Vietnam In The Things They Carried By Tim O Brien

War has been a reality of the world for as long as men have inhabited it. Spectacular feats of triumph and failure preserved in a multitude of writings which have ensnared the fascinations of many the world over for decades. Tim O’Brien contributed to this phenomenon by highlighting the unique and defining aspects of the soldiers captured in his short story, “The Things They Carried.” Through his extensive use of signifigant detail, O’Brien brings to life a riveting account of a platoon’s journey through the horrors of Vietnam by immortalizing everyday items in a way that makes them essential to the being of his characters as they develop in the progression of the narrative. In doing so he instilled personalities and formed images of a distinct

Given at birth and etched in stone upon death, names hold the potential to speak volumes about those that bear them. First Lieutenant Jimmy Cross is a prime example. As the leader of the platoon he carries the overwhelming burden of trying to keep his men safe in a war made infamous for its horrendous casualties. After Ted Lavender’s death he bears his own ‘cross’ so to speak, “He felt shame. He hated himself. He had loved Martha more than his men an as a consequence Lavender was now dead” (478, O’Brien). Cross acknowledges that the guilt, both his own and that of his men, is something he’ll “have to carry like a stone in his stomach for the rest of the war” (478, O’Brien). In the moment that most rounds out Cross’s character and further emphasizes his role as a Christ figure, First Lieutenant Jimmy Cross makes a personal sacrifice in burning the letters and photos of his beloved Martha. He even acknowledges that he “couldn’t burn the blame” (481, O’Brien), but ultimately resolves that his men would no longer suffer for any laxity on his

Cross carried a side arm in the form of a “.45—caliber pistol” (471, O’Brien), a symbol of his status as a higher ranking officer. Mitchell Sanders carried “brass knuckles” (472, O’Brien), further proof of not only a reader’s belief in his strength, but his own belief in himself should things narrow down to fisticuffs, Lee Strunk and Kiowa both carry weapons that are tokens of their upbringing. Strunk’s slingshot as “a weapon of last resort” (472, O’Brien), alludes to an immense amount of trust in his own aim, one I inferred was honed shooting raccoons and squirrels in the backwoods of the south. Kiowa’s grandfather’s “feathered hatchet” (472, O’Brien) and his nickname of “Indian”, provides readers a pretty clear idea of his ethnic and cultural background without O’Brien ever having to explicitly address