The Things They Hid...

In “The Things They Carried”, Tim O’Brien shares his platoon’s experiences during the Vietnam War. Narrating in third person, he describes what the men of his platoon— especially Jimmy Cross, the protagonist—are thinking and offers explanations for their sometimes inexplicable actions. As the men encounter hardships, fear, and death, they become hardened; they carry human thumbs and trying to disguise their pain behind a façade of bravado and curses. As a grunt, or ground infantry soldier, O’Brien experienced the Vietnam War firsthand; in this short story, he attempts to convey what it really felt like to be a young, frightened soldier far away from home.

Perhaps one of O’Brien’s most useful tools in emphasizing the plight of these men is his frequent use of the phrase “they carried” to signify both the literal and figurative burdens that they must bear. For example, they all hold standard equipment such as “P-38 can openers, pocket knives, heat tabs, wristwatches, dog tags, mosquito repellent, chewing gum, candy, cigarettes, salt tablets, packets of Kool-Aid, lighters, matches… and two or three canteens of water”(¶ 2). Each man, however, carries something unique that says something about himself: Ted Lavender carries illegal drugs, Rat Kiley carries comic books, Dave Jensen carries various hygienic items such as toothpaste and dental floss, and Jimmy Cross carries letters and photos from a girl named Martha. These simple items represent more than just casual idiosyncrasies; they offer each man a chance to briefly escape the awful reality that he lives in. Jimmy Cross spends much more time thinking about New Jersey than he does thinking about where he actually is. After the death of Ted Lavender, he realizes that as the lieutenant, he cannot afford to ignore the reality of this war. The lives of his men depend on him being there both physically and mentally; as a result of this revelation, he burns Martha’s picture and letters.
The other loads that the men carry are intangible, and O’Brien weaves these emotional weights in with the material ones. Jimmy Cross carries “a compass, maps, code books, binoculars… a strobe light and the responsibility for the lives of his men” (7). Kiowa carries “an illustrated New Testament… his grandmother’s distrust of the white man, [and] his grandfather’s old hunting hatchet” (2). Among other things, they carry “ghosts” (17), “the land” and “the sky” (39), “shameful memories” and “the soldier’s greatest fear, the fear of blushing” (77). The death of Ted Lavender is just one more immaterial load on their backs, demonstrated by Jimmy Cross when he repents his lack of attention: “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” (42).

The platoon’s members act almost inhuman in their attempts to hide their weaknesses. Their disregard for human life appears in many incidents, most apparently in Mitchell Sanders’ removal of the dead boy’s thumb and its “moral” and their reactions following the death of Ted Lavender. After he is shot and killed, they “sat smoking the dead man’s dope until the chopper came” (11), and refer to him as being “zapped while zipping”(46). O’Brien aptly places the real sentiment behind such bravado when he says that they commit and say such atrocities “as if to encyst and destroy the reality of death itself” (68). They know that they are only human, and they carry “the common secret of cowardice barely restrained, the instinct to run or freeze or hide, and in many respects this was the heaviest burden of all” (77). They realize that at any moment, they could be the next Ted Lavender, lying on the ground dead with broken teeth and a missing cheekbone.

The experiences of Jimmy Cross and his platoon underline the youth and innocence of the soldiers of the Vietnam War. “The Things They Carried” digs beneath the superficial surface of bravery and cruelty and reveals a generation that was too young and inexperienced to come to terms with the killing of others or the sudden, violent deaths of their friends. Although young, each man carries a weapon and the knowledge of the awful potential within it: “They carried all they could bear, and then some, including a silent awe for the terrible power of the things they carried” (12). (724)







Questions:

1) Do you blame Jimmy Cross for Ted Lavender's death? Does Tim O'Brien?

2)What is the significance of the dead VC boy and the "moral"?

3)What is the purpose of the overly-descriptive language(Exact numbers, etc.)?

4)Do you sympathize with the men for trying to dehumanize the experience?