This paper examines how a primary theme of "The Things They Carried" is baggage and burdens - both physical and mental in
nature. It looks at how the things that the characters carry in the story function in both a literal and figurative nature. While all of the characters carry heavy physical loads during the war, they also carry heavy
emotional loads, such as love, sadness, longing, and of course, fear. It also discusses how the physical loads that the characters carry throughout the story have certain significance to the emotional
baggage that each character carries.