Alejandra Yanez Eng 1B Blog

The Things They Carried by Tim O'brien 

In The Things They Carried, the theme of war is the emotional guilt and fear the men at war carry with them. Tim O'brien lists the physical things the men at combat carry with them, but as the story unfolds, the actual things they carry with them are the burdens that comes with being at war and alone. They carried the infections that came from being at war for a long period of time. Tim O'brien writes, "They carried all the emotional baggage of men who might die. Grief, terror, love, longing-these were intangibles, but the intagibles had their own mass and speific gravity, they had tangible weight." (352). That constant fear and emotional distress these men had while being at war caused them to battle against fantasy and reality. They longed for the feeling of being back at home;not having to fear going to sleep and whether or not they would wake up to a gun fire. They longed for love and the companionship from someone who is real, warm, breathing (someone they can hold). Obrien writes, "They carried their own lives" (349). They carried the most heaviest burden of all. They carried the burden of the negative affects of war. Each man grieffed. Each man wanted to feel loved. Each man was in constant terror from being caught in the middle of war.

The burden of war causes the men to relinquish the things that carry with them that makes them feel free and alive. Obrien states, "They carried the shameful memories. They carried their reputations. They carried the soldier's greatest fear, which was the fear of blushing" (352). They no longer had clean cut memories, but instead they had memories that will make them relive every single day the horrific ordeal, whether it is  mentally,physically, and emotionally. The shame that has been brought is because of their lack of confrontation to reality.The guilt, terror, and vulnerability eqauls to carrying "P-38 can openers, pocket knifes, heat tabs, wristwatches, dog tags, mosquito repellent, chewing gum, candy, cigarettes, salt tablets, packets of Kool-Aid, lighters, matches, sweing kits... (341). The physical things they can just put down, but the emotional baggage is a load of fear that cannot just simply be put down and forgotten.