Free Things They Carried Essays: M&Ms :: Things They Carried Essays

M&Ms in The Things They Carried   Tim OBrien uses many interesting literary devices in his collection of short stories about his experiences in Vietnam. One of the most striking, yet understated, is his fleeting reference to M&Ms. OBrien allows them to be seen as something of a mystery, an enigma. OBrien transforms M&Ms into a type of America mystical, powerful, and incredible. OBrien also uses the simple image of a yo-yo to explain the necessity of American GIs to transform their mental attitudes to something different in order to survive the war. M&Ms and yo-yos are two very powerful symbols that OBrien uses to explain the mentality of American soldiers in Vietnam.   As a medic, hook Kiley carried a canvas satchel filled with morphine and plasma and malaria tablets and surgical tape and comic books and all the things a medic must carry, including M&Ms for especially bad wounds, for a total weight of nearly 20 pounds. (OBrien 5) The first mention of M&M s is cryptic. OBrien makes use of a exemplar total to describe what Rat Kiley carries, until he reaches the M&Ms. M&Ms are separated by a phrase, they are mark apart they receive special accomplishment. OBrien is making clear to the reader that M&Ms are not to be included in the normal list of things carried by a medic. M&Ms are above and beyond simple medical gear. M&Ms are for especially bad wounds, they treat something more than bandages and tape can. OBrien allows the reader to understand that M&Ms have significance, and are very important to the soldiers. OBriens brief mention of M&Ms allows us to wonder if when this magical cure is used. Does Rat Kiley administer M&Ms to Tim when he is shot? Could M&Ms have saved Rat when he goes insane? Are M&Ms something so mystical that they dont even need to be mentioned? OBrien creates M&Ms to be a symbol of everything that the soldiers leave behind. To Kiowa, M&Ms embody the spirit of his grandmoth er and the faith of his father. To Norman Bowker, M&Ms blind drunk as much as his medals mean to his father. To OBrien, M&Ms capture the spirit of a kind old man in Minnesota. M&Ms are OBriens alternative symbol for florists chrysanthemum and Apple Pie.   Another symbol that OBrien uses is Mitchell Sanders yo-yo, Sanders is playing with his yo-yo when Curt Lemon is killed.