“The Things They Carried” is a short, believable story. It was written by Tim O'Brien, who is a Vietnam veteran. He never imagined it would be as gripping and life-changing a story as it has become. Tim O'Brien introduces us to life during the Vietnam War. It captures the feelings of each soldier as they were on the battlefield. We are involved in their dreams, their fears and the ghosts that haunt them. These were some of the things they carried. “First Lieutenant Jimmy Cross carried letters from a girl named Martha” (O'Brien, 1990). This is how we are introduced to Cross. He is a young soldier in charge of his platoon. He is only 22 years old. He brings his love to a young woman named Martha. He also brings letters and photographs of her. He brings with him his dreams of love. He and the others carried with them their necessities such as "P-38 can opener, pocket knife, heat pads, wrist watch, 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, 1990). Cross was also guilty of Ted Lavender's death. “As a first lieutenant and platoon leader, Jimmy Cross carried with him a compass, maps, code books, binoculars, and a .45 caliber pistol that weighed 2.9 pounds fully loaded” (O'Brien, 1990). He received a pebble from Martha which he carried with him for good luck. We are given different weights for each of the elements, but the heaviest burden was his guilt over killing Ted Lavender. The burden became so heavy that he had to place the weight of his dreams on Martha. He burned the letters and photographs. Henry Dobbins was the gunner and took the M-60 to the ... middle of paper ... wanted to talk about Ted Lavender's death, but no one wanted to listen. He should also carry the burden of being the minority in the platoon. He also carried a ghost.THE THINGS THEY CARRIED (Summary and Answer) 3We are able to see what each soldier's burdens are. We can feel what they feel and imagine what they think as they fight a political war. We feel the pain that they entrusted their lives to the US government, when the US government was using war for political purposes. We can see the effect Ted Lavender's death had on each of them. We can see the fear and pain they are going through. We watch them grow as soldiers and lose some burdens while gaining new ones. Bibliography O'Brien, T. (1990). The things they carried. In T. O'Brien, The Things They Carried. Houghton Mifflin.