The Things They Carried

"The Things They Carried", written by Tim O'Brien, was such a vivid depiction of war. Maybe the actual "things they carried" has been a somewhat less elaborated part of war literature, or this was my first exposure to it because I never knew quite the extent or even close to what they actually carried or were even required to. When I was reading this story, I was first quilted by my own ignorance towards war literary and slang terms, war effects as far as on the actually soldiers, and maybe an overall ignorance towards war in general. In other words, my response to this reading was more of shock than anything else. Yes, I know some things about wart, but not quite like this. The way the story described the just the walking conditions of the soldiers was enough to make me appreciate the fact I do not have to “watch my back” in some respect when walking here in America anywhere.
I cannot imagine the constant feeling of never being safe, even in a somewhat happy moment. This is depicted so splendidly at the part of the story when they all draw straws to be lowered into some sort of enemy tunnel system. They lowered a fellow soldier by the name of Lee Strunk down into the tunnel and he did not return to the surface for what seemed to them a long time. They almost accounted it in the story to a cave-in. When he finally returned to the surface of the tunnel the story seems to take a dramatic turn. They went from being almost numb and life-less walkers, to smiling, clapping, making jokes, and for a moment having a “safe” happy moment. When suddenly, right in that safe moment, Ted Lavender is shot.
I think overall the story is describing not the carnal things the men carry but the spiritual and emotional “things” the men carried. They all carried more than just bags, guns of every sort, and assorted personal items; they carried who they were and what meant something to them. To some of them, it was a family token, and to some of them letters or anything that reminded them of being back home.