Summary Of The Things They Carried By Tim O Brien

In “The Things They Carried,” O’Brien demonstrates the life of a solider during the Vietnam War. O’Brien describes what the soldiers went through physically and mentally before, during, and after the war. He also describes how the soldiers had to adapt to war at a young age and sometimes the things they did were deranged but nothing was normal about war. Also after going to war and coming home, these soldiers struggle with how to deal with what they went through. This is also demonstrated through the book and one can see this through the author. The theme of “The Things They Carried” is a physical or mental challenge or emotion that they bear through life. It is demonstrated by symbolism, through flashback, and through the author's point of

He even goes to tell the weight of some like a “.45-caliber pistol that weighed 2.9 pounds fully loaded” (O’Brien 10). By showing this he demonstrates the physical weight that they had to bare. Also, the setting of the Vietnam War was high mountains and deep valleys where it was either very hot and rainy or warm and dry (Land, Geography, Weather, and Climate Of Vietnam). This already made the war very difficult for the American soldiers, along with all they physically had to carry. Likewise, adding on to their physical pain would be almost unbearable so when they have to deal with mental things like the deaths of their friends, war deteriorates at their physical and mental states. Mentally they are already at an disadvantage because some like the author, do not want to go to war, but they do it anyways because they do not want to feel the guilt of the town or people judging them. In along with that, dealing with having to grow up mentally, leaving home at a young age, or knowing they were going to go kill people could already take a toll on their mental health. Once they get to Vietnam they add on to all these mental things, the sight of their first death. Mentally dealing with death is very challenging, but seeing it everywhere and not being able to do anything about it really could take a tole on someone's mental health. This symbolism of the physical items and mental things they carried follows through with the title of the book “The Things They