The Things They Carried is a novel written by Tim O'Brien, who was a soldier in Vietnam. He writes about the lives of the people on his platoon during the war, before the war, and after the war. Throughout the novel we follow this platoon through the terrifying jungles of Vietnam and the events that they are forced to endure; such as the needless deaths of beloved friends and the feeling of being drafted into a war you don't agree with. This novel shows us that war affects every individual in different ways. Ranging from writing stories, trying to reconnect with loved ones, becoming mentally unstable, and committing suicide. At the beginning of the war they carried love letters, chocolate, moccasins, comic books, ponchos, pantyhose, mine-detectors, dope, and rifles. At the end of the war they carried guilt, blame, sadness, nightmares, anger, and ghosts of a war they didn't want to fight.