Things They Carried and in the Field

The novel The Things They Carried, by Tim O'Brien, is an episodic account of Alpha Company, a platoon of American soldiers and their experiences during the Vietnam conflict. We will focus on two chapters of the book, "The Things They Carried," and "In the Field." These are the only chapters in the book that are told from an omniscient point-of-view. Both of these chapters evoke the horrendous fear, sadness, stress, chaos, loneliness, and uncertainty of one's future brought on by active combat.

In the first chapter, "The Things They Carried," O'Brien works to bring order and comprehension into a chaotic and incomprehensible situation by spotlighting the burdens, both physical such as photographs, rations, weapons and their weights and so forth as well as the less tangible such as their memories, hopes, guilt, and stories. This device works well to give the reader an...
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