The Things They Carried -- chapt 1-3

The first chapter, titled “The Things They Carried,” is self-explanatory. A great amount of the chapter discusses different men in the army and the things they carried, which ranges from weapons and equipment to personal possessions to the physical and emotional hardships that soldiers experience, especially in this specific war taking place in Vietnam.

Any person that has a duty in any type of battle or war normally encounters hardships or burdens. On page 21, the book reads, “They carried all the emotional baggage of men who might die. Grief, terror, love, longing—these were intangibles, but the intangibles had their own mass and specific gravity, they had tangible weight.” Much of this chapter discusses the difficulties of being a soldier and how much emotional pain they are put through while in war. The emphasis on the emotional hardships should foreshadow a major conflict or theme arising out of the difficulties and burdens the soldiers are put through.  Also, due to the book’s title, the reader can assume that the book discusses both physical and emotional “things” to carry. A line that should strike any reader also occurred on page 21, which states, “Men killed, and died, because they were embarrassed not to. It was what had brought them to the war in the first place, nothing positive, no dreams of glory or honor, just to avoid the blush of dishonor.” This line should also help with foreshadowing since it discusses more problems and rough times that soldiers deal with in the war. They also carry each other by helping each other deal with the war. When the author lists all of the physical things they carried compared to the emotional things, it helps emphasize the emotional things.

The second chapter, titled “Love”, discusses the topic of how love can also be affected by the war. Martha and Lieutenant Cross had some romance going on, but their love was discontinued when the war went on. Lieutenant Cross consistently had hoped that their love would rekindle. A picture of Martha was one of the items that Cross carried. The entire situation between Martha and Lieutenant Cross also adds to the emotional burdens that soldiers carry. Love and relationships can be changed by the war also, adding to the other complications that these soldiers endured.

Chapter three’s main topic is mostly O’Brien discussing stories while he was at war. He tells multiple different types of stories, ranging from the positive memories of war to a few violent memories. The beginning of page 31 reads, “The war wasn’t all terror and violence. Sometimes could almost get sweet.” Also, page 35 states, “Not bloody stories, necessarily. Happy stories, too, and even a few peace stories.” Yet, at the end of chapter 3, the author reminisces on another story, saying, “I remember these things, too. The damp, fungal scent of an empty body bag…A hand grenade.” Violent memories will stick with those in the war. The emotional pain the soldiers endure will never go away. Stories are a major part of these soldiers’ lives. Page 38 reads, “and the war occurred half a life-time ago, and yet the remembering makes it now. And sometimes remembering will lead to a story, which makes it forever. That’s what stories are for. Stories are for joining the past to the future. Stories are for those late hours in the night when you can’t remember how you got from where you were to where you are. Stories are for eternity, when memory is erased, when there is nothing to remember except the story.” Stories help the soldiers remember the good and the bad, and they become strong enough to tell the stories even after all of the pain they once encountered.