The Struggles Of Soldiers In Tim O Brien's The Things They Carried
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In Tim O’Brien’s, The Things They Carried, he was describing the life of soldiers in the Vietnam War. As the topic of the short story suggests, O’Brien was discussing what soldiers carried around and needed facing their harsh experiences during the war. It seemed that the struggles of the soldiers were not only about facing death or having a hard lifestyle in which they carried their safety equipment, food, medical supplies, and even sometimes their dope. The struggles included burdens related to habits, tasks, beliefs, and emotions. (1)
Habits always make the difference when it comes to success or failure; they sometimes have to do with survival. A drug addict’s survival can depend on getting his dose of dope. “Until he was shot, Ted Lavender carried six or seven ounces of premium dope, which for him was a necessity.”(2: page 2) the narrator says, it is noticeable that dope was important to Lavender’s survival that he would not mind the extra weight and the risk of being punished or prosecuted to have drugs on duty. On another hand, it seems that a man’s habit or love of a certain food will make him carry it around. “Henry…show more content… He did not carry extra food or belief. He carried thoughts and emotions. “They were not love letters, but Lieutenant Cross was hoping…He would sometimes taste the envelope flaps, knowing her tongue had been there. More than anything, he wanted Martha to love him as he loved her, but the letters were mostly chatty, elusive on the matter of love” (2: page 1) Cross loved Martha, and wished she loved him too. He seemed to be against what the sexual revolution(3) called for at the times “She was a virgin, he was almost sure…then at full dark he would return to his hole and watch the night and wonder if Martha was a virgin.”(2: page 1) He fantasized about a romance with Martha idealizing her as a virgin unlike what some people called for sexual relations outside monogamous