The Weight of What They Carried

Posted on May 26, 2022 by 23castilloa

Tim O’Brien emphasizes the objects that every character carries in the novel: The Things They Carried. The items they carry are intended to illustrate aspects of their personality. However, in the course of the novel, the soldiers are not only carrying physical objects, but also abstract ones. The soldiers carry their emotions, their honor, their dead comrades, guilt, shame, and a lot of other emotions. Rat Kiley is the medic of the Alpha Company, it is written that he was carrying comic books, but also the weight of the deaths of all of the Alpha Company. Norman Bowker carried a diary, but also the guilt of the death of Kiowa. Dave Jensen carried a toothbrush, dental floss, and soap, and the weight of Lee Strunk’s life. Everyone has something that they are carrying. Some are heavier than others, but everyone tries to move and continue with all the weight. Some move forward by escaping from their reality by using illegal substances, and others can’t progress and take their own life.

Everyone in the Alpha Company relies on Rat to save their backs. He saved a lot of lives in Vietnam, but also he felt responsible for the deaths of his platoon. As the medic, he was in charge of the health of his platoon, but sometimes he could not save his comrades. He saw too much death, and the mission they had did not help at all. They had to walk in the night to be undetected by the enemy. The platoon called it “the night life”. They tried to sleep during the day and walk in the darkness of the night. There was only darkness surrounding Rat and his thoughts. He started to visualize his thoughts which later would become hallucinations. His hallucinations consumed him, picturing things like, “Sometimes he’d stare at guys who were still okay, the alive guys and he’d start to picture how they’d look dead” (O’Brien 211). Rat snapped, he’s seen so much death in the war and now, in the darkness, he can’t escape from his thoughts. The darkness leads him to the point of madness. He was alone with his thoughts, and when he couldn’t see another soldier he pictured himself dead. Even when he has seen all this death as a medic, he can not understand how people die and how quick death is, “how crazy it was that people who were so incredibly alive they’d look dead” (O’Brien 212). People around him died instantly and without a warning. How can someone that was just breathing be seen so lifeless? Rat couldn’t fit in his mind how a living thing could easily be his life stolen. This led to madness; he wanted to escape. He shot his foot to escape Vietnam. No one blames him for doing it. The whole company sympathized with him and understood what he was going through. They felt pity for him, and that how such a great guy would descend to madness. The intangible weight of his thoughts becomes too much for him. He felt guilty about the deaths of his comrades just as Norman Bowker with the death of Kiowa. 

Bowker felt culpable for Kiowa’s death. He returns from Vietnam tortured with guilt. He hides this guilt under the regret that he didn’t win the Silver Star. He “remembered how he had taken hold of Kiowa’s boot and pulled hard, but how the smell was simply too much, and how he’d nacked off and in that way had lost the Silver Star” (O’Brien 146).  He tried to speak about what he felt after the war but he couldn’t. He pictured himself having a conversation with his father about what happened in Vietnam, but it was only his own rational side. He was lonely. He felt he did not belong anywhere. He asks O’Brien to write a story about “a guy who feels like he got zapped over in that shithole. A guy who can’t get his act together and just drives around town all day and can’t think of any damn place to go and doesn’t know how he gets to get there anyway. This guy wants to talk about it, but he can’t,” (O’Brien 151). Bowker asks O’Brien to write about how he felt because he couldn’t put it in his own words. His guilt is so big that he can not express his emotions. He could not fit in with society. It was like a time bomb. Every day that passed, he would be more consumed with guilt until the bomb exploded and he hanged himself. He wanted to run away, get rid of the blame, but the guilt already consumed him too much to the point he took his life so that he could not feel culpability anymore. The immense weight of guilt that he carried was too intense. He just wanted to get rid of the weight not knowing how. The solution for him was his life. He felt culpable for his friend just like Dave Jensen. 

Dave Jensen carried the responsibility of his friend’s life. He became friends with Lee Strunk after Strunk broke his nose because he stole his jackknife. Strunk was consumed by his thoughts with the idea of Jensen taking his revenge. He snapped and broke his own nose to be equal to Jensen. Jensen thought he was crazy and became good friends with Strunk. They made a “pact that if one of them should ever get totally fucked up —a wheelchair wound—the other gu would automatically find a way to end it,” (O’Brien 62). They signed it and brought people to be witnesses of their pact. Months later Strunk stepped on a rigged mortar round, taking out his right leg. He was panicking, he did not want to die, and when Jensen came to see him, Strunk repeatedly said to Jensen to not kill him, don’t kill him. Jensen said he won’t, and he didn’t do it. Later he “heard that Strunk died somewhere over Chu Lai, which seemed to relieve Dave Jensen of an enormous weight,” (O’Brien 63). Strunk was facing death and he preferred living disabled rather than dying. His need to live overcomes the pact he did with Jensen, and when Jensen hears the news of Strunk’s death he is relieved. Relieved that he has no obligation to kill him anymore. The weight he felt of having the responsibility of his friend’s life vanished.

