In The Things They Carried , the characters themselves probably could
not tell you why they carried many of the things they did. The things they
carried can be divided into three basic groups, the things that everyone had to
carry in order to survive, the things that individuals chose to carry, and the
mental burdens that many carried without choice.
The necessities that the men were forced to carry were, for example, P-
38 can openers, pocket knives, matches, C-rations, water, a nylon covered flak
jacket, an M-16 assault rifle, and for Henry Dobbins, an M-60, which weighed 33-
38 pounds including ammunition. All of these items were carried for two simple
reasons, to survive, and to kill which was of course their job.
Next, the things that each individual chose to carry, for many of the
men , these items were things that they personally believed that they could not
live without, but to others would be unnecessary for survival. For First
Lieutenant Jimmy Cross it was pictures of Martha, and also letters from her whom
he loved unrequitedly. Another example and proof of irrelevance to survival was
Ted Lavenders six or seven ounces of dope and nine extra M-79 Grenades which he
was carrying when he was shot in the head. Extras such as these really did
nothing more than give the men a false sense of security, which was probably
necessary to cope with their surroundings.
Last but certainly not least they carried with them love, guilt,
memories, and fear of death. Lieutenant cross, for example carried love, guilt,
and even though he tried never to show it, fear. Tim O’Brien shows us this in
the passage shortly after the death of Ted Lavender, “He pictured Martha’s
Comparing Sir Gawain and the Green Knight and The Song of Roland
Sir Gawain and the Green Knight and The Song of Roland
In mythological Europe, knightly heroes abounded whereever one
could choose to roam. There are hundreds of tales of knights who embodied
the concept of chivalry, slew huge dragons, slew legions of foes in single
combat, and still made it home in time for dinner. Of all these tales,
ballads and poems, a few have risen to the fore front of the genre as an
example for the rest of the stories to follow. I will be comparing the
positive and negative personality traits of two heroes from the famous
poems “Sir Gawain and the Green Knight” and “The Song of Roland.”
On the lighter side, both Gawain and Roland had more positive
attributes than they did negative. Both men were honorable, almost to a
fault. For example in “Sir Gawain and the Green Knight” Gawain agreed to
be on time for his own execution:
“Nor I know you not, knight, your name nor your court.
But tell me truly thereof, and teach me your name, and I
shall fare forth to find you, so far as I may, and this I say
in good certain, and swear upon oath.”
(G