In the book The Things They Carried there is a lot of irony. One example of Irony is how Ted Lavender was shot while he was coming back from using the restroom on a mission. This is ironic because they were on a mission where they had to choose one person to go and investigate Vietnamese war tunnels, so while one person was in the tunnel and Ted Lavender was in a supposedly ‘safe’ area, he was the one that was killed. All the troops were expecting Lee Strunk (the man who was sent into the tunnel) to be the one to die, but no. The one person out of the entire group that was actually in ‘real danger’ was perfectly fine, while his fellow troop was murdered on his way back from the bathroom. No one expected this to happen. The very moment that Ted Lavender was shot, his fellow troops were laughing, making “ghost[ly] sound[s] and talking about how Lee made it out safely (O’Brien, 12). In this book, there is also some symbolism. One example of symbolism is Martha. Throughout the book, Lieutenant Cross fantasizes about a girl from back home who he is head over heels in love with. Even though Martha is specifically tied to Lieutenant Cross, she represents what every person at war has left behind. Whether it is a family, a pet or even just a favorite reading spot, they are all significant to the people at war.

O’Brien, Tim. The Things They Carried. United States of America: Broadway Books, 1990. Print.