First Lieutenant Jimmy Cross: Carries letters from Martha. Hopes she loves him. Contemplates love daily.
Martha: Junior at Mount Sebastian College. Writes to Cross but avoids the topic of love.
Henry Dobbins: Machine gunner who carries extra food, especially fond of canned peaches.
Dave Jensen: Known for field hygiene; carries soap and hygiene products.
Ted Lavender: Youthful and scared, carries tranquilizers. Shot outside village of Than Khe.
Mitchell Sanders: RTO (Radio Telephone Operator) who carries condoms.
Norman Bowker: Carries a diary.
Kiowa: Devout Baptist, carries a New Testament, distrusts the white man.
Rat Kiley: Medic who carries comic books and medical supplies.
Themes
Burden of War: Soldiers carry physical items and emotional burdens.
Love and Longing: Cross's infatuation with Martha represents soldiers' need for connection.
Reality vs. Illusion: War stories blur lines between truth and fiction.
Symbols
Letters and Photographs: Represent emotional burdens and longing.
Physical Burdens: Items soldiers carry represent the weight of war.
Martha's Pebble: Represents hope and connection, although ambiguous.
Plot Highlights
Introduction of Characters and Their Burdens: Soldiers carry items both necessary for survival and emotionally significant.
Death of Ted Lavender: A sudden event impacting the entire platoon, leading to reflection on mortality and responsibility.
Kiowa's Death: A pivotal moment that affects the platoon's morale and emphasizes the randomness of death in war.
Cross's Leadership: Struggles with responsibility and guilt over the deaths of his men.
Rat Kiley's Breakdown: Highlights the psychological effects of war.
Norman Bowker's Post-War Struggle: Represents the difficulty of returning to civilian life after the war.
Key Takeaways
War's Emotional Toll: The emotional burden is as heavy as the physical one, impacting soldiers' mental health.
Storytelling: Used as a coping mechanism to deal with trauma and maintain connections to the past.
Responsibility and Guilt: Cross's internal conflict over leadership failures points to the moral complexities of command.
Important Quotes
"The things they carried were largely determined by necessity."
"They carried all the emotional baggage of men who might die."
"In a true War story nothing is ever absolutely true."
Conclusion
The Things They Carried is a narrative blending fact and fiction, exploring the psychological burdens of soldiers in Vietnam through their carried items, relationships, and stories. The novel underscores the enduring impact of these experiences on their lives.