boy, you've got to carry that weight... - TTTC

"They shared the weight of memory. They took up what others could no longer bear. Often, they carried each other, the wounded or weak. They carried infections. They carried chess sets, basketballs, Vietnamese-English dictionaries, insignia of rank, Bronze Stars and Purple Hearts, plastic cards imprinted with the Code of Conduct. They carried diseases..."

(p. 14)

just like every other person who ever read this book, I picked up on the anaphora of "the things they carried" that completely dominates the first chapter. nearly every phrase/sentence begins with some form of that phrase. and sure, the repetition gets a little tiresome after a few pages, but each time the point comes together more.

not only are these soldiers carrying physical things (necessities, superstitious trinkets, etc), but they are also carrying other baggage. they're carrying emotional, moral, physical baggage. they're carrying diseases which will probably be later communicated to other people.

all of this repetition further instills the difficulty and incomprehensibility of war. just as we can never know for sure how they felt or how they really were. Jimmy Cross on page 29 asks O'Brien to "make [him] out to be a good guy, okay? Brave and handsome, all that stuff. Best platoon leader ever."

the only thing we can ever know about what these guys stood for is what other people have chosen to say about them. the only way we can ever know about what happened is to listen to what the people were there have to say about it.