“On O’Brien’s ‘The Things They Carried’: The Weight of the War”
As readers enjoy this work, and its suspense and action, he or she might be surprised by the play on emotions that “The Things They Carried” contains. Within the lines and lingo of what seems to be a typical war story, O’Brien has carefully interwoven deeper, dual meanings when creating each character and what he carries on the journey through Vietnam in this work. Through examining some of the main characters of “The Things They Carried”, one can observe through O’Brien’s account the physical, emotional, and mental weight that war can place on a soldier, and which is heaviest. It is apparent that a look is given to First Lieutenant Jimmy Cross. He is, after all, responsible for the entire group of men on their mission. He carried with him letters from a girl named Martha, as well as two photos of her and a pebble she mailed to him for good luck. He also carries a compass, maps, codebooks, binoculars, a .45-caliber pistol, a strobe light, and the responsibility for the lives of his entire platoon. He is undoubtedly infatuated with Martha, as every evening, he digs the letters out of his rucksack, and imagines romantic instances with her. His days are consumed with somewhat distractedly leading his men, and his nights of wondering obsessively if Martha is a virgin. These mental wanderings are continued shamelessly until the entire platoon is astounded by the death of Ted Lavender. Cross then blames himself for being distracted by thoughts of Martha and not looking out for his men. He feels as if it is his fault that Lavender is killed. Cross apparently is not in any position to handle the responsibility of being a platoon leader. His supposed love for this Martha girl seems to be greater than the love for his men. Though the constant physical weight of Cross’s rucksack, weapons, and ignored responsibility bears down on him each day that he leads his men, Vietnam was temporary. When wars end, the physical weight is lifted, but the scars remain. Cross admits to having carried the weight of Lavender’s death upon his back for his entire life.
A different and rather interesting character is the Native American, Baptist Kiowa. For the long and tedious walk through Vietnam, Kiowa carried with him an illustrated New Testament, his grandfather’s feathered hatchet, a pair of moccasins for silent walking, his weapons and ammo, and his grandmother’s distrust of the
