The things they carried

Tim O’Brien’s short story “The Things They Carried” is a narrative about the life of an American infantry platoon during the Vietnam war. The story is told by inserting short narrative passages within an inventory of the objects the men carried with them both physically and psychologically. The characters use different methods to cope with the death of fellow platoon member, Ted Lavender, such as escapism, guilt and acceptance.
The characters used various methods of escapism to deny the reality of Lavender’s death. These methods included denying Lavender’s humanity, refusing to talk about the incident and using humour.
Upon watching Lavender die, Kiowa states that it was “like watching a rock fall.” (O’Brien 43) Kiowa continues to make similar references to Lavender’s dead body, referring it to as “cement, … concrete” (O’Brien 49) and “sandbag.” (O’Brien 43) He seems shocked at the lack of drama when Lavender fell. “Just boom, ...