Point of View Analysis of “The Things They Carried” Some people can tell stories better than others. In the same way, the point of view is extremely important to the effect of the story. This is very evident in the story, “The Things They Carried” by Tim O’Brian through which uses a total omniscient point of view. In the story, all the characters are soldiers in the Vietnam War. The narrator starts by telling all the physical weights of the things the men had to carry, and then gets into their inner thoughts and reveals the emotional weight of the things the men had to carry. The main character, Lieutenant Cross struggles between his love and his responsibilities. Ted Lavender dies in the story and the soldiers are all shocked; it causes Lt. Cross to give up his love and become a man. In the story, Tim O’Brian uses a total omniscience point of view, which reveals Lieutenant Jimmy Cross as distracted, sentimental, and caring. This causes the reader to feel admiration for him leading the country, but also empathy because he is struggling physically and emotionally. Tim O’Brian conveys the theme that war weighs heavily on a soldier. Through the total omniscient point of view, Lieutenant Jimmy Cross is revealed as distracted, sentimental, and caring. It says in the story, …show more content…
Through the point of view, the feelings of admiration and empathy are brought out for Lieutenant Cross, and it conveys the theme that war weighs heavily on a soldier. The story has a “moral”, which teaches the reader about the struggles during war. The total omniscient point of view is best for this story because it gets the author’s point across and shows multiple views of war. Through the point of view, it gives a realistic view of battle, and it creates a deep admiration and respect for veterans by showing the struggles of all the