20. Final Thoughts

I am surprised of a few minimal loose ends that were not tied up. First, What happened to Martha and Cross? Did he ever get O’Brien to write his story, or was this book what he wanted? When and how did O’Brien finally leave Vietnam? Did he fix his friendship with Sanders? Finally, what happened to the rest of the men?
Enough questions, now my actual thoughts. I am so glad I read The Things They Carried after The Sun Also Rises. I would have been disappointed in Hemingway’s novel, after this book that I could not set down. I think this novel really caught my interest because it dealt with United States history and it really went into depth of being a soldier in Vietnam. It was not the aftermath of the war, but the event itself. The novel presents the lives of the forgotten soldiers, not just the dead. After finishing, I talked to my dad about the novel and Vietnam itself (we enjoy discussing US history). He said that the soldiers who returned home from Vietnam did no receive the credit they deserved because so many Americans were against the war. After hearing this, I want to extend O’Brien’s intentions for writing further. It was not just the dead he wanted to live on, but also the legacy of the men who served the United States in Vietnam. I think it can even be extended to all American veterans, because I believe Elroy, from the beginning of the novel, represented soldiers from before Vietnam. The Things They Carried is something that will stick with me, especially the image of the book waiting on the shelf for the stories to live on. It makes death seem comforting because one can believe that their life will live on even after death.