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- Throughout the novel, the soldiers are forced to construct a new morality as a result of the violence required of them; however, the soldiers’ wartime moral system conflicts with the civilian moral system, which they knew before the war and which is still in place on the home front.
scholarsarchive.byu.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=1106&context=criterionMorality and Pleasure in Tim O'Brien's The Things They Carried
The characters of the platoon are repeatedly shown to have no real understanding of why they’re being sent on any particular mission, nor how their actions fundamentally change the conflict in which they’re embroiled.
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The Things They Carried. Full Book Summary. The protagonist, who is named Tim O’Brien, begins by describing an event that occurred in the middle of his Vietnam experience. “The Things They Carried” catalogs the variety of things his fellow soldiers in the Alpha Company brought on their missions.
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Lieutenant Jimmy Cross, of the Alpha Company, carries various reminders of his love for Martha, a girl from his college in New Jersey who has given no indication of returning his love. Cross carries her letters in his backpack and her good-luck pebble in his mouth. After a long days march, he unwraps her letters and imagines the prospect of her ret...
The narrator, Tim OBrien, describes the things all the men of the company carry. They are things in the most physical sensemosquito repellent and marijuana, pocket knives and chewing gum. The things they carry depend on several factors, including the mens priorities and their constitutions. Because the machine gunner Henry Dobbins is exceptionally ...
Some things the men carry are universal, like a compress in case of fatal injuries and a two-pound poncho that can be used as a raincoat, groundsheet, or tent. Most of the men are common, low-rank-ing soldiers and carry a standard M-16 assault rifle and several magazines of ammunition. Several men carry grenade launchers. All men carry the figurati...
One day, when the company outside the Than Khe area is on a mission to destroy tunnel complexes, Cross imagines the tunnels collapsing on him and Martha. He becomes distracted by wondering whether or not she is a virgin. On the way back from going to the bathroom, Lavender is shot, falling especially hard under the burden of his loaded backpack. St...
The morning after Lavenders death, in the steady rain, Cross crouches in his foxhole and burns Marthas letters and two photographs. He plans the days march and concludes that he will never again have fantasies. He plans to call the men together and assume the blame for Lavenders death. He reminds himself that, despite the mens inevitable grumbling,...
The title story describes what the soldiers must lug with them—both literally and figuratively— as they march: food, canteens, flak jackets, and weapons, as well as grief, terror, secrets, and memories.
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Chapter 1 Summary. Lt. Jimmy Cross carried letters from Martha, the girl he loved. She did not love him; he knew this, and yet it was thinking of Martha and looking at her photographs and letters that helped to remind him of home. Sometimes, his daydreams of Martha distracted him from patrol.
Context: Tim O’Brien, a Vietnam War veteran, wrote The Things They Carried – a collection of stories loosely based off of his experiences in the war. O’Brien, a native of Minnesota, was drafted by the U.S. Army after he earned his B.A. degree in political science. After considering escaping to
Throughout the novel, the soldiers are forced to construct a new morality as a result of the violence required of them; however, the soldiers’ wartime moral system conflicts with the civilian moral system, which they knew before the war and which is still in place on the home front.
