Introduction
O'Brien uses the word “things” in the title because the soldiers do not only carry equipment and supplies, but also emotions of love, terror, grief, and longing. Throughout the book, O'Brien includes many themes and motifs to inform the reader that the physical burdens underscore the emotional. These themes and motifs include: A fear of shame as motivation, an ambiguous morality, and loneliness.
Burdens During the War
Throughout the book, O'Brien tells how the men figuratively carry the weight of their reputations because of the presence of stress, strangeness, youth, and immaturity. However, at times O'Brien tells a specific story about a specific character and their emotional burden that weighs them down throughout the war. For example, in the first story of the book, titled “The Things They Carried”, O'Brien talks about Lt. Jimmy Cross and his burdens of responsibility, the longing for love, and deciding which is more important. Another example is the story “stockings”. In this story, O'Brien talks about Henry Dobbins's longing for love and comfort. To help himself with this emotional burden, Dobbins wears his girlfriend's pantyhose around his neck. By doing this, Dobbin's comforts himself with the superstition that the pantyhose are a good luck charm, and he also satisfies his longing for love by being able to smell the scent of his girlfriend when he wears the pantyhose around his neck. O'Brien shares these stories in order to show the reader that there's more than meets the eye when judging how tough one's burdens are during the war.
Emotional burdens after war's end
Not only does O'Brien share burden stories during the war, but he also shares stories about emotional burdens that continue to define characters after they are released from duty. For example, in O'Brien's story “Love” (which occurred in a post war setting), he informs us of lt. Cross's longing for the love of Martha which hasn't diminished. O'Brien also shares the story of Norman Bowker's post war struggle with guilt in “Speaking of Courage”, and follows up with his eventual suicide in “Notes”. O'Brien shares stories of emotional struggle in various settings to show the readers that war is not a one-time thing, because the emotional burdens may last forever, even when the physical burdens are dropped.
Shame as Motivation
In "The Things They Carried", O'Brien shares the theme of fearing shame as a motivation. This theme is expressed throughout the book in terms of men wanting social acceptance. A good example is when Curt Lemon wants to avoid a negative social status by having a perfectly good tooth pulled. Besides the events in war, the theme of fearing shame as motivation shines in O'Brien's story, “On the Rainy River”. In this story, O'Brien's beliefs put him in the position of either choosing to flee to Canada, and avoiding something he thinks is unjust, or give in to his fear of being labeled as a coward by his community and fight. O'Brien decides to fight, motivated by his fear of shame. This story is meant to show the reader how heavy of an emotion burden this theme truly is.
Morality Issues
Often times, O'Brien shows that the ugliness of war, combined with personal issues and immaturity, can lead to the men practicing an ambiguous morality. That is, the men's sense of right and wrong bend. For example, Cross's sense of morality is absent when he burns an entire village to get even whit what he's done. Also, Rat Riley tortures an animal to death because of the loss of a friend. O'Brien even becomes morally confused when he shares a story of wanting revenge when war is already ugly enough. He wants the reader to ask him “where is the morality and sense in making more enemies than you need to?” O'Brien's exposure of this motif is meant to show the irony of morality in war…there are no morals.
Motif of Loneliness
Another motif O'Brien shares is the motif of loneliness. Often times during a post-war setting, men can become emotionally lost and feel alone. In “Speaking of Courage”, Bowker drives around aimlessly because he feels there is nothing to live life for, not even himself. Also, Lt. Cross's longing for Martha causes him to obsess and, in turn, put himself in an isolated and lonely state of mind. Once again, O'Brien shows that even after the equipment is put down, the emotional burdens live on.
Conclusion
The Things They Carried was an excellent display of true burdens. The themes and motifs O'Brien provided showed the true power emotional longings have on one's thinking, feelings, and beliefs. O'Brien's stories not only educate a reader about alters in psychology, but they also prove the thesis of physical burdens underscoring the virtually impossible emotional burdens.
