CATHEDRAL

Name

Teacher

Course

Date

The Burdens of a War in Tom O 'Brien 's The Things They Carried

The Vietnam War means many things to the American people : to those who were actually there and fought the war as enlisted soldier those who were left behind but whose sons , brothers , fathers or grandsons were sent to fight and to the younger generation who only learn about it in history class . It also affected and continues to affect in as many different ways . Like any war , however , all stories about the

Vietnam War are about loss and scarring , both physical and psychological . Tim O 'Brien 's short story , The Things They Carried , is a remembrance as to what the Vietnam War means to its characters , soldiers in the war fields of Than Khe . These men , their experiences , and their respective conflicts while in service , represent the soldiers who fought during the war . Through the characters , the author presents how fighting a war thrusts the soldier with responsibilities to accomplish , yet those which posit burdens to bear that could affect and scar him for the rest of his life

Throughout the story , O 'Brien catalogues objects , feelings and ideas which each character has to carry with him , both literally and figuratively . They are varied and clue the reader as to the personalities , personal lives of the men and their ranks in the unit The things they carried were largely determined by necessity (367 a function of rank (369 , whatever seemed appropriate as...