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The Burdens They Carried

            In Tim O"Brien's "The Things They Carried" the soldiers carry guns, ammunition, and body armor to keep them as safe and as protected as possible. Each one carries things important to them as well as the standard issued items. They carry pictures and letters helping them remember girls they have left behind and who they want to see. Depending on the type of person such things as tranquilizers or marijuana are carried. But each soldier carries these items for fear of getting shot and killed. They have to take their mind off of the war and the fighting if just for a couple of minutes. If a soldier carries something that they think protects them then he is a lot more comfortable then he would be without it. The soldiers that O"Brien writes about carry both physical and emotional burdens, which show readers who they are.
             Lieutenant Jimmy Cross carries all of the standard issue gear and also letters from Martha (435). Martha is a girl who he daydreams about. He dreams of her and thinks about nights in which he had actually touched her knee (437). The Lieutenant also carries a responsibility to each of his men. He is responsible for the lives of each and one of the men in his platoon. This frightens him just as much as the fear of dying in the war. Nobody wants to die especially in the war and Lieutenant Cross is no different. Cross is shown as a caring person through the things that he carries. The pictures and the memories of Martha also show that he is holding on to something that may not be there. But the fact that he has the pictures comforts him and keeps him from freaking out and abandoning his troops in battle. Lieutenant Cross also is shown as a very superstitious person by carrying a good-luck pebble (441). This makes him comfortable and does not allow him to fear the war. After Lavender dies Cross finally realizes that he is endangering his troops lives as well as his by going off in daydreams about Martha.


Essays Related to The Burdens They Carried

1. The Burden of Emotion in The Things They Carried

Tim O'Brien, author of "The Things They Carried," voices the idea that the mental burdens outweigh the physical agony that those in war must carry: "They carried all the emotional baggage of men who might die. ... The men's concern for their reputation is one of the heaviest burdens they have to carry. ... This allusion to the Bible represents the greatest burden that has ever been carried. ... This responsibility is one of the heaviest of burdens that Cross must carry.             ... The jet is an escape from the physical and, even more importantly, the emotional burdens t...

  • Word Count: 1146
  • Approx Pages: 5
  • Grade Level: High School

2. the things they carried

This is a story not so much about the things the men of Alpha Company carried, but rather the burdens that they could not put down. ... No more burdens for him to carry, no more unweighable fear. ... They now had to carry this new burden, the memory of their dead friend. ... (p.24) Their memories are burdens they carry that can never be put down; they cannot be erased nor can they be destroyed. ... (p.61) In this dream, they find relief from their burdens because they must- it is the only way they can carry on. ...

  • Word Count: 1054
  • Approx Pages: 4
  • Grade Level: High School

3. The things they carry

This is a story not so much about the things the men of Alpha Company carried, but rather the burdens that they could not put down. ... No more burdens for him to carry, no more unweighable fear. ... They now had to carry this new burden, the memory of their dead friend. ... (p.24) Their memories are burdens they carry that can never be put down; they cannot be erased nor can they be destroyed. ... (p.61) In this dream, they find relief from their burdens because they must- it is the only way they can carry on. ...

  • Word Count: 1047
  • Approx Pages: 4
  • Grade Level: High School

4. The Things They Carried

As the story goes on it shows not only the literal meaning of what they carried but also symbolically the burdens that they had mentally. ... All of "The Things They Carried" helped to add to the stress of the war and also help to quell it, they carried what they needed. ... They had fear and memories two of the heaviest burdens a human can carry, they had memories of friends lost in this world and one left behind in the old world. ... "They carried the land itself--- Vietnam, the place, the soil--- a powdery orange-red dust- This quote shows exactly how heavy a burden the war was. ... Li...

  • Word Count: 1163
  • Approx Pages: 5
  • Grade Level: High School

5. The Things They Carried

Each soldier carried their own burdens. ... But the soldiers also carried other heavy burdens upon their shoulders. ... He even manages to add the burden of carrying nature: "They carried the sky. The whole atmosphere they carried gravity." ... The emotions they carried were the heaviest of burdens to carry, simply because they couldn't be merely be disposed of. ...

  • Word Count: 922
  • Approx Pages: 4
  • Grade Level: High School

6. The Things They Carried: Weighing In

They carry the basic "necessities" for survival and the bare minimum to make life as livable as possible. They also carry fear, memories, and the weight of emotions. ... They carried lice and ringworm and leeches and paddy algae and various roots and molds. ... They carried the sky. The whole atmosphere, they carried it, the humidity, the monsoons, the stink of fungus and decay, all of it, they carried gravity." ...

  • Word Count: 806
  • Approx Pages: 3
  • Grade Level: High School

7. The Things They Carried

In his short story, "The Things They Carried," O"Brien wrote a sort of autofiction about some of his accounts in the war. ... In his story, he talks about a platoon that is walking through the woods in Vietnam, carrying various objects with them in their rucksacks and what they wore. ... As he began to talk about the intangible things they carried, such as memories, fears, desires, motives, and things of that nature, he became very passionate and emotionally attached to their thoughts and their burdens. As an authorial reader, Tim O"Brien probably wants us to recognize these intangible burd...

  • Word Count: 1072
  • Approx Pages: 4

8. Critical Analysis for The Things They Carried

The difficulty of what they carried was best described as" The whole atmosphere, they carried it, the humidity, the monsoons, the stink of fungus and decay, all of it, they carried gravity" (O"Brien 713). ... Even though the physical burdens cause great pain in the soldiers, the true burdens they carry are emotional. ... The one thing a reader learns from the emotional burdens a man carries shows his true feelings. If he carries a great deal of emotional burdens, he would probably feel more pain in war. ... In "The Things They Carried", the soldiers have to endure many difficulties. ...

  • Word Count: 1097
  • Approx Pages: 4
  • Grade Level: High School

9. The things they carried

The things they carried. "The Things they carried-, the renowned author, Tim O'Brien, uses several literary devices to show the spiritual burden on the soldiers in the Vietnam War, by contrasting this burden with the actual physical load they have to carry. ... They carried memories for the most part, they carried themselves with poise and a kind of dignity. ... They carried grief, terror, longing and their reputations. ... They carried the weight of the world. ...

  • Word Count: 1574
  • Approx Pages: 6
  • Grade Level: High School

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