In "The Things They Carried," what unifying elements does the story contain?

Tim O’Brien’s opening story in the novel by the same name, “The Things They Carried,” uses repetition to unify the entire story, and consequently, the rest of the novel. The main device he uses is the repetition of several important ideas and themes.

1. O’Brien’s long list of the things men carry with them physically into war repeats throughout the story. By listing the many faceted things men take with them to war, O’Brien is...

Tim O’Brien’s opening story in the novel by the same name, “The Things They Carried,” uses repetition to unify the entire story, and consequently, the rest of the novel. The main device he uses is the repetition of several important ideas and themes.

1. O’Brien’s long list of the things men carry with them physically into war repeats throughout the story. By listing the many faceted things men take with them to war, O’Brien is showing just how difficult war is physically. The idea of “humping” M-16’s, ammunition, radios, flak jackets, equipment, and personal items through the 110-degree jungles of Vietnam is exhausting for the soldiers. This physical exhaustion leads to emotional or psychological exhaustion as well.

2. O’Brien also juxtaposes descriptions of the physical effects of war with the psychological effects. Men not only carry material things with them into war, but what O’Brien says are perhaps the “heaviest burdens,” the emotional ones like fear, cowardice, and reputation. Repeating the many burdens of war, O’Brien unifies the chapter to give his reader a thorough and realistic description of what war is really like.

3. O’Brien also repeats the stories of Jimmy Cross and his love for Martha with the death of Ted Lavendar. In these stories, he interjects themes like blame, guilt, and loss. Ted Lavendar’s death is mentioned several times in the beginning of the story until we finally get the whole incident towards the end. This repetition builds suspense and shows how devastating Lavendar’s death is to Jimmy Cross and Tim O’Brien.

The story also opens and ends with Jimmy Cross. At the beginning, he is tucked in his foxhole reading Martha’s letters. At the end of the story, he burns the letters and pledges to be a better officer who is tougher on his men so he can save them.

The intertwined stories of Jimmy Cross’ guilt and Ted Lavendar’s death repeat the underlying physical and emotional effects of war.