Theme Of War In Tim O Brien's The Things They Carried

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When people think of weight, they generally think of a heavy object, like a dumbbell or a car, something physical that weighs them down to the point of being fatigued. However, In The Things They Carried, by Tim O’Brien, themes of burdens and the stresses of war are present, and of how they affect everyone involved. The title of the book alludes to these themes, as each character is, “carrying” their own psychological or physical burden that weighs them down in one way or another, things such as burdens from home, dealing with the burden of war and it’s stresses, and of always dealing with the thought of serving their country to the fullest, not wanting to let anyone down back home.
To start off, the first burden that the soldiers must deal with in Vietnam is with the many burdens of home, domestic things that the soldiers left behind that impact them even …show more content…
Lt. Jimmy Cross is a testament to this burden, as he carried around photographs and letters from a girl named Martha that he met in college whom he had huge feelings for, and he constantly fantasizes about her. These photos and letters constantly nag at him during the war, as his mind gets distracted from his duties as an officer, only to constantly day dream about her. Eventually his daydreaming gets one of his men killed which he remembers in a meeting with O’Brien: “we paused over a snapshot of Ted Lavender, and after a while Jimmy rubbed his eyes and said he'd never forgiven himself for Lavender's death” (27). Cross eventually burns the letters though, freeing himself of this attachment that cost the life of Lavender. Henry Dobbins is another soldier who wears a pantyhose around his neck that belongs to his girlfriend which reminds him of her, so that he can take his mind off of the war and drift into a mindset of being with her. Similar to
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