The Weights of War In “The Things They Carried,” Tim O'Brien paints a vivid picture of the Vietnam War. He tells the horrors of what the soldiers went through by exploring the concept of weight and how it affects them. Tim O’Brien uses different forms of weight, such as physical, emotional, and psychological weight, in order to portray the many difficulties a soldier faces during war. When it comes to examples of weight in “The Things They Carried,” the most obvious and literal form of weight is the physical form of weight that these soldiers must carry with them. When it comes to war, the more weapons, supplies, and equipment, the better. Along with the soldiers’ standard issued items, each soldier had to carry items that were specific to their role in the squad such as rank, role, and the mission at hand. Examples of these items include…show more content… Although the physical weight of war is a necessary one, that does not imply that there is no relief from it. Tim O’Brien states that towards the end of the mission, the troops would get new supplies. Therefore, it was pointless to carry the extra weight and the smartest thing to do was to give the body a break by discarding the unnecessary items. These are the effects of the physical weights they carried, a necessary but disposable form of burden, unlike the many juxtaposed weights of the mind that a soldier must carry. The human mind is an elaborate system that is filled with thoughts, emotions, memories, and much more. Throughout life, everyone will experience these concepts and deal with emotional and psychological burdens, but in “The Things They Carried” O’Brien truly highlights how these burdens can be magnified to the extreme when a human is exposed to war. O’Brein achieves this by providing vivid details into the lives of the soldiers, their emotions, struggles, and their
