The Battle in My Mind

An Essay i had to do in college

For anyone who has not been on the battlefield ever wonder what it was like and what one carried in their bag? In “The Things They Carried” that was published in 1990 and written by Tim O’Brien you will find that it is not your average war story. This story is a true war story about the Vietnam War from the eyes of a single platoon and shows you what they carried. As you read the story, you will see O’Brien uses symbols, point of view and settings to show the emotional and psychological struggle of war.

To begin, there are so many things in this story to symbolize the outcome of war. Most of the symbols come from the things that the soldiers carry in their belongings throughout the war. For instance, the soldier Kiowa carried a bible like someone carried a cross in time of need. For example, in the book it says “Kiowa, a devout Baptist, carried an illustrated New Testament that had been presented to him by his father… (102).” This showing that Kiowa’s bible symbolizes faith and religion. Another symbol is Ted Lavender carrying tranquilizers. In our book it says “Ted Lavender, who was scared, carried tranquilizers until he was shot in the head…, (102).” This shows that the tranquilizers represent fear and anxiety from the war. One other symbol I believe is important is that of having a medic like Rat Kiley carrying things like morphine and malaria tablets along with surgical tape. For example, the book says “As a medic, Rat Kiley carried a canvas satchel filled with morphine and plasma and malaria tablets and surgical tape… (103).” This showing that those objects symbolize pain and sickness you receive during war.

Next the settings that O’Brien talks about are another way to show the troubles of war. The settings in this story range from mountains, tunnels and holes. One setting you will find is the place of rest for soldiers. For example, it says “With his entrenching tool, which weighed five pounds, he began digging a hole in the earth (107)” and “On the morning after Ted Lavender died, First Lieutenant Jimmy Cross crouched at the bottom of his foxhole… (110).”  This showing they don’t always get a comfy building to rest in. Another example of their setting is where it says “When a mission took them to the mountains, they carried mosquito netting, machetes, canvas tarps, and extra bug juice (104).” This showing that the things they carry sometimes deals with their setting. A lot of times the soldiers had to check tunnels and they would find themselves wondering if they would make it back out alive. For instance, it says “They would sit down and kneel, not facing the hole, listening to the ground beneath them, imagining cobwebs and ghosts…and how you found yourself worrying about odd things: will your flashlight go dead? Do rats carry rabies? If you screamed…would your buddies hear it...? (105)?” This showing that settings take part in the psychological outcomes of war.

Lastly, O’Brien uses a third person point of view perhaps to let his platoon buddies get a chance to tell his story. Their input shows each person’s emotional state of the war and how they think. For example, it says “Kiowa shook his head sadly and glanced over at the hole where Lieutenant Jimmy Cross sat…One thing for sure, he said. The lieutenant’s in some deep hurt. I mean that crying jag-the way he was carrying on…The man cares (108).” This showing the way one feels about his leader. Another example is when Mitchell Sanders says “There’s a moral here…The moral’s pretty obvious, Sanders said, and winked. Stay away from drugs. No joke, they’ll ruin your day every time” and Henry Dobbins replies with “Cute” then I believe Sanders said “Mind blower, get it? Talk about wiggy. Nothing left, just blood and brains” and it says “They made themselves laugh (109).” All of this is showing that each person deals with the death of a fellow soldier differently.

After reading the story you see that you can find all sorts of elements like symbols, point of view and settings to show different issues in the story like psychological and emotional state just in one platoon. I believe the “moral” in this story as Mitchell Sanders would put it is war can be tough, but as long as you stick together in your platoon {family} you can get through anything.