The Things They Carried | Themes
One of the major thematic concerns in "The Things They Carried" is that of illusion versus reality. On the grandest level, there is the illusion of the courageous wartime soldier. While the soldiers in "The Things They Carried" are not meant to be viewed as cowards, they are meant to be seen for what they are: men who are afraid of death and dying and are also afraid of being seen as cowardly:
they carried the common secret of cowardice barely restrained, the instinct to run or freeze or hide . . . they carried the soldier's greatest fear, which was the fear of...
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