The Things They Carried Part 2

Other than tangible items that soldiers during the Vietnam War, soldiers also carried emotional baggage such as fear and anger. Also they carried the burden of knowing that their fathers and families expected them to bring home the glory and medals. Those with families back in the states had to worry about making it home alive and well to help support their families.

 One of the characters that the author describes and talks about a lot is Lieutenant Jimmy Cross who has a huge fantasy for a woman named Martha. Martha is an English major who writes to Jimmy in letters about various things. One thing that is mentionable is that she never talks about the war or ask Jimmy what it is he is doing in Vietnam. Jimmy Cross later notes that she is not involved in the war at all just like most people were during the Vietnam war.

All of these pieces of literature had to do with emotions and feelings about or during the Vietnam War. They were all responses to how they felt about the war, or how the war made them feel whether they were involved or not. The general emotions that were presented in this literature were either anger, fear, or sadness. It seems as if the pieces that were from people not involved in the war had a more anger tone to them, while the pieces written by people actually fighting the war had a sense of fear and sadness.