PAPER Topics

Start of Term Paper
"The Things They Carried," by Tim O'Brien, contains many references to "possessions of character." Many things Lt. Cross carries were carried by all, including: military equipment, stationery, photographs, diseases, food, the land of Vietna ....

Middle of Term Paper
... them and reads them. These letters are light in weight, only ten ounces, but prove to be a heavy burden. Above all, he carries the responsibility for the lives of his men. He is dreaming when Lavender is shot, and so he blames himself for it. Lavender's death was something which "He would have to carry like a stone in his stomach for the rest of the war." He does not always pay attention to what is most important, his men. Lt. Jimmy Cross burns all of Martha's letters at the end of the story, trying to forget her, to erase the memory. Still, he carries her in his mind along with the haunting memory that she was not involved. Martha ...