The Things They Carried by Tim O'Brien
**Overview of *The Things They Carried* by Tim O'Brien**
*The Things They Carried* is a poignant exploration of the emotional and physical burdens borne by a platoon of American soldiers during the Vietnam War. The narrative unfolds in a non-linear format, presenting fragmented experiences that reflect the complexities of war. Central to the story is First Lieutenant Jimmy Cross, who struggles with his unreciprocated love for a woman named Martha, representing the soldiers’ longing for connection and normalcy amidst the chaos of combat. The soldiers carry both their military gear and personal items that symbolize their fears, hopes, and memories, highlighting the intimate link between their physical and emotional states.
The novel addresses themes such as guilt, loss, and the impact of trauma, particularly illustrated through the death of Ted Lavender, whose sudden demise forces the characters to confront the harsh realities of their situation. O'Brien deftly contrasts the camaraderie and coping mechanisms of the soldiers with their profound vulnerabilities, encapsulating the duality of their existence in a war zone. Through vivid imagery and reflective storytelling, *The Things They Carried* offers a deeply human perspective on the experiences of soldiers, making it a significant work in the canon of war literature.
The Things They Carried by Tim O'Brien
First published: 1986
Type of plot: Psychological
Time of work: The late 1960s
Locale: Vietnam
Principal Characters
First Lieutenant Jimmy Cross , a boyish army platoon leaderMartha , a college student who writes to himKiowa , a Native American soldierTed Lavender , a terrified soldier
The Story
A platoon of seventeen American foot soldiers is on the march in the booby-trapped swamps and hills of Vietnam. They have been ordered to set ambushes, execute night patrols, and search out and destroy the massive tunnel complexes south of Chu Lai constructed by Viet Cong guerrillas. Young and frightened, most of the Americans are ill prepared emotionally for the stresses of war. The story does not follow a traditional linear plot but instead offers fragments of their experience, including seemingly unending lists of gear and personal effects that they carry with them. What they carry links them, yet distinguishes them.
Chief among the men, and one of the oldest is First Lieutenant Jimmy Cross, twenty-four years old and not long out of college, who is smitten with love for a girl back home. He carries with him two photographs of Martha, an English major from Mount Sebastian College in New Jersey, whom he briefly dated. He yearns for her sweatless perfection, her white skin and clear gray eyes, fantasizing a relationship with her that never existed. Although she writes to him and he carries her letters, rereading them each night, it is clear that his passion for her is not reciprocated. When Martha sends him a talisman, a white pebble from the Jersey shore, Lieutenant Cross carries it in his mouth, savoring its salty taste as something almost holy. Dreams of Martha help him escape Vietnam.
On April 16, the men draw lots to see who will wire a Viet Cong tunnel with explosives. The soldier selected to search the tunnel is the one about whom they are concerned, for his risks are great. When he finally emerges, covered with filth, all are relieved, but just as the tension eases they hear a shot. Ted Lavender, who stepped away from the group to relieve himself, is killed without warning by an enemy sniper. The incident stuns the platoon. Death in a firefight is one thing, but this swift and meaningless death is quite another.
Ted Lavender has always carried tranquilizers and top-grade marijuana to numb himself against his own terror, but his obsessive fear and caution do not help him; the twenty pounds of ammunition that he has carried makes no difference. He dies, as his friend Kiowa marvels, without time to react. His horrified comrades place him in a body bag and summon a helicopter. While they wait, they smoke Lavender’s marijuana and crack jokes to mask their emotions. Then they burn a nearby Vietnamese village in retaliation, shooting the dogs and chickens.
That night Kiowa, who carries moccasins and his grandfather’s hunting hatchet, tries to grieve and make sense of Lavender’s death, but he feels nothing. He pillows his head on the New Testament that he carries with him, a birthday gift from his father, and is glad simply to be alive. This fact comforts him, and he sleeps soundly.
Lieutenant Cross, on the other hand, weeps; he accepts full blame for Lavender’s death, although in truth there is no blame. He suffers with guilt because he was thinking of Martha at the moment that Lavender was killed—he has loved her more than his men. He realizes now that his distant Anglo-Saxon virgin is nothing more than a dream. In his foxhole he burns her letters and photos, surrendering his illusions, and determines to conduct himself as an officer, a leader. He will be strong, tough, and silent—a man’s man. He will protect his men, maintaining discipline and order so that they will live.
Bibliography
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Beidler, Philip. "Testaments of Youth: Writing the US War in Vietnam." War. Ed. Alex Vernon. Ipswich: Salem, 2012. 89–105. Print.
Silbergleid, Robin. "Making Things Present: Time O'Brien's Autobiographical Metafiction." Contemporary Literature 50.1 (2009): 129–155. Print.
Smith, Jack. "The Things He Carries." Writer 123.7 (July 2010): 16–47. Print.
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