Symbolism in Tim O Briens quot;The Things They...

Symbolism In The Things They Carried In Tim OBriens story The Things They Carried we see how OBrien uses symbolism in order to indirectly give us a message and help us to connect to what the soldiers are thinking and feeling. During a war soldiers tend to take with them items from home kind of as a security blanket. The items they normally take with them tend to reveal certain characteristics of their personality. Henry Dobbins is the guy who loves to eat so he made sure he took some extra food. Ted Lavender was the scaredy cat of the group so he carried tranquilizers with him. Dave Jense is the paranoid one, so he takes soap and a toothbrush to prevent germs and disease as best he can. Kiowa has a bible with him showing†¦show more content†¦What they have with them is decided by what they are scared of or how much they miss home or just something to distract them from the war that is going on. They even take with them good luck charms. They are all very aware of what they have with them and how much it weights because it is part of them. Jimmy Cross has a pebble that he got from Martha. When she sent it to him she stated that it was a symbol of her feelings toward him. Though he did not completely understand what she mind by it he kept it with him because he thought it was romantic. He keeps the pebble in his mouth and imagines being at home with Martha, not having to carry any items with him. Norman Bowker has a thumb with him. He had obtained the thumb from a dead teenage Vietnamese solider. Mitchell Sanders had cut it off and given it to him as of way of symbolizing a moral. Amongst personal items, necessities, fear, they also carried each other and diseases. In a review titled The baggage we carry weighs more than all of our suitcases by Jann Malone, we actually get to see how the author, Tim OBrien, himself actually explains the symbolism that the items the soldiers have mean. OBrien states that the items they carry can be viewed as personal problems, thoughts, emotions, etc. that we all carry. its also about the things all of us carry through our lives (Malone, 1). He goes on to say We all have fears, loneliness, guilt. And we all know those