Stockings In Tim O Brien's The Things They Carried

Throughout the novel The Things They Carried there is many different symbols presented. A symbol is an object that is used to represent something else. One main symbol within this book is in the chapter “stockings”. Within this chapter they talk about how Henry Dobbins would always do something weird before they went anywhere. Dobbins would take his girlfriend's pantyhose and wrap it around his neck. He would do this for a few different reasons. His first reason is that, “The pantyhose, he said, had the properties of a good-luck charm,”(115 Stockings). He also stated that, “he believed firmly and absolutely in the protective power of the stockings,” (116 Stockings). Both of these together show how the stockings are more than just stockings

You can see that they stand for safety because Henry Dobbins completely trusted them with his life even though they do not do anything to protect him. To everyone else it is just a piece of fabric, but to him and the other people who are with him it is much more than that. They represent something that they won’t forget, home. The stocking most importantly show that the soldiers need that sense of security and something to take their mind away from the war. The war takes place in a foreign country where they have no sense of security, safety and most importantly it does not feel like a home to them. This is where the stockings come into play. The stockings, although they are not their home, that is what they represent. This belief and reminder of their home is what they are used for, and why they have such an important role within this novel. There are other symbols that also have a large role in this novel. One of which being O’ Briens daughter Kathleen. She is a large part that the story “ Ambush” was written the way it was. She is a symbol for the people that read the war story. She is told them over and over again, but she still does not understand why he, O’Brian, acts the way he does. She also keeps O’Brian grounded after the war which helps his stories remain relatable to people who did not go through the same