The Things They Carried - Essay Example

The burdens that the characters carry manifest themselves even before they arrive in Vietnam. In the story “On a Rainy River,” the narrator O’Brien explains the events that led him to Vietnam in the first place: “In June of 1968, a month after graduating from Macalester College, I was drafted to fight a war I hated” (44). As a pacifist, he did not believe in going to war, so he contemplated running away to Canada. With his opposition to the war, O’Brien felt that he could not carry the burden of participating in Vietnam; however, these personal burdens were not the only ones that were weighing upon him.

He felt that by becoming a deserter, he would become a burden upon his family: “They carried the soldier’s greatest fear, which was the fear of blushing. Men killed, and died, because they were embarrassed not to. It was what had brought them to the war in the first place, nothing positive, no dreams of glory or honor, just to avoid the blush of dishonor. They died so as not to die of embarrassment”(16). These motivations run contrary to the traditional motivations for going to war; he at no point considers going to war for patriotic reasons or for dedication to the ideals and causes of his country.

Wanting to not disappoint his family, O’Brien decides that the burden of going to Vietnam contrary to his political beliefs was less of a burden than the ramifications of his draft dodging. Vietnam weighed heavily upon O’Brien, and he had not even been to the country yet. Among the necessities or near-necessities were P-38 can openers, pocket knives, heat tabs, wrist watches, dog tags, mosquito repellent, chewing gum, candy, cigarettes, salt tablets, packets of Kool-Aid, lighters, matches, sewing kits, Military payment Certificates, C rations, and two or three canteens of water.

Together, these items weighed