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In “The Things They Carried”, Tim O’Brien tells a story about the Vietnam War. In the story, the main character is a 22-year-old Lieutenant, Jimmy Cross, who leads a platoon of soldiers. The soldiers’ missions are to march from village to village pointlessly, and to trash the village well. They also search out and destroy tunnel complexes in the Than Khe area. During the war, each soldier has to carry certain things; the things they carry are determined by necessity, function of rank, field specialty, superstition and are varied by mission. In addition, they also carry intangible emotional burdens like fear, grief and confusion. In mid-April, one of the soldiers, Ted Lavender, is shot in a mission to blow the tunnels. Jimmy blames himself for not performing his duties firmly, as he is thinking about his love Martha during the mission. After the tragedy, Jimmy decides to impose strict field discipline to keep the platoon together and carry out his duties as a Lieutenant firmly. This story reveals the cruelty of war. It also tells people that war may have enormous impacts on people’s emotions and personal values. Furthermore, the story suggests that the emotional weight people carry may help or hurt them in life-threatening situations.
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