The Things They Carried

The Things They Carried

The story “The Things They Carried” is about war and the things that soldiers carry with them in the war. This is a story that I can relate to. The author describes what the characters carry both physically and mentally.

First Lieutenant Jimmy Cross carries letters and pictures of girl named Martha. The letters are not love letters but Jimmy can hope. He carries the letters to help him remember what it is like back home. The letters are wrapped in plastic in placed in the bottom of his rucksack.

All soldiers carried the necessities or near necessities. They carried can openers, knives, heat tabs, watches, dog tags, bug spray, gum, candy, cigarettes, salt tabs, kool-aid, lighters, matches, sewing kits, pay notices, food, and three canteens of water. All of these things that they carried were things that they needed to survive. These things were things that they carried physically that they could not live without.

All of the soldiers also carried their perspective weapons. The most common weapons were the M-60, M-16, and the M-79. They also carried weapons that were picked up along the way from the opposing forces in the war. Anything that could be used to kill the opposing forces was picked up and kept to use. Some soldiers carried RPG’s which could be used to destroy tanks. They also carried grenades, land mines, and C4 explosives which could be used to disable a tunnel or destroy huts and villages. The soldiers also carried smoke grenades that could be used to mark an area for extractions so that the choppers would know where to land or they could be used as a type of cover to hide from the enemy. Some soldiers carried dope and tranquilizers to numb the pain or just to use to calm the nerves. These were all things that the soldiers carried physically.

There were other things that the soldiers carried mentally. They all carried the thoughts of home and wishing that they were there instead