Tim O’Brien’s book, “The Things They Carried,” provides valuable insight into the minds of soldiers, and enlightens us to the emotional and psychological costs of war. Specifically, the stories of Mary Anne, the baby water buffalo and the chapter, “In the Field,” help us to relate to the metamorphosis that soldiers undergo. While the obvious correlation for O’Brien’s novel is to speak about the physical objects each soldier carried were much more significant, including such things as personal doubts, fears, and dreams.
The soldiers have a crazy amount of mental baggage. O’Brien wrote this novel as a type of therapy for himself as a way to deal with everything he had experienced in the Vietnam War. They carried all they could bear, and then some, including a silent awe for the terrible power of the things they carried. …show more content…
He writes stories more than once to find a point in why it haunts him and why he must move on. This novel portrays stories of the Vietnam War history and portrays situations the American soldiers faced. The United States government made the decision to enter the war, despite many American’s opposition. “The Things They Carried” is a powerful meditation on the experiences of foot soldiers in Vietnam and after the war. Cross attempts this to try to better himself as a soldier, but O’Brien leaves it up in the air as to whether he accomplishes this. We can infer, however, from earlier statements that he will never be completely freed from the love he carries. The soldiers mentioned in this novel carried many things with them on their march. All of the things they carried were a great burden, but none more so than their emotions. All of them carry great loads of memories, fears, and desires. These intangible objects are an essential part of them and therefore cannot be put down, but carried and endured. And as Jimmy Cross comes to realize, “It was very sad, the things men carried