The Love Story in “The Thing They Carried” Tim O’Brien’s “The Thing They Carried” is about the war and the things they carried during the war. Moreover, the memories they made and the experiences they shared while they were doing their mission are also included in this war story. Although it is emphasized about the war and the soldiers in this book, O’Brien also shows the different kind of love in this story. After all, he calls this story was the love story because the love between friends and families are beautifully illustrated and the sympathy about each other, the sorrow for the enemies and respecting others’ feeling are also described in “The Thing They Carried”.
Tim O’Brien writes the love story instead of the war story because the …show more content…
In the Chapter “The Things They Carried,” O’Brien states the total weight that Jimmy Cross carried. Since Cross was a platoon leader, he “carried a compass, maps, code books, binoculars and pistol which weighed 2.9 pounds fully loaded.” Then, the responsibilities for the lives of his men were also carried (5). Since Cross carried the leader’s responsibilities, he felt really bad and stressed when one of his men, Ted Lavender, was shot and killed (6). He blamed himself for Ted Lavender’s death because he couldn’t protect his man and he couldn’t do anything about his responsibility for his man’s life, and he felt ashamed that he was always thinking about the Martha. Therefore, on the morning after Ted died, Cross “crouched at the bottom of his foxhole and burned Martha’s letters” and also the letters (22). Although his crushing love for Martha was too much influence for him, he realized that the leader’s responsibilities for his men during that time was more important. Therefore, the book is about the soldiers who are the normal people and have their own story of love and the friendship between the leaders and their men although they fight for in the war by killing their enemies to protect themselves and to protect the country. So, …show more content…
In the Chapter “How to Tell a True War Story,” O’Brien demonstrates how Rat Kiley felt when his close friend, Curt Lemon, dies unexpected by stepping on a booby-trapped 105 round. After losing his best friend in the world, he felt really depressed and shot the baby buffalo several times to release the sadness that he couldn’t protect his friend. Then, he cried a lot, and he had something to say how you felt, but he couldn’t tell to others. Moreover, other soldiers didn’t speak because they know how he felt without telling them (74-76). So, they also felt sorry for what he was losing. That is kind of like a respect between the soldiers and the friends. Losing the friend who are really close and who are like other half for each other is the worst feeling in the world. Therefore, in the war, everything is unpredictable; anything can happen in the war. Although the experiences in the war is a mixture of good and bad, those become the memories while telling the war story. Therefore, O’Brien states “a true war story is never about the war…It’s about love and memory. It’s about sorrow” (81). That’s why O’Brien said this book is the love
Tim O’Brien writes the love story instead of the war story because the …show more content…
In the Chapter “The Things They Carried,” O’Brien states the total weight that Jimmy Cross carried. Since Cross was a platoon leader, he “carried a compass, maps, code books, binoculars and pistol which weighed 2.9 pounds fully loaded.” Then, the responsibilities for the lives of his men were also carried (5). Since Cross carried the leader’s responsibilities, he felt really bad and stressed when one of his men, Ted Lavender, was shot and killed (6). He blamed himself for Ted Lavender’s death because he couldn’t protect his man and he couldn’t do anything about his responsibility for his man’s life, and he felt ashamed that he was always thinking about the Martha. Therefore, on the morning after Ted died, Cross “crouched at the bottom of his foxhole and burned Martha’s letters” and also the letters (22). Although his crushing love for Martha was too much influence for him, he realized that the leader’s responsibilities for his men during that time was more important. Therefore, the book is about the soldiers who are the normal people and have their own story of love and the friendship between the leaders and their men although they fight for in the war by killing their enemies to protect themselves and to protect the country. So, …show more content…
In the Chapter “How to Tell a True War Story,” O’Brien demonstrates how Rat Kiley felt when his close friend, Curt Lemon, dies unexpected by stepping on a booby-trapped 105 round. After losing his best friend in the world, he felt really depressed and shot the baby buffalo several times to release the sadness that he couldn’t protect his friend. Then, he cried a lot, and he had something to say how you felt, but he couldn’t tell to others. Moreover, other soldiers didn’t speak because they know how he felt without telling them (74-76). So, they also felt sorry for what he was losing. That is kind of like a respect between the soldiers and the friends. Losing the friend who are really close and who are like other half for each other is the worst feeling in the world. Therefore, in the war, everything is unpredictable; anything can happen in the war. Although the experiences in the war is a mixture of good and bad, those become the memories while telling the war story. Therefore, O’Brien states “a true war story is never about the war…It’s about love and memory. It’s about sorrow” (81). That’s why O’Brien said this book is the love