Things They Carried: Symbolism and Reaction Paper

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W.B. Yeats' poem An Irish Airman Foresees His Death illustrates the close proximity life shares with death much like The Things They Carried. Yeats' poem is brief and in the first person describes an Irish military man explaining his decision to fight in a war in which he foresees his inevitable death. This relates to O'Brien's short story in that both protagonists understand their life is near an end due to war and both recognize the relationship death and life have. The two pieces of literature do have some contrasting aspects though. For one, though it is labeled as fiction, The Things They Carried is largely based on real events from O'Brien's war years. Yeats' poem on the other hand, was inspired by Major Gregory, an Irish pilot who served in WWI. Ironically, O'Brien's almost autobiographical work is written in third person and Yeats' inspired poem is in first person. Both literary works do share something in common, in that both protagonists abandon feelings of love towards their infantrymen and the people whom they are protecting. Cross mentions that he is not trying to be loved by his men he is simply trying to lead them, and in line four of Yeats' poem he writes, "Those that I guard I do not love." Both men distance themselves from those around them, possibly in order for them to make an already painful life more tolerable.

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The Things They Carried is bountiful in symbolism of love, life, and death. By exposing his own experiences through a third person point-of-view, Tim O'Brien is able to convey the feelings a person in his or Jimmy Cross' shoes would have had. The letters Cross carries that symbolize love and a connection to the world less affected by war are ultimately the cause of an Alpha Company member's death. This speaks magnitudes about the effects love has on a person's life and illuminates that death is never too far away from life. W.B. Yeats seems to grasp this concept as well and displays it in his poem An Irish Airman Foresees His Death. Tim O'Brien does a brilliant job of explaining that the things the men carried with them physically, were carried with them emotionally as well and took a toll on their hearts......

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"Things They Carried Symbolism And", 25 October 2010, Accessed.4 June. 2026,
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