Symbolic Item from "The things they carried" Literature Essay

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Symbolic Item from The Things They Carried by Tim O'Brien
Love keeps the world going. It is the determinant for peace or war in the family setting, within a country, or even between countries. It is expressed through language, verbal, written, or in signs (Hill, 51). Love is the symbolic item from The Things They Carried by Tim O'Brien that I identify with and has shaped most of who I am today. It is a bitter part of my life that has made me better at the same time. Lieutenant Jimmy Cross loved Martha so much that he carried with him letters that Martha wrote. Although the messages were not romantic, they reminded Lt. Cross of the love he had for Martha and kept his hope high that one day they would end up together (O'Brien, 1).
Growing up, my parents were one great thing that no one ever thought would go separate ways and behave like strangers. We are a nuclear family of four with a boy and a girl. We lived happily with both parents giving us the best love that a family can get. We often went out and had so much fun hiking and in family picnics. We toured Africa as a family, where I saw the big five animals for the first time. Little did I know my parents had issues that they never wanted us, children, to see. So they pretended on our faces.
Things went wayward during my 11th birthday when my mum openly accused my father of not leaving most of the family responsibilities. Yet, he was employed and earning a good salary just like my mother. Things got out of hand, and my mother left home and took us to a rented apartment in the city's suburbs. I...