An Unfolding of "The Things They Carried" by Tim O'Brien
In life one carries around a variety of things. Some people are like Atlas, in that they bear the weight of the entire world on their shoulders, while others may have no more than the shirt on their back. Tim O'Brien's short story, "The Things They Carried", is an introspective story about a soldier's memories and a self-conscious examination of his war tales. We meet Lieutenant Jimmy Cross and the Alpha Company and learn about the different things he and his men carried during the Vietnam War. In this story one is able to learn a great deal about a man and his character by simply looking at the things he chooses to carry.
The primary reason to carry something during a war is arguably because of necessity. O'Brien clearly agrees with this because he begins the story by saying:
The things they carried were largely determined by necessity. Among the necessities or near-necessities were P-38 can openers, pocket knives, heat tabs, wristwatches, dog tags, mosquito repellent, chewing gum, candy, cigarettes, salt tablets, packets of Kool-Aid, lighters, matches, sewing kits, Military Payment Certificates, C rations, and two or three canteens of water (O'Brien 389 ).
While not all of these items are an everyday necessity, they are all things that at one point could prove to be vital for a soldier. Unfortunately, the convenience comes with a cost, the price being determined by the soldier's metabolism and personal habits that he brought into the war. The soldier's pack alone could weigh up to twenty pounds. Other necessary items were for protection. It was SOP, standard operating procedure, for all soldiers to wear jungle boots weighing 2.1 pounds, a steel helmet weighing 5 pounds, and due to the mine infested terrain a steel centered, nylon covered flak jacket weighing 6.7 pounds. That just being the tip of the iceberg, in addition to the soldiers carrying the 30 pounds of equipment thus far, they still had to lug around guns, extra ammunition, plus special supplies depending on their current mission. It was common for soldiers to carry up to half their weight in what was considered necessary supplies. Day after day soldiers hiked through the jungle terrain with their heavy packs chipping away at their strength and moral. These are just some physical items they chose to carry due to basic necessity; other things they bore came from their individual beliefs and desires. A nervous soldier by the name of Ted Lavender chose to carry around marijuana and tranquilizers in order to keep calm and suppress his fears. An Indian soldier, named Kiowa, chose to keep an illustrated New Testament by him at all times that he had received from his father. He believed it would keep him safe. Not purely by choice, but more by inheritance, he also carried his great-grandfather's distrust for the white man.
Even heavier then what they carried on their backs, were the burdens on their minds. The Vietnam War was a war fought between 1964 and 1975 on the ground in South Vietnam, the bordering areas of Cambodia and Laos, and in bombing runs over North Vietnam. For World War II the United States Army drafted two-thirds of its armed forces. During the Vietnam War two-thirds of the men that served volunteered themselves for the cause. In total there were 50,274 men enlisted during the Vietnam War with the average age of a soldier being 22.37 years of age. 11,465 of the men were under the age of 21 and 61% of these young men died in action. These war facts show that while the bulk of our forces were in their physical peak, that in an emotional sense they were still rather nave and immature and most likely lured into enlisting after the glamour of the post World War II era. The soldiers were mere children, students, and boyfriends who had no perspective on how to rationalize killing or come to terms with their friends' untimely deaths. Even in modern times people struggle accepting death whether it be a gruesome gore filled death or a peaceful passing. One can only imagine the weight the image of a fellow soldier being gunned down or stepping over a mine would bear on the mind of a young soldier. Besides watching their own men die these young men were forced to kill people they knew little about, despite its on screen glamour, killing often makes the soldier feel bogged down with regret and guilt. Philip Caputo, an infantry lieutenant in the United States Marine Corps that was deployed in South Vietnam was quoted in the book The American Experience in Vietnam: A Reader by Grace Sevy as saying:
There is the guilt all soldiers feel for having broken the taboo against killing, a guilt as old as war itself. Add to this the soldier's sense of shame for having fought in actions that resulted, indirectly or directly, in the deaths of civilians. Then pile on top of that an attitude of social opprobrium, an attitude that made the fighting man feel personally morally responsible for the war, and you get your proverbial walking time bomb (Sevy 56).
Jimmy Cross had a similar transformation when a member of his company, Ted Lavender, was shot and killed. As leader, Lieutenant Jimmy Cross carried the maps, the compasses, and the responsibility for his men's lives. In the beginning Cross also bore the weight of a love for a girl who did not love him back. He carried around provocative pictures of the girl, Martha, playing beach volleyball and what he like to consider "love" letters that he received from her. He also carried the fear that she might meet a new boy and whether or not she still had her virginity. Unfortunately for his men, these worrying thoughts made Cross tend to not fully think decisions through and lowered his self esteem causing him to be a coward. While in his cowardice state, he stayed sidetracked and while sidetracked Ted Lavender was shot down. "There was no twitching or flopping it was like watching a rock fall, or a big sand bag or something-just boom, then down-not like the movies were the dead guy rolls around and does fancy spins- just boom, and down (O'Brien 391). Cross noted later how his body seemed to crumble underneath the weight of his heavy pack and all he could think of was Martha's smooth skin and poetry that she had written him. This filled Cross with so much grief that he blamed Ted Lavender's death on himself. That day Cross added the heaviest item he would ever carry during the war, the guilt on his conscience for the killing of Ted, that he believed wouldn't have happened had he not been worrying about a girl who would never love him back.
Sometimes the things we carry inspire us to better ourselves and serve to get us back on track. This was the case for Cross after he chose to bear the weight of Ted Lavender's death. Ted's death showed him the error in his way, and that he couldn't carry the weight of worry during a time of war and carry the responsibility for the lives of his men. So that night, like the phoenix burns up and starts a new, so did Cross. He burnt the pictures and letters from Martha and rid himself of anything that served as a reminder of her and he began being the leader his men needed him to be if they were to survive. "He would not tolerate laxity. He would show strength, distancing himself. his obligation was not to be loved but to lead" (400). That's exactly what he did too; while it was unpopular with his company, it was for the best of every man there.
Like the Alpha Company, the men that served during the Vietnam War all carried their fair share of various items. They bore the weights of their packs, they lugged around heavy equipment, and struggled to cope with all of the violence and death that surrounded them. The heaviest item they would bare would not be by choice, they had no idea they were even carrying it at all. Regardless, with each passing day they added more and more weight to this item. Before the soldiers came back home they were relieved of their heavy packs, they returned the equipment back to the government, and they found some comfort in the thought of seeing their loved ones back home. After the plane ride home and the comfort of being back home wore off, the soldiers would find the heaviest item of all, their guilt of taking lives during the war. This item still troubles many brave veterans to this day, and they would attest to the physical and emotional drain of the things they carried, especially their war memories.