Summary of the Things They Carried

The Things They Carried, by Tim O’Brien is a story about the Vietnam War. The narrator depicts a group of soldiers in the midst of combat. He also describes everything they carry and the weight of the items. The weight is extremely significant; when weight is mentioned it is not only physical weight that the soldiers must carry, but also emotional weight. The Things They Carried is about sacrifice the hardships the soldiers go through. The leader of the troops is First Lieutenant Jimmy Cross; although a good leader, a flaw holds him back from being a great leader: he is infatuated with Martha, a college girl back home.
Depending on a man’s size and metabolism rate, the soldiers carried a reasonable amount of artillery along with other provisions. Every m...