American Literature

The Things They Carried is a definitive illustration of reality. It is a reality borne out of necessity, variation, function, and superstition. It is a necessary reality because its definiteness is beyond the control of individuals. It is variable because it changes from time to time. It is also functional because it forces individuals to adapt. It is also a superstition because it is an assumed existence  it does not exist in physical form.
Symbolisms

Now, the things soldiers carried are a general analogy of reality. The soldiers carried a number of things out of necessity. They carried pocket knives, can openers, mosquito repellant, sewing kits, and other items necessary to survive in a harsh environment. The things they carried were also variable  variable in the sense, that each item is extant to particular circumstances.

The war had split the inner character of the protagonists. Indeed, visions of love, hate, embarrassment, and disgust filled the minds of the youth soldiers. They had accepted their fate but nevertheless hoped for a better future. Daydreaming was an immediate solution to depression because day after day reality seemed to change ubiquitously. Reality can be described as the creator of illusion, not by purpose but by effect.

Reality is also a medium for superstitious beliefs. As depression grew, hope faded. The soldiers dreamed of returning home, of making a large family. The constant threat of death left every soldier a true master of himself. He became more and more agitated by the simplest of things, superstitious of events which seemed ordinary to a normal person. This is not insanity but a mere effect of deluge.

Characters
First Lieutenant Jimmy Cross is a daydreamer. He spends time reading letters from a girl named Martha, a college student in New Jersey. He often dreams romantic encounters with her. Most of the time, he wonders whether or not Martha is a virgin. His daydreams distract him from taking care of his soldiers. Ted Lavender is always scared, carrying tranquilizers until he was shot and killed. Henry Dobbins is a large man, carrying extra rations of food. Dave Jensen is deeply insane about hygiene. He carries soap and a toothbrush. Kiowa is a devout Baptist, carrying a leather Bible. Mitchell Sander always carries condoms. Norma Bowker is an emotional individual, carrying a diary. Rat Kiley, the medic, carries comic books.

The things they carried is a general reflection of personality. A person who loves daydreaming carries pictures. A man who loves food carries extra food. A man obsessed with cleanliness carries a soap and toothbrush. A religious man carries a religious text. In short, the things they carried is not only a reflection of reality, as discussed above it is also a reference to personal qualities. Personal qualities refer to general individual traits. The characters in the story possessed traits which define their extant in life. However, one should note that personifications are deified assumptions. This is almost synonymous with a generalized analogy.

Themes
Now, what is the relationship between reality and personality Personality is more or less permanent while reality is variable. Reality dictates the structure of personality and vice-versa. In the story, the Vietnam War had transformed the mental state of soldiers  the vision of American prosperity had lapsed into oblivion. The soldiers could only see devastation and disease. Indeed, the soft-sided personality of some soldiers had become indifferent.

Plot
The death of Lavender convinced Lt. Cross that the platoon needed a reformed leadership. In his mind, he was a reckless, young fool who would risk the lives of his soldiers for simple reasons. After his near-death experience in a cave, he saw himself as the bastard of the platoon  an individual who could not love beyond his immediate self. As OBrien described

He felt shame. He hated himself He had loved Martha more than his men, and as a consequence Lavender was now dead, and this was something he would have to carry like a stone in his stomach for the rest of the war.

All he could do was dig. He used his entrenching tool like an ax, slashing, feeling both love and hate, and then later, when it was full dark, he sat at the bottom of his foxhole and wept. It went on for a long while. In part, he was grieving for Ted Lavender, but mostly it was for Martha, and for himself, because she belonged to another world, which was not quite real, and because she was a junior at Mount Sebastian College in New Jersey, a poet and a virgin and uninvolved, and because he realized she did not love him and never would (13).

The transformation though was not immediate, it was gradual and painstaking. Lt. Cross had to endure the difficulties of leadership. He must make sure that the things they carried are out of necessity, function, and variability.

The things they carried is a manifest of reality. It is borne out of reality. However, the things they carried reinforces the notion that reality can be change for the good. Indeed, it is essential for individuals to view reality as an adapting organism. Hence, individuals too must adapt to conditions which the human body seldom endures.