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Initial Thoughts on The Things They Carried

“Without literature, life is hell.”-Charles Bukowski 

Tim O'Brien's novel The Things They Carried is a poignant commentary on the Vietnam War. Since its conception, the Vietnam War has been truthfully portrayed as a war of bloody carnage, tragic loss, and horrific violence. O'Brien recognizes these aspects of the war, but he also brings to light stories that were not completely hellish; in his novel, he draws upon his own war experiences to chronicle the sense of camaraderie between the soldiers of the Alpha Company. O'Brien notes that writing about the war has become an obsession, but it also is therapeutic (33). By focusing on his fellow soldiers, O'Brien is able to memorialize those who did not return home and those who changed in the war. 
O'Brien's first chapter, "The Things They Carried," serves to describe the literal and figurative burden that the soldiers of Vietnam bear. He describes in detail the weight of the combat weapons: 
"They carried M-14s and CAR-15s and Swedish Ks and grease guns and captured AK-47s and Chi-Coms ad RPGs and Simonov carbines and black market Uzis and .38-caliber Smith & Wesson handguns and 66 mm LAWs and shotguns and silencers and blackjacks and bayonets and C-4 plastic explosives" (7). 
The use of polysyndeton emphasizes the multiplicity and weight of the soldiers' physical burdens. At the same time, the syntax underscores the immense power that the soldiers hold, a power which the soldiers grapple with during, and after, the war. O'Brien notes how "they carried all they could bear, and then some," which suggests that the burden of the war is so heavy that it never truly disappears, even after the violence itself ends. 
Another interesting point in the novel is O'Brien's argument that those who fought in the war were cowards. When we think of those who serve in the military, we think about the ultimate, brave sacrifices they make in protecting our country. Yet, O'Brien disagrees with this statement with regards to Vietnam. According to O'Brien, the Vietnam War was an unreasonable and unjust war (38). Once he is drafted, O'Brien considers fleeing the country into Canada by swimming across the Rainey River. The Rainey River itself symbolizes baptism, for it would provide a new life for O'Brien, if he chooses to swim. Yet O'Brien realizes that he cannot abandon the life so familiar to him, and instead chooses to fight in an unjust war. This, O'Brien believes, was a cowardly act.  

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