What Is The Moral Of The Things They Carried By Tim O Brien

The short story, “The Things They Carried”, by Tim O’Brien, takes place in South Vietnam where the soldiers are fighting in the war. Many people did not want the US to enter the Vietnam war. People shunned the soldiers who went to war because it was their duty. Although some soldiers knew it was not the right thing to do, they did it anyway knowing they had to protect their countries. Even Martha, Lieutenant Cross's hopeful lover, does not agree with the war. Many Vietnam veterans do not speak of the war for many reasons, some of the men created virtual worlds to pass the time and relieve their minds from the awful things they had seen. The soldiers subconsciously turned off their brains for most of the war, knowing the horror that was going

The things men carried in side. The things men did or felt they had to do. He almost nodded at her, but didn’t.” (O’Brien)

This one quote reasonably sums up the whole story. Cross is in "love" with Martha, and he is constantly wondering if she is a virgin or who she is with now. While he is deep in day dreaming he allows himself to escape the situation and forget completely where he is. He is not focused on his men and not giving them the protection that they need so intern his man Lavender is killed. He feels responsible that one of his men had been killed. When he says he understood the things men do or think they have to do it has to do with understanding why his men kill each other. He also understands that Martha must go. All the mental baggage must be out of his mind, he must focus on the war harder. The distraction lost him a man he should have cared more about than a virgin back home who does not love him the way he dreams. The men must all work together and create a brotherly bond to protect one another. After all, being the Lieutenant you must keep a close eye and protection for your men. The group of men is all you have and after being together for so long you must create a family-like

What seemed to have happened becomes its own happening and has to be told that way. The angles of vision are skewed. When a booby trap explodes, you close your eyes and duck and float outside yourself. When a guy dies, like Curt Lemon, you look away and then look back for a moment and then look away again. The pictures get jumbled; you tend to miss a lot. And then, afterward, when you go to tell about it, there is always that surreal seemingness, which makes the story seem untrue, but which in fact represents the hard and exact truth as it seemed.” (Ross