The Things They Carried Plot: 1. Exposition- The exposition is in the beginning of the story. It is when Tim O’Brien explains who the soldiers are, and what they carry. He explains what most soldiers carry physically, like guns, water, grenades, and other war necessities. He also explains the emotional things the soldiers carry.
The Things They Carried Tim O'brien is an American novelist born in 1946, he mostly writes about his experiences in the Vietnam war. His works are mostly about how the soldiers involved in the war were affected. Memories are an inseparable part of human life. Some memories are pleasing and enjoyable whereas some are agonizing, but still all are the part of life. In times of distress, the memories of joyful times provide the strength to bear the sorrow, and owing to this reason numerous people hold on to their memories.
Both of these ate away at the men; mind, body and soul. ‘Carry’ means to hold or support while moving, to transport, transmit, or transfer, but figuratively, ‘carry’ connotes bearing a grievance. After Ted Lavender was killed Lieutenant Jimmy Cross carried Lavenders burden with him because he felt personally responsible for his death. He was to busy thinking about Martha the one he loved, even though he knew she didn’t love him in return. L.T.
(O’Brien 117). Consequently, they also carried emotions like fear, love, and dreams. These emotions determined what each soldier carried with-in his soul. To begin, the use of flashback in the story told us what each soldier carried. Ted Lavender carried tranquillizers and dope that helped him relax.
John did not want to die with the guilt of him not confessing, “ I cannot mount the gibbet like a saint. It is a fraud!” ( Act 4, Proctor). John Proctor was a tragic hero who was positive at the very beginning to a downfall at the end. Proctors pride is what mostly caused his downfall throughout it all. John Proctor was too confident in himself and he was not looking at the end results of everything.
Baggage: Inside and Out “The Things They Carried,” written by Tim O’Brien helped recognize particular aspects of the Vietnam War as it associated with the soldiers and their lives individually and collectively. O’Brien described the overall mood of the war and the soldiers involved regarding the physical, psychological, and emotional weight the soldiers bared. We too, as individuals carry things with us in our daily lives that attribute something to our physical or mental well-being. For me, these are feelings as well as tangible objects. The men in this story carried “all the emotional baggage of men who might die.
He hated himself. He had loved Martha more than his men, and as a consequence Lavender was now dead, and this was something he would have to carry like a stone in his stomach for the rest of the war.” Eventually, he came to a revelation, burned her letter purely out of love and care for those under his wings. “He was now determined to perform his duties firmly and without negligence. It wouldn’t help Lavender, he knew that, but from this point on he would comport himself as a
Lieutenant Jimmy Cross carried letters from Martha. Someone that he knew he could never be with. He loved Martha and knew that she did not love him back. He eventually burned these love letters because he knew they were not going to save him. He realized that what were going to save him were the heavy things that he was carrying; weapons and machinery.
Sometimes you can feel so guilty that it takes an emotional toll on you. In the book The Poisonwood Bible by Barbra Kingsolver, guilt is the most outstanding theme. The family continually struggles with overcoming guilt. The father had always dealt with the guilt of being a coward. He was constantly trying to prove to himself, God, and the rest of the world that he was not a coward.
He was scared, felt lonely and wanted to do anything to stay alive. Elie learned from this whole devastating event in History. He didn’t continue to struggle as much as he did in the camps. He had no more family with him or alive. Elie was bitter in a way.