Analyzing Soldiers' Personal Belongings in "The Things They Carried"

“The Things They Carried” is a touching story about soldiers and the items that they deem important enough to carry with them throughout the war. Tim O’Brien explores the effects of how personal items give soldiers hope and security. The readers experience this sense of hope, and security when the main character Lieutenant Jimmy Cross relies on letters and pictures during his time in the war. Cross often spends his days fanaticizing about a college aged girl named Martha instead of directing his troops correctly.

By Cross spending time daydreaming about what Martha is doing the readers will see where this will later get him in trouble and put his soldiers at risk. The readers will also notice how the main character develops and matures as the story progresses. The author’s use of symbolism drastically effects how the reader interprets what Cross is experiencing throughout the text.

Throughout the story O’Brien listed numerous items that the characters “humped” or packed.

For instance, “among the necessities or near necessities were P-38 can openers, pocket knives, heat tabs, wrist watches, dog tags, mosquito repellent, chewing gum, candy, cigarettes, salt tablets, packets of Kool-Aid, lighters matches, sewing kits, Military Payment Certificates, C rations, and two or three canteens of water” (O’Brien 564). The reader is able to determine the difference between a survival necessity and a personal necessity.

Author Tim O’Brien chooses to use letters and two pictures as a personal necessity for character Lieutenant Jimmy Cross. The letters and pictures are a symbol of hope, and security.

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Numerous times throughout the story the author recollects that the letters Lieutenant Jimmy Cross had with him are not love letters. Often times, the reader will see the hope that the letters provide Jimmy. For instance, O’Brien wrote “they were signed Love, Martha, but Lieutenant Jimmy Cross understood that Love was only a way of signing and did not mean what he sometimes pretended it meant” (564).

By Jimmy pretending that the signature containing Love had an implication of more than a salutation it offered him hope, hope of making it home and having a life after the war. It gave him hope of having someone in his life like Martha and it provided him hope that there was someone out there that cared about him and his wellbeing. It also gave Cross a sense of security and stability. It took his mind off of the war and it took him to someplace else far away from where he was and from the responsibility of being a Lieutenant over a platoon. The stability of the letters was the one constant thing in Cross’s life. He read them daily and daily they were always the same. They were his safety net and he could rely on the stability that the letters offered.

Later in the story Cross received a pebble and a letter from Martha. Martha explained how she acquired the pebble and that it had a “separate but together quality” that reminded her of him (O’Brien 568). This pebble further fueled Cross’s obsession with Martha. O’Brien used the pebble and the note to emphasize the hope and security that Martha provided Jimmy throughout the story. Jimmy goes on to daydream about the deeper meaning of Martha’s letter, her physique, the beach, his love for her, and the jealousy that he harbors due to not being with her.

All of these things symbolize a hope for home and of another life. Jimmy is often deep in thought due to the hope of “something else” that is provided by Martha unknowingly. The author stated “his mind wandered and he had difficulty keeping his attention on the war” (Obrien 568). This is a perfect example of how a little pebble symbolizes so much more to the characters and to the readers.

As the text comes to a close, O’ Brien directs the readers to the fact that Lieutenant Jimmy Cross no longer needs the false sense of hope and security that the letters and pictures provide. He has accepted responsibility for his position and no longer looks at himself as a child of only 24 years of age. He goes on to understand that the false sense of security that he had from day dreaming did not offer him safety. After a character named Lavender is killed Lieutenant Jimmy Cross decides to dispose of the letters and pictures and take responsibility of his platoon and its actions.

Author Tim O’Brien constructively shows how the character Cross has developed and matured. O’ Brien also demonstrates how Cross has come to learn that he has a job to do and a false sense of security puts his and everyone else’s lives at risk. The author acknowledges this by having a character note “the lieutenant’s in some deep hurt, I mean that crying jag – the way he was carrying on – it wasn’t fake or anything, it was real heavy-duty hurt… the man cares (O’ Brien 573). This displays an understanding by his platoon and the readers of the kind of position that Cross is in professionally.

The readers are able to sense the stress and distress that Cross is experiencing. The readers also now have a full understanding of why he held on to the false sense of security that the letters and pictures provided. Cross longed to be somewhere else and he could only find that escape in his fantasies of Martha.

In the end, the readers leave understanding why Lieutenant Jimmy Cross relied so heavily on his letters and pictures. O’Brien does an excellent job expressing to the readers the security and hope that Martha provided Lieutenant Jimmy Cross throughout the story. Due to the symbolism used in “The Things They Carried” by author Tim O’ Brien readers are able to connect with Cross on a personal level and they understand his need for hope and security. When at war the soldiers are only able to find comfort and hope in their personal artifacts.

Due to O’Brien using physical objects like letters to displays a significance in the story, the letters have become a symbol of something much larger. They are a symbol of hope and security in a time of despair and uncertainty.