The Things They Carried by Tim O'Brien, a medley of short stories tied together by a common theme, examines the many facets of necessity and poses a question of just how valuable the things we hold to be necessities really are. During the confusion of war, the definition of necessity becomes rather slippery in the minds of the soldiers and in such desperate situations, a soldier may find himself holding on to all he can. Despite the fact that these objects may hurt the soldier or bring him to his demise, letting go of such articles is very difficult. The late Ted Lavender, whose death is only a memory throughout the book, is one of those men. When he was shot, the enormous amount of weight he was carrying at the time, the fear in his heart, and the weight of the bullet caused him to collapse instantaneously. Symbolically, the act of falling relates to the weight causing his ultimate downfall - death.

Perhaps the greatest load of all, that the men feel necessary to carry, is the weightless, internal load called dignity. There is an unspoken need to stay tough buried among the men and not letting the numbingly horrific violence of the war break through to the surface. At the most dangerous times, this would show, but it would not last long for the men would quickly cover it up. They would do this by looking at death in a humorous way as if to "destroy the reality of death itself" (19-20).

The vast majority of weapons is a necessity among the troops and indicates the need to kill by any possible means. O'Brien makes this point clear by going into minute detail of each weapon. "They carried all that they could bear, and then some, including a silent awe for the terrible power of the things they carried." (9)

ings They Carried exhibits necessity in its advantageous aspects as well as its disadvantageous ones. It examines the burdens of each individual and the effects that

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Alpha Company's, Ted Lavender, Tim O'Brien,
Approximate Word count = 661
Approximate Pages = 3 (250 words per page double spaced)