Monday, July 26, 2010

Heavy Words- The Things They Carried

Multiple pages of lists of stuff. Tim O' Brien weighs the reader down by listing every single item that he could in the description of the soldiers. I mean seriously he told you how much the batteries in a radio were (26 pounds fyi)(page 5). Honestly I see this as a overall theme of this book the emotional problems/physical problems these young....REALLY YOUNG soldiers have to carry. An example of this is Lieutenant Jimmy Cross. Who first is attached to this Martha character that doesn't even like him. He then is burdened with the weight of the death of his man Lavender.
Another part of this chapter I really liked can be found on page 17. "Mostly he felt pleased to be alive" I love that Kiowa doesn't dwindle in the death of his friend. Mourning his friend won't bring him back, and what's life worth if it isn't worth living?

1 comment:

  1. I noticed the exact weight of the things they acrried too when I was reading the book. I found that it not only weighed them down physically, but mentally too. I bet that the veterans of the Vietnam War are still carrying those mental things and maybe even physical, bullet wounds, etc, today.

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