"The Things They Carried," by Tim O'Brien is truly and honestly about the things the men of Vietnam carried, not just physically but also mentally. Many things Lt. Cross carries were carried by all, including: military equipment, stationery, photographs, diseases, food, the land of Vietnam itself, their lives, and even more. Tim O'Brien writes of these objects carried by the individual soldier, along with special things that Lt. Jimmy Cross carries. He then in turn reveals something that what Cross values. Belongings reflect his character and thoughts. "Grief, terror, love, longing--these were intangibles, but the intangibles had their own mass and specific gravity, they had tangible weight."
             Lt. Jimmy Cross carries letters and a pebble from Martha, a girl whom he cares for and adores greatly, but she does not share the same affection for him. He carries these things to remind him of her, and how wonderful she makes him feel. At the end of every day he always unwraps and reads the letters. These letters are light in weight, only ten ounces as quoted from the story, but prove to be a heavy very burden. He does not always pay attention to what is and should be most important to him, the men under his control. He is dreaming of Martha when Ted Lavender is shot in the fields, and so he blames himself for it. Lavender's death was something which "He would have to carry like a stone in his stomach for the rest of the war." He says this as a way to show that he will always be reminded by Ted's Death and it will make him more cautious throughout the battles, and always be reminded of his mistake that cost him the life of one of his own men. Cross burns all of Martha's letters at the end of the story, trying to forget her and the mistake he made by putting her over his own men. He decides to rid himself of the pebble also. Everything that Lt. Cross carries has more physical weight than those letters, but none were more of ...