1. Journal Entry "The Things They Carried

The items that Tim O' Brien’s characters carry are both symbolic and literal. They carry personal items with them on their journey through Vietnam as well as heavy machinery and ammunition. The things they carry bring a sense of who they were at home, and who they are at war. Both Jimmy Cross and Henry Dobbins carried with them their lovers from home, Dobbins with his girlfriend’s pantyhose that he “wrapped around his neck as a comforter.” While Cross “humped” around letters and pictures from a girl named Martha from New Jersey, a girl he would always love. These items that these two men carry reveal a feeling of love and longing comfort that they search for during the war. With love comes fear and Ted Lavender carries tranquilizers which resembled his terror for the war. However some men in my mind, carried random things that of coarse didn’t make much sense to me, but to them they meant the world, such as dental floss, soap, and toothbrush’s that Dave Jensen carried along with him. He also took with him “three pairs of socks and a can of Dr. Scholl’s foot powder” to prevent trench foot. These items I think signify a sense of home and cleanliness which of course is unavoidable at war. Other things the men carried where condoms, a diary, and comic books all of which at first seem to have no meaning but truly do have a deep meaning only the soldiers know. With the weight of fear on their shoulders they also carry the load of their reputations, each and every one of them need to hide their vulnerability and distress from the enemies and fellow soldiers. Their security has been diminished and the only things they have are the few items they tag alongside them.