things They Carried, the “things” humped by the soldiers represent what is real and approach, asymptotically, the traumatic reality of war” (Silbergleid 135).

The soldiers carried a lot more than just physical weight and the mental and emotional burden weighs them down. Our narrator, Jimmy Cross, believes that he carried the idea of Martha so heavily that he caused Ted Lavender’s death. Ted Lavender carried so much anxiety he has to carry tranquilizers and marijuana to soothe him.
In a more abstract sense they carried burden and guilt. “He carried a strobe light and responsibility for the lives of his men” (233). “They all carried ghosts” (235). “They carried their own lives” (236). They carried the common secret of cowardice barely restrained, the instinct to run or freeze or hide, and in many respects this was the heaviest burden of all, for it could never be put down, it required perfect balance and perfect posture.

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Shame and self-hatred surface when Lieutenant Cross realizes “…Ted Lavender [is] dead because he [loves] her [Martha] so much and [cannot] stop thinking about her” (326). Furthermore, the pebble that once symbolized his affection for Martha is replaced with a figurative “stone in his stomach” (332), representative of his guilt. In order to begin to remove his distracting infatuation with Martha, Cross takes the following action: “On the morning after Ted Lavender [dies], First Lieutenant Jimmy Cross [crouches] at the bottom of his foxhole and [burns] Martha’s letters. Then he [burns] the two photographs” (336). Cross’ burning of Martha’s letters and photographs is a physical representation of the transformation in his personality and priorities.

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In “The Things They Carried,” protagonist, Lieutenant Jimmy Cross, is faced with the death like every solider was during the Vietnam war. In reaction to the death of a platoon mate, Ted Lavender, Lieutenant Cross is grief stricken. He continually blames himself: “He felt shame. He hated himself” (p. 412). He blames himself for the death of a friend.

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The soldiers during the war carried many things, most of them from back home. The first chapter of The Things They Carried starts out the book by showing how the things the soldiers carried. It also went into depth about the feelings and emotions they carried. After all, they were human, they carried feelings such as fear, grief, love, dignity, and terror. The things they carried reflected their personality, and what mattered in their lives back home.

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Lieutenant Jimmy Cross is overcome by guilt when Ted Lavender, one of his men died, Lieutenant Cross then finds solace in the

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People get so caught up in what others think and expect of them that they let it completely control the decisions they make. The soldiers in “The Things They Carried” have a fear of looking weak and cowardice. They let this fear and their pride control them even if it is not what they want. Tim O’Brien, Norman Bowker, and Curt Lemon are examples of soldiers who let fear control them. The soldiers fear that the people close to them and around them will discover their weaknesses.

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Through centuries of great wars and battles, history has displayed brave men and women who have fought for their countries. These audacious people have helped propel countries for the greater good. However, the weight and responsibility, of the war, takes a heavy toll on soldiers that is often overlooked. Tim O’Brien, author of the novel The Things They Carried, records his stories, and the stories of his fellow soldiers during the war. However, three of these soldiers are affected in an outlandish way.

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The Things They Carried, is a lot about what all of the men carried and what it all meant to each one of them. The author describing the material things wants to give a sense of the physical burden, but the guilt of men lost and the weight of responsibility was what truly weighed them down mentally and physically through the war. The author allows the reader to realize how each of the characters dealt with their time within the war and how they coped giving them a sense of hope to survive, and how they traveled through Vietnam carrying the weight of physical burdens and the weight of responsibility, loss and guilt and the memories they will carry for the rest of their lives.

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The author was writing the story “The Things They Carried” expressed so many thoughts and feelings about what the soldiers had faced, they showed their feelings and duties, life or death, and overall fear and dedication. This story shows the theme of the physical and emotional burdens that everyone is going through in the war. By showing his readers what the soldier’s daily thoughts are and how they handle what is going on around them. Tim O’Brien expresses this theme by using characterization, symbolism, and tone continuously. In the story, physical and emotional burdens plagued several characters as they all had baggage weighing them down.

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Jimmy Cross is the first lieutenant who carries pictures and letters from Martha, the woman he loves who—sadly—does not love him back. The pictures and letters from Martha symbolize Jimmy’s longing to be loved and comforted. It is ironic that although he is the first lieutenant who is expected to take charge and lead others, yet he never took charge of his own love life. This is a regret and burden Cross carries to the end of the story. “It was very sad, he thought.

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He “[carries] letters from a girl named Martha” (1) until he later in the event that he burns them. He also “[carries] his good-luck pebble” also from Martha. Though these items Cross physically carries brought a sense of hope to him, they also brought him anger and guilt. Due to his obsession with Martha and her photographs, Cross lost sight of what was more important at the moment. “He had difficulty keeping his attention on the war.”

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Throughout our lives, we individually carry items that are of importance to us and have significant meaning. We all carry a sort of substance that incorporates an interpretation, whether the items may be mental or physical. In the short story “The Things They Carried,” by Tim O’Brien, we are informed of Lieutenant Jimmy Cross and the physical items and mental overviews that individual soldiers carried throughout their expedition. There is frequently more to someone than meets the eye, for we never truly know what sort of tranquility or obstacles one has been through—until we have heard their story.

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They are emotions and the burdens every one experience when its that time to go to war. Many of us carried belongings that are worth our entire life. Whether it may be a simple pen or even a simple drawing. In the story “The Things They Carried” by Tim O’Brien is an example on how the solders carried there belonging to remind them of home. There are millions out there that have to cope with today’s life.

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Tim O'Brien's “The Things They Carry,” tells a story about the lives of young men during war. The narrator tells his story from first person, marking all of his adventures and experiences of his companions. O’Brien crafts his piece through the use of repetition, symbolism, and metaphors to convey the idea of physical and psychological hardships of soldiers during war. Though the literary device of repetition, O'Brien portrays the physical and psychological hardships of a soldier.

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Mahatma Gandhi once said, “Morality is contraband in war”. When you’re at war you must leave all your values and morals behind, because in the end there is no moral to a war story. There is no right or wrong, no core point. The Things They Carried by Tim O’Brien attempts to show the inexplicable horror of war and that certain realities just cannot be explained. Tim O’Brien is the protagonist in the story, being a writer and a Vietnam War Veteran, he writes his novel through a series of semi-autobiographical stories about the cause and effects of war.

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