The Things They Carried

As I have been progressing in my read, The Things They Carried, I have noticed many forms of irony. One form of irony that I have noticed is when Ted Lavender came back from the restroom and was "zapped while zipping" instead of being killed in the tunnel like all of the soldiers expected (O'Brien 17). Another form of irony I encountered was when O'Brien is given the opportunity to skip out on his duties and go to Canada. He is on the little metal boat and he has the choice to swim away from everything that ever meant anything to him but all he "could do is cry" (O'Brien 57). I believe he starts to cry because he feels as if he were a coward not to serve his duty and die for a cause that he didn't believe in, but he was also afraid of what others, in his hometown, would think of him. The last form of irony I saw in this book so far, was in the chapter Friends. In order to see this irony you have to recognize the chapter previous to this one, Enemies. In the chapter Enemies Lee Struck and Dave Jensen get into a fist fight and are labeled enemies. But in the chapter Friends Lee Struck dies and Dave Jensen "went over and kneeled at Struck's side" and put all their differences aside (O'Brien 66). Jensen is relieved that Struck has died but at the same time he still seems to care about him. I'm not sure if Jensen is relieved because he doesn't have to kill Struck or if he is relieved because he doesn't have to deal with their relationship anymore, which I think is a love-hate relationship. Either way the titles explain the irony. One minuet they are enemies and the next they are friends. Apparently, during a huge war, the soldiers still have drama.

O'Brien, Tim. The Things They Carried. Broadway, New York: First Broadway Books, 1998. Print

Posted By: CHELSEA STRANG