All the characters had something they carried. Rat was carrying all the deaths he’d witnessed, Bowker was carrying the guilt of Kiowa’s death, and Jensen the responsibility of killing Strunk. Everyone in the Alpha Company was carrying their emotions and the deaths of their comrades. War is something that will drive anyone mad. Taking the life of people and witnessing a lot of death is horrible. The moral weight that every soldier that kills someone in cold blood is something that they will carry for the rest of their lives. Every soldier will carry their remorse, emotions,  and their own weight to the graves. 

Vietnam War | Facts, Summary, Years, Timeline, Casualties, Combatants, & Facts | Britannica

Vietnam War
This entry was posted in Uncategorized. Bookmark the permalink.

4,363 Responses to The Weight of What They Carried

  2. omar-cunningham-3.technetbloggers.de says:
    June 3, 2026 at 1:26 pm

    References:

    Gewinne bei Instant Casino auszahlen

    References:
    omar-cunningham-3.technetbloggers.de

  4. earthwiki.space says:
    June 3, 2026 at 1:46 pm

    References:

    Diamond jacks casino earthwiki.space

  10. zumpadpro.zum.de says:
    June 3, 2026 at 10:53 pm

    References:

    Instant Casino Treueprogramm

    References:
    zumpadpro.zum.de

  18. tvoyaskala.com says:
    June 3, 2026 at 11:31 pm

    References:

    Pechanga casino tvoyaskala.com

  23. https://materialwiki.site says:
    June 6, 2026 at 2:43 am

    References:

    Playtech casinos https://materialwiki.site/wiki/Planmige_Turniere_feste_Auszahlungen

  26. adrestyt.ru says:
    June 8, 2026 at 12:04 pm

    References:

    Maryland casinos adrestyt.ru

  33. wptavern.com says:
    June 8, 2026 at 2:43 pm

    References:

    Cleopatra slots wptavern.com

  34. telegra.ph says:
    June 8, 2026 at 2:46 pm

    References:

    Southern california casinos telegra.ph

  35. 500px.com says:
    June 8, 2026 at 2:47 pm

    References:

    Casino arizona talking stick 500px.com

  37. https://sonnik.nalench.com says:
    June 8, 2026 at 2:53 pm

    References:

    Slots of vegas no deposit codes https://sonnik.nalench.com

  40. ancientroman.space says:
    June 8, 2026 at 4:21 pm

    References:

    Casino magic neuquen ancientroman.space

  42. rentry.co says:
    June 8, 2026 at 4:27 pm

    References:

    Roulette bot plus rentry.co

  45. https://undrtone.com/ says:
    June 8, 2026 at 6:33 pm

    References:

    Seminole hard rock casino tampa https://undrtone.com/

  53. bridgedesign.site says:
    June 9, 2026 at 12:53 am

    References:

    How do slot machines work bridgedesign.site

  68. undrtone.com says:
    June 9, 2026 at 6:09 am

    References:

    Seneca buffalo creek casino undrtone.com

  69. adrestyt.ru says:
    June 9, 2026 at 6:27 am

    References:

    Schecter blackjack sls c 1 adrestyt.ru

  78. 500px.com says:
    June 9, 2026 at 8:26 am

    References:

    Soboba casino 500px.com

  80. adrestyt.ru says:
    June 9, 2026 at 9:10 am

    References:

    Hollywood casinos adrestyt.ru

  84. telegra.ph says:
    June 9, 2026 at 9:52 am

    References:

    Casino night zone telegra.ph

  91. warblog.hys.cz says:
    June 10, 2026 at 5:24 am

    References:

    San diego casinos warblog.hys.cz

  101. https://king-bookmark.stream says:
    June 10, 2026 at 6:12 am

    References:

    Best online casino bonuses in the uk https://king-bookmark.stream

  106. tvoyaskala.com says:
    June 10, 2026 at 6:35 am

    References:

