English Literature

The Things They Carried refers to the physical as well as the psychological loads the soldiers are humping in the battlefields of Vietnam. The story is presented from the point of view of a third person narrator, trailing to and what comes after, after the death of one of the men, Ted Lavender.
One week before Lavenders death, Lieutenant Cross received a pebble, good luck charm from Martha whom he couldnt stop thinking about. In mid-April, their mission was to search out and destroy the elaborate tunnel complexes of the opponents by blowing it. On April 16, upon random selection, Lee Strunk was tasked to go into the tunnel. While waiting for Strunk, the men smoked and drank Kool-Aid, Henry Dobbins ate tropical chocolate bar, and Ted Lavender popped a tranquilizer and went off to pee. Five minutes after, Lieutenant Cross moved to the tunnel, leaned down, and examined the darkness. Troubled, he caved in but was destructed by the thought of Martha. Few moments later, Lee Strunk crawled out of the tunnel alive though filthy yet grinning. All felt relief. Lee Strunk who is very happy made a funny ghost sound, and when he went to ahhoooo, right then Ted Lavender was shot in the head on his way back from peeing. Lavender is dead. In the morning after Lavender died, Lt. Cross burned Marthas letters and two photographs, and no more fantasies he told himself. After the chopper took Lavender, Lt. Cross led his men into the village of Than Khe. They burned everything, shot chickens and dogs, trashed the village well, watched the wreckage, and then marched for several hours. At dusk, while Kiowa explained how Lavender died, Lt, Cross found himself trembling, and blamed himself for what happened. He grieved for Ted Lavender, mostly for Martha, and for himself for they belonged to different worlds. Amidst the loss, they made themselves laugh. Lt. Cross reminded himself of his obligation, he then went to his maps now determined to perform his duties firmly and without negligence.