This has nothing to do with the book, but I was quite frustrated with all of the terms that had to do exclusively with poetry especially since The Things They Carried does not have poetry in it as far as I can tell. Ok, now that I have that off my chest, on to the blog!
-- Vietnam War Memorial
The things they carried is not only the title of the book and the title of chapter 1, but it along with the word "carried" is used over 38 times in chapter 1 because I counted until page 8. I think that the author used the word "carried" to encompass all of the soldier's fear, love, homesickness, and, of course, necessary equipment. I was interested by the author's use of carried in "On their feet they carried jungle boots..." page 3 because one would normally wear boots. The things they carried were there to comfort them, to save them, to protect them, and unfortunately to inhibit them like in the case of Ted Lavender and his heavy
load. I think that the author, being a veteran in the Alpha
Company himself, brought home some of the things they carried after the war. He brought home his stories, his memories, and his fears and published a book to demonstrate what they carried. Later in the book, the author explains how he writes about Vietnam because the sights, the smells, the experience never left him, and I believe these are the most important things the soldiers carried. While the soldiers dumped their weapons, their equipment, and decreased the quantity of daily items, they never forgot their stories and memories and they still carry them today.
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