Summary Of Chapter One Of The Things They Carried By Chapter 1

The Things They Carried written by Tim O'Brien uses physical objects to describe how the soldiers felt on the inside. The war that was going on the outside was also going on in the inside. The author began the story describing items the soldiers carried in the field. No two soldiers carried the articles. Life is no different.

Discussing the physical items the soldiers carry along with them, readers are able to determine

Now and then, however, there were times of panic, when they squealed or wanted to squeal but couldn’t, when they twitched and made moaning sounds and covered their heads and said Dear Jesus and flopped around on the earth and fired their weapons blindly and cringed and sobbed and begged for the noise to stop and went wild and made stupid promises to themselves and to God and to their mothers and fathers, hoping not to die.” The title of the book, The Things They Carried, has so many meanings after reading the book. In the beginning, O’Brien goes into such detail as to what the soldiers carried in their ruck sacks going as far to say how much each thing weighed.

In the novel, The Things They Carried, by Tim O’Brien, the author describes a platoon marching through Vietnam at the time of the Vietnamese War. He does so by describing in detail the items that each of the men carry with them during their march. The things that the soldiers carry with them are not only tangible but intangible items as well, and what these things are depend fully upon each individual soldier. They carry Military Payment Certificates, the basic "necessities" for survival along with the bare minimum to make life as livable as possible during the time of war. The men decided on the items they wished to carry with them depending completely on their habits and rate of metabolism.

The Things They Carried, is a lot about what all of the men carried and what it all meant to each one of them. The author describing the material things wants to give a sense of the physical burden, but the guilt of men lost and the weight of responsibility was what truly weighed them down mentally and physically through the war. The author allows the reader to realize how each of the characters dealt with their time within the war and how they coped giving them a sense of hope to survive, and how they traveled through Vietnam carrying the weight of physical burdens and the weight of responsibility, loss and guilt and the memories they will carry for the rest of their lives.

Peter Matsumoto AP English Literature Mrs. Nellon 9/15/15 The Things They Carried Analysis Question 4 The buffalo incident is perhaps one of the, if not the, most memorable sequence of events in the entirety of the novel, as its inhumanely grotesque and uncomfortably relatable style of storytelling highlights the questions of loss, truth, and morality inherent throughout the book, condensing into three short pages the strongest argument the novel has to offer: the nature of truth. According to O’Brien, “A true war story is never moral” (65).

It lists a variety of things that the soldier brought on their mission. For example, some of the things were intangible, such as sickness, guilt, and the atmosphere. Other soldiers were carrying physical objects, including P-38 can openers, pocket knives, heat tabs, wrist-watches, dog tags and etc. as listed in (O 'Brien). Throughout the plot of the story O 'Brien seem to focus on the things that were not important versus the things that 's were, and at the end, he was faced with a big consequence.

For example, the narrator repeatedly describes the weight of weight during the soldiers arduous journey: “Among the necessities or near necessities were R-38 can openers, pocket knives, heat tabs, wristwatches, dog tags, mosquito repellants, chewing gum, candy, cigarettes, salt tablets...2-3 canteens of water. Together these items weighted between 15-20 pounds” (O'Brien 470). Subsequently, the narrator and his companions embark on a perilous journey all while facing

“They shared the weight of memory. They took up what others could no longer bear. Often, they carried each other, the wounded or weak”. Soldier’s risk their lives daily, fighting for their country. Many are unaware of the challenges that are faced upon them.

On one of the first pages of the book O’Brien describes the things they carry by saying, “The things they carried were largely determined by necessity. Among

For example, Brien wrote, “Taking turns, they carried the big PRC-77 scrambler radio, which weighed 30 pounds with its battery. They shared the weight of memory. They took up what others could no longer bear. Often, they carried each other, the wounded or weak. They carried infections.

Emotionally dragging people down one by one, war brings sweat, tears, and blood. Although soldiers do carry many physical items, each individual also carries responsibilities which are not visible, but tend to weigh one down immensely, such as the lives of men. In the novel The Things They Carried, written by Tim O’Brien, he describes the items which the soldiers carried such as “taking up what others could no longer bear. Often, they carried each other, the wounded or weak. They carried infections.

The author was writing the story “The Things They Carried” expressed so many thoughts and feelings about what the soldiers had faced, they showed their feelings and duties, life or death, and overall fear and dedication. This story shows the theme of the physical and emotional burdens that everyone is going through in the war. By showing his readers what the soldier’s daily thoughts are and how they handle what is going on around them. Tim O’Brien expresses this theme by using characterization, symbolism, and tone continuously. In the story, physical and emotional burdens plagued several characters as they all had baggage weighing them down.

The author only states the physical weights of what they carried in war but later talks about the emotional burden that these soldiers carried. This motif of weight or heaviness burden is carried throughout this novel. I could connect this to a camp I went to when I was in 5th grade. Just like the soldiers in the novel, I gathered almost every essential item there was to be safe and survive in the wilderness. Spin “Step out of line, hit a mine; follow the dink,

The things men carried inside.” (par. 6) In conclusion, the characters in “The Things They Carried” can be better understood through a closer look at the objects they brought with them. “They carried all they could bear, and then some, . . . “ (par 2).