O’Brien describes that the things the soldiers carried varied depending on the mission. However, in addition to the mandatory necessities that symbolize a physical burden, each soldier carried with them psychological and emotional burden. At the outset of the story, O’Brien (2009) observed that “Lieutenant Jimmy Cross carried letters from a girl named Martha.” They were not love letters, but such knowledge did not deter Cross from hoping of the love they would have shared. As the story unfolds, one realizes that Cross attaches much significance to the letters than even the mission itself. They are weighed down by the burden of love they never consummated as evidenced through their own account. According to O’Brien (2009), Cross humped his love for Martha up the hill and through the swamps, a burden far more than its intransitive implication. In addition, Cross carried two photographs of Martha, other paraphernalia befitting of a leader, a simple pebble as a good-luck from Martha, and the responsibility for the lives of his men.
Henry Dobbins was the biggest man in the group and in addition to the mandatory necessities determined by the type of mission, they carried extra rations to sustain their big weight. As the biggest man, Dobbins was tasked with the role of a machine gunner and thus carried the M-60 and belts of ammunition. In demonstrating their loneliness as a result of separation from their beloved by war, Dobbins “carried his girlfriend's pantyhose wrapped around his neck as a comforter” (O’Brien, 2009). However, Dobbins also carried a burden for the group in the form of a Black Flag look for not caring and their destructive nature in sitting fires, kicking jars of rice, blowing tunnels, and frisking children and old men. It is evident that the Black Flag for not caring was hoisted by Dobbins to mask the psychological and emotional burden exerted by their role in the group.
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One can argue that Dave Jensen was more suited to life away from the war because they practiced hygiene in the field and carried a number of toiletries (O’Brien, 2009). War had thrown them into a brutal world in which the only solace was from to act as if life was normal. Jensen also carried socks and a can of foot powder for foot trench, which shows how detached they are from the war field where such items are a luxury. Jensen also carried nigh sight vitamin high in carotene which may imply their vision was not befitting to be involved in the war field in the first place. The general perception one gets of Jensen is that they were alien to the war field because they carried earplugs when none of their colleagues spared a thought for such luxuries. In addition to the superstitious rabbit foot for good-luck, Jensen also carried “empty sandbags that could be filled at night for added protection” (O’Brien, 2009). Jensen life was a living nightmare because they saw danger in everything they did, which points towards the psychological and emotional burden of war.
In highlighting the items carried by the soldiers, O’Brien tells the readers of the plight of soldiers in the field. It is evident that all of the soldiers have people and families they would rather be with instead of being at the war field as evidence in the letters and pantyhose from girlfriend carried by Cross and Dobbins respectively. O’Brien portrays that war denies people the opportunity to love, and the constant fear of death to which the soldiers are exposed exerts psychological and emotional burdens to soldiers and their kin. War is destructive, the guns, ammunition, and explosives carried by the soldiers are not for practice but for use in real battles. It is man eat man world, kill or be killed. Casualties from war are mainly civilians and it is unethical to think that they are collateral victims (O’Brien, 2009). When Ted Lavender is killed by a gunshot in the head, the soldiers are devastated and they relive the experience again and again. Similar experiences are shared by other survivors of war. The emotional baggage of men who might die in the form of the intangible grief, terror, love, and longing, whose mass and gravity was immense and their outcomes tangible.
Reference
O’Brien, T. (2009). “The Things They Carried” . New York: Mariner Books.