    Monte cassino italy tvoyaskala.com

  107. dudoser.com says:
    June 10, 2026 at 6:35 am

    References:

    Poker training videos dudoser.com

  108. adrestyt.ru says:
    June 10, 2026 at 6:46 am

    References:

    Agente smart casino totale adrestyt.ru

  110. telegra.ph says:
    June 10, 2026 at 6:57 am

    References:

    Winnavegas casino telegra.ph

  111. amur.1gb.ua says:
    June 10, 2026 at 7:01 am

    References:

    Lord of the rings slot machine amur.1gb.ua

  113. telegra.ph says:
    June 10, 2026 at 7:48 am

    References:

    Net bet casino telegra.ph

  115. favpress.space says:
    June 10, 2026 at 7:51 am

    References:

    Android spinner style favpress.space

  120. favpress.site says:
    June 10, 2026 at 8:15 am

    References:

    Penticton casino favpress.site

  121. madk-auto.ru says:
    June 10, 2026 at 8:21 am

    References:

    Isle of capri florida madk-auto.ru

  127. http://amur.1gb.ua says:
    June 10, 2026 at 8:49 am

    References:

    Coeur d’alene casino http://amur.1gb.ua

  131. headlinelog.site says:
    June 10, 2026 at 8:55 am

    References:

    Slot games for ipad headlinelog.site

  137. flashjournal.site says:
    June 10, 2026 at 9:07 am

    References:

    Le petit casino paris flashjournal.site

  138. lukovich.ru says:
    June 10, 2026 at 9:08 am

    References:

    New york new york casino las vegas lukovich.ru

  141. https://clipjournal.space says:
    June 10, 2026 at 9:15 am

    References:

    Roulette systeme mein roulette online https://clipjournal.space

  145. uchkombinat.com.ua says:
    June 10, 2026 at 9:27 am

    References:

    Holland casino zandvoort uchkombinat.com.ua

  147. headlinebeacon.space says:
    June 10, 2026 at 9:33 am

    References:

    Casino slots play for fun headlinebeacon.space

  148. favpress.space says:
    June 10, 2026 at 9:33 am

    References:

    Cherokee casino tulsa favpress.space

  260. https://500px.com says:
    June 10, 2026 at 4:38 pm

    References:

    New york new york casino las vegas https://500px.com/p/selfwapkyed

  475. undrtone.com says:
    June 24, 2026 at 4:19 pm

    References:

    Legiano Casino Meinungen https://undrtone.com/openlow8

  509. rentry.co says:
    June 25, 2026 at 8:31 pm

    References:

    Legiano Casino Willkommensbonus https://rentry.co/cgrrmwz4

  514. wptavern.com says:
    June 25, 2026 at 9:08 pm

    References:

    Legiano Casino Umsatzbedingungen https://wptavern.com/author/toedetail47/

  544. qpxy.cn says:
    June 26, 2026 at 1:35 pm

    References:

    Legiano Casino Anmeldung https://qpxy.cn/trentlogue2075

  546. https://ripematch.com says:
    June 26, 2026 at 1:48 pm

    References:

    Legiano Casino Bonus ohne Einzahlung https://ripematch.com/@cassiedurand46

  551. buzz.gi says:
    June 26, 2026 at 2:44 pm

    References:

    Legiano Casino Bonusbedingungen https://buzz.gi/@araperkins303?page=about

  552. adufoshi.com says:
    June 26, 2026 at 2:58 pm

    References:

    Legiano Casino Willkommensbonus https://adufoshi.com/franklinstainf

  578. culpidon.fr says:
    June 26, 2026 at 11:13 pm

    References:

    Legiano Casino No Deposit Bonus https://www.culpidon.fr/@hansphilip0032

  589. 7yue.net says:
    June 27, 2026 at 1:35 am

    References:

    Legiano Casino Download https://7yue.net/teodorobyrne41

  602. amore.is says:
    June 27, 2026 at 3:45 am

    References:

    Legiano Casino Bonusbedingungen https://amore.is/@latanyaq911505

  604. mginger.org says:
    June 27, 2026 at 4:02 am

    References:

    Legiano Casino Treueprogramm https://mginger.org/@merlebenner937

  629. https://qpxy.cn/ says:
    June 27, 2026 at 9:45 am

    References:

    Legiano Casino Willkommensbonus https://qpxy.cn/jermainecockre

  771. pediatriajournal.ru says:
    June 30, 2026 at 5:56 am

    References:

