The Things They Carried

In the story The Things They Carried by Tim O'Brien, O'Brien talks about soldiers off in war. Throughout the story, the reader mentions all the things that the soldiers carried with them while they were at war. Some of the things that soldiers were physical items. "First lieutenant carried with him letters from a girl named Martha" (O'Brien, 1-2). Not only were the items that soldiers carried physical items, the soldiers also carried a great deal of internal conflicts. On page sixteen of the story, O'Brien mentions a great list of internal items that the soldiers are dealing with. Some of the internal items they carried with them were guilt, fear, memories, and reputations. At the end of the story, it talks about how the internal, not the physical items, were holding the soldiers back. Items such as memories were distracting the soldiers and not allowing them to truly focus on their works. At the end of the story, one of the characters takes a major step in taking away his distractions: he burns the letters. I think that the soldiers are going to succeed in overcoming their internal problems because taking the first step is the hardest. In burning the letters, he is taking the first step in putting the past behind him and moving on to better perform his job.