The Things They Carried- Physical and Emotional Weights The Things They Carried is a short story, written by Tim O’Brien that was developed into a novel. It’s a war drama that takes place in the later 1900’s during the Vietnam War. In the story, an unnamed narrator describes, in the third person, the thoughts of Jimmy Cross. Cross is a lieutenant in the war but is distracted by his thoughts of Martha. Martha is a young woman that he dated before he joined the army. He thinks about the letters she wrote him, whether she is a virgin, and how he wants more than anything for her to love him back. Along with all the thoughts about her, Cross keeps pictures of her and fantasizes about what could have been. In The Things They Carried, the theme reveals
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The author describes many times how infatuated Cross is with Martha. He not only dwells on the memory of her, but creates fantasies in his mind. He does not merely recall memories of her; instead he imagines what might be, such as "romantic camping trips" into the White Mountains in New Hampshire (par. 1). Cross also catches himself walking away from his men and daydreaming about Martha. The mental escape and fantasies Cross endures relate to the emotional weight Lieutenant Cross carries. The imagery O'Brien uses throughout The Things They Carried gives the audience a mental image to relate to. O’Brien uses imagery when describing the “lucky charm” Martha gave to Cross. The charm is described as, “Smooth to the touch, it was a milky-white color with flecks of orange and violet, oval-shaped, like miniature egg” (par. 13). O'Brien uses the vivid details when describing the charm because it shows how much the object means to Cross because Martha gave it to him. Imagery is also used to help O’Brien describe what the scene was like as Lavender dies. The author describes, “Kiowa, who saw it happen, said it was like watching a rock fall, or a big sandbag or something-just boom, then down - not like the movies where the dead guy rolls around and does fancy spin and goes ass over teakettle - not like that, Kiowa said, the poor bastard just flat-fuck fell” (par. 11). When describing the death of Lavender, the reader can understand the emotional weight that is being pushed upon the
The author describes many times how infatuated Cross is with Martha. He not only dwells on the memory of her, but creates fantasies in his mind. He does not merely recall memories of her; instead he imagines what might be, such as "romantic camping trips" into the White Mountains in New Hampshire (par. 1). Cross also catches himself walking away from his men and daydreaming about Martha. The mental escape and fantasies Cross endures relate to the emotional weight Lieutenant Cross carries. The imagery O'Brien uses throughout The Things They Carried gives the audience a mental image to relate to. O’Brien uses imagery when describing the “lucky charm” Martha gave to Cross. The charm is described as, “Smooth to the touch, it was a milky-white color with flecks of orange and violet, oval-shaped, like miniature egg” (par. 13). O'Brien uses the vivid details when describing the charm because it shows how much the object means to Cross because Martha gave it to him. Imagery is also used to help O’Brien describe what the scene was like as Lavender dies. The author describes, “Kiowa, who saw it happen, said it was like watching a rock fall, or a big sandbag or something-just boom, then down - not like the movies where the dead guy rolls around and does fancy spin and goes ass over teakettle - not like that, Kiowa said, the poor bastard just flat-fuck fell” (par. 11). When describing the death of Lavender, the reader can understand the emotional weight that is being pushed upon the