O’Brien gives off a ‘hope’ theme to grab the reader further and deeper into the book. The Vietnam War had put every individual who qualified to be drafted on edge, knowing your whole outlook on life could be easily changed by one letter. The Vietnam War was growing increasingly fast which then made who qualified question if they were next, would their life completely change? People now realize their lives are at stake. O’Brien expresses how this question comes upon him in the chapter, “On a Rainy River” O’Brien quotes “I imagined myself dead. I imagined myself doing things I could not do- charging an enemy position, taking aim at another human being”(44). O’Brien reveals he saw his life at stake, he could imagine it. The Things They Carried isn't your typical war story, which gives reasoning as to why there is an abundance of positive and negative opinions about this book. O’Brien takes a different approach that could make the reader love or hate the book, he exposes the truth. O’Brien starts the book with the chapter “The Things They Carried”. In this chapter, O’Brien begins describing each character and what they carry, physically and