THE THINGS THEY CARRIED

In The Things They Carried, O'Brien talks about the different things that are carried by soldiers, and that what a soldier carries varies based on the individual and his background. One soldier carries a bible and another carries a hatchet. The memories they carry will also vary depending on where they come from. Soldiers of larger stature might carry more because they can. A soldier of a smaller stature might carry a smaller gun and less food than that of a larger soldier. Soldiers who are of higher ranking carry different things than soldiers of lower ranking. The point of the story is that everyone has something they carry throughout this war.

Deconstructionism might disagree with this and say that the real emphasis is on what the soldiers carry because they are at war. The real intent of this story is to point out what the men once carried, and what they now carry. Kiowa carried his New Testament. This tells us the man he used to be, and what he used to carry. He used to be a sensitive man who lived according to the word of the Bible, and carried a love for God and his children. The war has lead him to carry a vulgar mouth and an ill sense of humor which displays his insensitive thoughts toward death and man; all he carries now is the shell of what used to be his New Testament. This is one example of what the war leads men to carry. Lieutenant Cross is in the process of becoming a product of the war. What he once carried, pictures, letters, and memories of Martha, are slowing dissolving and getting swallowed up by the war. What he is starting to carry is a regret for the many thoughts he's had about Martha.