The Symbolism of Weight in The Things They Carried Joshua Scott Fouche College

In Tim O’Brien’s The Things They Carried, the first chapter presents the concept of weight in two opposing forms, that of the physical weight of the items they carry, and also the emotional weight of their past experiences. These messages imbue the pages with a striking solemness, that of which is shared between readers and characters alike, allowing O’Brien to enhance the themes of teamwork, human nature, and opposition to war.

The development of the physical weight of emotions is portrayed by two dominant characters in the chapter. The first is Lieutenant Jimmy Cross, whose main focus during the chapter is on his love interest back home, Martha. The conflict first presents itself though the letters from her that he is reading. In the physical sense, they weigh practically nothing, probably not noticed in the grand scheme of the items he must carry while marching through villages. He is not physically affected by the letter, yet the empty, weightless words of her “Love”s, similar to the weightlessness of the letter itself, yield a tremendous amount of emotional strain on the Lieutenant. As his obsession with Martha physically develops across the chapter, through the introduction of her photographs and the pebble, he becomes...