In the story “The Things They Carried”, American soldiers  in Vietnam carry more than just their necessities for war.  Tangibly they carry canteens, bombs, guns, pictures of their lovers, cigarettes but they also carry intangibles things which also carry an invisible weight.

For example, the author talks about how they carry a burden of their lives,  grief, terror, love and longing.  Tim O Brien weaves the pattern of the visible and invisible things they carry by mentioning what each soldier had in their personal belongings but also what significance these items had.

Lavendar had in his bag, dope and tranquilizers. This man obviously carried the fear of death. Yet Lavander was the one to die. This irony points to the uncertainty of events in war and it creates mixed feelings of love yet hate as it did for the 24 year old Lieutenant.

This story had a sobering effect. It was the real lives in the eyes of soldiers and men of war. The reality of war was that there were bouts of fear and even cowardice. Sometimes there was even humor because they had to just “keep going” as the narrator says.

Soldeirs Home carries a weight as well that was intangible. An episode of war carried both a physical and emotional loss. The common thread of these stories it seems was the consequence of war whether it was durin or after war.

 

Patricia Lee