"The Things They Carried" by Tim O'Brien

                This story, the same as any story, has many layers of meaning to it. According to Kennedy/Gioia, we must - in order to find the meaning - "look to other elements in the story besides what happens in it (171)." As well as that, "a theme aims for a deeper and more comprehensive statement of its larger meaning (171)." These statements are rather important for the understanding of the story. Since this story takes us through a squad's adventures in Vietnam. The people in the war seem to all be very flavorful, very colorful - there are a lot of things to be said about them. But what is the story talking about? To me, in order to FIND the theme, I had to consider all the layers of meaning behind the story:

1. Duty, ascertained from the ending which the lieutenant burns the letters and photos.

2. War veterans and soldiers carry, and not that they carry just anything, they carry huge burdens both physically and mentally. There is central story progression on the fact that soldiers "carry."

3. Soldiers are still people; they are not without fear and they all dream of freedom.

                A theme I have found is derived from these three meanings, not that they are the only meanings but that they are the most prevalent for me. These meanings do come together as a larger theme from my understanding; and that it is "Soldiers must carry heavy burdens, but the heaviest burden of all is duty." This theme is sort of the most prevalent because of the focus on Lieutenant Cross' obsession with Martha having turned him to blaming himself for the death of subordinate Ted Lavender. The story is straightforward, and not all that complex, but the meanings are deeper and the theme teaches a moral. The moral of the story is essentially that, "When duty is at hand, distraction from it will lead to unhappy consequences."

                However, once the theme is found, it's necessary to explain theme. One line that Lieutenant Jimmy Cross thinks surmises the whole story: "It was very sad, he thought. The things men carried inside. The things men did or felt they had to do (354)." Yet this is largely in part due to the fact that he constantly blames himself for Ted Lavender's death due to his obsession over Martha, such as: "He felt shame. He hated himeslf. He had loved Martha more than his men, and as a consequence Lavender was now dead, and this was something he would have to carry like a stone in his stomach for the rest of the war (350)." Because of this shame, it led to on the morning after Lavender's death to him wanting to "comport himself as an officer (354)."