Moving Forward in "The Things They Carried"

The Things They Carried
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The Things They Carried
Based on the list of literary terms, a "theme" is a controlling idea or meaning in a work of art. In this case, Tim O’Brien’s work, The Things They Carried was the short story that reflected the plights of soldiers in America (O’Brien, 1990). Based on the reading, I think Tim O’Brien wants to communicate in this story that soldiers have very little, and that the things they carry are very precious for them, even if they seem like they are not precious items pricewise. The things the men carry reflect different levels of significance. Some things carried are for sentimental value, some are for practical use, and some are for leisure or even comfort that they can’t have the time to do leisurely activities. Some of the things are even of supernatural value or symbolic in nature (O’Brien, 1990). I think the story heavily relies on the psyche of the soldiers, and how they use the items they carried to stay sane in the middle of the war and to keep going even when their lives are at stake. The author expresses the theme of sentimentality and the importance of having personal items by sharing each and every soldiers’ things that they carried and explaining a bit why they carried them. In doing so, he communicates to...