Garrett Wise

U.S. History period 1, AM Lit. period 7

Mr. Gehm

The Things They Carried

Tim O’ Brian’s “The Things They Carried” is a compilation of was stories real

and fictional told by Tim himself. As in any war, there is always more than one

battle; against the enemy, and against yourself. Every character has their own

coping mechanism to help in their struggles. Weather it is a good luck charm, a

photo, or a hobby everyone has their unique way to relieve the stress of war.

Lt. Cross leads Tim’s troop. At the start of the campaign he is lost in his

love for Martha, a girl from his collage. Tim writes, “he would get up and move

among his men, checking the perimeter, then at full dark he would return to his

hole and watch the night and wonder if Martha was a virgin (“The Things They

Carried” 1990 pg. 2).” Cross would carry letters from Martha reading them only

at night and would often wonder if she was a virgin. After the death of Ted

Lavender, Cross burns the photos and letters blaming himself for Lavenders death

and vowing to never think of Martha as anything but that he and her lived in
different worlds. From then on he was driven by the determination of keeping a

strict regiment so no one else died because of him.

Ted Lavender was a young soldier. He was afraid and because of this he

carried drugs such as dope and tranquilizers. No doubt he died under the

influence, “how incredibly tranquil he was (O’ Brian “The Things They Carried”

1990 pg. 20).” The men would make jokes about the dead to relieve the fear of

death. A common coping mechanism in the story was giving different names to

death. It could be said that Lavender was the opposite of Kiowa in that

Lavender’s relief came from earthly drugs and Kiowa’s came from religion. Kiowa

carries a bible given to him by his father and sometimes uses it as a pillow.

For Tim, his book is a coping mechanism. Writing out his feelings is a way

for him to lessen them. In his book he tells about his first kill and the feelings he

had saying, “He told me that… I should shape up and stop staring and ask myself

what the dead man would’ve done if things were reversed (O’ Brian “The Things

They Carried” 1990 pg. 134) This is similar to Larry Gwin’s memoir “An American

in Vietnam.” Larry says, “I remember those were the first men I ever killed, and I

remember each one of them very distinctly. But if we hadn’t killed them, they
would have killed is (1998 “The Century” pg. 396-397).” This view on why they

did what they did is a coping mechanism, “If I didn’t I would have been killed.”

Weather it was writing about the experience, keeping letters and photos,

drugs or charms, everyone has their own coping mechanisms. A battle rages in

their minds and their methods of coping were the weapons they used. The

physical battles around them were influenced by the performance of the people

fighting which means they had to keep their internal battles at bay long enough to

fight. This is why they had to cope; to survive.