The Things They Carried by Tim O'Brien (Part 3)

 On page 612, there is a line "It wasn't cruelty, just stage presence. They were actors and the war came at them in 3-D. When someone died, it wasn't quite dying, because in a curious way it seemed scripted..." This made me remember when I saw Apocalypse Now, this movie provided my mind with a specific image of how I picture the Vietnam war. Every time I read anything related to the Vietnam war, this film allows me to envision how the characters would look. Their uniforms, their weapons, the things they carried are all things that I can see through this film. This is a clip of one of the iconic scenes in the film:








On page 614, there is a description of Jimmy burning Martha's letters and photos. Here I make a connection to in the past when I have felt the need to destroy physical objects that represent a certain aspect of a failed relationship. Throwing away the objects, deleting the images, nothing erased them memories that I had. I predict this will happen to Jimmy, even though the physical reminders of Martha are gone, she will always be in his mind. The narrator later says, "You couldn't burn the blame." I can see the image of the flames burning the photos and letters but Jimmy still felt the guilt about Ted Lavender's death.

The last mention of "weight" occurs on page 615, "their days would seem longer and their loads heavier." I could see the platoon of men struggling with the weight of their heavy equipment with the added emotional weight of Ted Lavender's death. The weight of responsibility dragged them down and made their loads seem heavier.

I can see the men marching on, with grim faces and dragging their heavy loads, but they keep marching...