The Things They Carried

Tim O’Brian really emphasized the use of repetition of, “the things they carried,” to explain the important things that individuals from each troop carried with them during the war. He not only uses the repetitious phrase to describe possessions that these soldiers carried but he uses the phase to symbolize the feelings, as well as the trying times and weathers that they face on a daily basis. The things that each soldier carried tended to consume them completely. For example, Lieutenant Jimmy Cross carried letters from his love. These letters distracted the Lieutenant from performing his duties adequately for his troops and thus resulted in the death of one of his soldiers. Taking full blame and responsibility for his fallen man’s death, the Lieutenant burned the letters but still could not let go of his love. He continued to carry her letters with him and they continued to consume his thoughts.
All of the soldiers in Tim O’Brian’s book were carrying a sense of cowardice inside them. Their cowardice nature was a symbol of their fear for not having a promised tomorrow. None of the soldiers were brave enough to admit their fear of the war, therefore they all joined a troop. Some might not think of them as containing cowardice but they did because they all went to war out of fear of people knowing that they were in fact, afraid. Their presence in the war was out of pure cowardice, not bravery. Tim O’Brian himself attempted to flee the war but as he approached freedom, out of fear of others thinking he was a coward, he cowardly came back and joined the war.