The Things They Carried is a book about the personal experiences that Tim O' Brian has as a young solider in the Vietnam war. The book really focuses on the symbolic items that the soldiers carry with them thorough the Vietnam war. This book lists out almost everything that the men carry during the war. It usually tells you the weight of every specific item that the men carry, " As a big man, therefore a machine gunner, Henry Dobins carried the M-60, which weighed 23 pounds unloaded, but which was almost always loaded. In addition, Dobbins carried between 10 and 15 pounds of ammunition draped in belts across his chest and shoulder." (O' Brian 5) I think the author lists out all of the "Things They Carried" to show in depth about the characters. This can also show the symbolic nature of the book.
One of the most symbolic things in the book i believe is Martha. Martha, Jimmy Cross's friend/ lover, shows hope. For Jimmy Cross his motivation is to be with Martha, to survive the war and see Martha in the future. Hope or something to look forward to is what these soldiers need, motivation. They need to be motivated to get through this war and be mentally strong.
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ReplyDeleteI thought that it was interesting how you put, that by the author listing the items that the men carried added depth and after a couple minutes of thinking about that concept I began to see what you meant by this. I never thought that Martha was also a big piece of symbolism in this book until I read your review and after reading this I now see why you put her down a symbolism in this book. I think this was a great review over the first couple of chapters.
ReplyDeleteBy Taylor Perdue