The Things They Carried: Love

Question: What is the purpose of this chapter? What kind of love is O’Brien talking about? Jimmy and Martha? Jimmy and the platoon? Jimmy and Tim? Tim and his work? Love for his country?

Answer:

            This chapter’s purpose is to give a look at how some soldiers can be after the war and how these particular characters are doing. The book reads that all the two men, Jimmy Cross and the narrator, did when they met back up was “drank coffee and smoked cigarettes and talked about everything we had seen and done so long ago, all the things we still carried through our lives.” (O’Brien, 27).  They talk of the war and discuss memories, good and bad, including Ted Lavender’s death. It also shows that Jimmy Cross survives the war and isn’t with Martha, although he still loves her. It also reveals that the narrator is a writer. This chapter ends with the two men discussing a book that the narrator may write and saying, “He hesitated for a second. “And do me a favor. Don’t mention anything about---“

            “No,” I said. “I won’t.”” (O’Brien, 30). This is an obvious ploy to build suspense over what the event is that they aren’t mentioning.

            The love that O’Brien is referring to in the chapter title is the love between Jimmy and Tim. After going through a tremendous, life-changing experience together, it isn’t uncommon for two people to connect in a permanent way and war is certainly an example of this. It seems that Jimmy and Tim bonded over the horrible things they witnessed and from having pretty much lived together, along with the other men, during the war. There’s also an underlying current of a love for the other members of the platoon. Both men reminisce over the things the other men did and carried. For example, Tim says, “…and not much later we were laughing about some of the craziness that used to go on. The way Henry Dobbins carried his girlfriend’s pantyhose around his neck like a comforter. Kiowa’s moccasins and hunting hatchet. Rat Kiley’s comic books.” (O’Brien, 28).  They seem to love each other and the platoon in a brotherly way.