The fiction novel, The Things They Carried, by Tim O’Brien reflects the surreal nature of war by using literary devices to express the deep felt emotions of the soldiers. The soldiers in the Alpha Company endure both physical and emotional hardships while fighting in the Vietnam War. These hardships affect the soldier's mental states and these stories give insight on how they deal with that. The surreal nature of the war reveals a false sense of reality by only allowing the soldiers to view a situation from one’s own perspective, as illustrated by First Lieutenant Jimmy Cross’s obsession with Martha, Norman Bowker’s guilt, and Tim O’Brien’s stories. First Lieutenant Jimmy Cross’s obsession with Martha serves as his biggest distraction in