    Legiano Casino Mobile http://pediatriajournal.ru/authors/show4797/talyipov_s.r..html?returnurl=https://clipjournal.space/item/eine-detaillierte-anleitung-zum-spielen-im-legiano-casino-new-jersey-brooklyn-staten-island

  775. liveinternet.ru says:
    June 30, 2026 at 6:15 am

    References:

    Legiano Casino Mobile http://www.liveinternet.ru/journal_proc.php?action=redirect&turkcesohbettr..blogspot.comhttps://briefjournal.space/item/top-slots-schnelle-auszahlungen-3

  820. xtuml.org says:
    June 30, 2026 at 1:06 pm

    References:

    Legiano Casino Deutschland https://xtuml.org/author/lipsarah6/

  896. https://da.gd says:
    June 30, 2026 at 8:45 pm

    References:

    Legiano Casino Anmelden https://da.gd/prairie498

  961. goto.now says:
    July 1, 2026 at 1:01 am

    References:

    Legiano Casino Paysafecard https://goto.now/m6LFc

  1528. pagekite.net says:
    July 4, 2026 at 2:45 pm

    References:

    Palms casino las vegas https://https://pagekite.net/offline/?&where=FE&proto=http&domain=delta.astroempires.com%2Fredirect.aspx%3Fhttps%3A%2F%2Fde.trustpilot.com%2Freview%2Fowowear.de&relay=::ffff:50.116.35.24/offline/?&where=FE&proto=http&domain=delta.astroempires.com%2Fredirect.aspx%3Fhttps%3A%2F%2Fde.trustpilot.com%2Freview%2Fowowear.de&relay=::ffff:50.116.35.24

  2576. rlu.ru says:
    July 6, 2026 at 8:54 pm

    References:

    Legiano Casino Support http://rlu.ru/5gSZZ

  2851. spd.link says:
    July 25, 2026 at 10:53 am

    References:

    Harrah’s cherokee casino https://spd.link/otiliab97

  3601. https://app.gitpasha.com/valentinariddo says:
    July 29, 2026 at 4:51 pm

    References:

    Online casino reviews 1 site for best online casinos https://app.gitpasha.com/valentinariddo

  3621. sambent.dev says:
    July 29, 2026 at 7:15 pm

    References:

    Best poker sites for us players https://sambent.dev/homerlardner49

  3731. scheol.net says:
    July 30, 2026 at 10:56 am

    References:

    Hollywood casino perryville md https://scheol.net/liambracken084

  3758. https://git.hgbenjamin.com/ says:
    July 30, 2026 at 3:33 pm

    References:

    Online roulette play roulette and receive $1500 https://git.hgbenjamin.com/brigettehebble

  3759. go.onsig.ai says:
    July 30, 2026 at 3:44 pm

    References:

    Le richelieu in the french quarter https://go.onsig.ai/milobungaree0

  3948. git.etwo.dev says:
    July 31, 2026 at 8:33 am

    References:

    Bally’s las vegas reviews https://git.etwo.dev/fletagleeson3

  4099. https://sponsorworks.net/cgi-bin/process_sponsoredlinks.pl?cart=&id=_order_2237 &memberid=jrap&mode=tf&orig_href=https://itprimejobs.com/employer/juli-2026/&type=&zone=blog_body</a says:
    August 1, 2026 at 7:19 pm

    References:

    Casino ipad https://sponsorworks.net/cgi-bin/process_sponsoredlinks.pl?cart=&id=_order_2237 &memberid=jrap&mode=tf&orig_href=https://itprimejobs.com/employer/juli-2026/&type=&zone=blog_bodyhttps://sponsorworks.net/cgi-bin/process_sponsoredlinks.pl?cart=&id=_order_2237 &memberid=jrap&mode=tf&orig_href=https://itprimejobs.com/employer/juli-2026/&type=&zone=blog_body</a

  4206. https://gitea.schwegmann.tech says:
    August 2, 2026 at 3:51 am

    References:

    Online casino reviews 1 site for best online casinos https://gitea.schwegmann.tech/shelbycarey655

  4275. bybio.co says:
    August 9, 2026 at 12:13 pm

    References:

    Cinema casino bagnols sur ceze https://bybio.co/georgiafar

  4350. guyads.com says:
    August 14, 2026 at 12:24 am

    References:

    William hill android app download https://guyads.com/author/sangwinning/

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *