Tim O'Brien's "The Things They Carried"

Paper Summary:

This paper looks closely at the short story by Tim O'Brien, "The Things They Carried". The work selects as its thesis the items which were carried, and what they symbolize. The paper also comments upon what it means to not have items of value or to burn and give up the burdens which were first brought to war. It concludes that these items saved the soldiers and bring them humanity.

From the Paper:

"Tim O'Brien's powerful words in the short story "The Things They Carried", the title and first chapter in his collection of work concerning soldiers during the Vietnam War, connect to readers as they remind us of burdens being carried--physical, emotional and spiritual. As the soldiers gain personality via their possessions--both those they carry as well as those they leave behind--we come to envision these men as the `everyman,' those who go off to war and symbolize a country. As the images of these burdens gain a solid presence in the story, they represent the lives and hopes of each soldier, even as they are cast away by the principle character in the tale, Lieutenant Jimmy Cross. Near the first lines of the story, O'Brien introduces the readers to the theme of the `carried,' or burdens. Each soldier is made unique by..."

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