Weight is an important metaphor in "The Things they carried". This paper explains that at the outset of the short story,
by Tim O'Brien, the reader is given an account of the burden each soldier is carrying. With this physical burden the themes of his story began to grow. It discusses how with this effective
metaphor O' Brien is able to mold the reader's understanding of the mental burdens being carried by the men in his story, for it is the mental burden which far outweighs the physical to men on the
battlefield.