"How many roads must a man walk down, Before you call him a man?.
How many seas must a white dove sail, Before she sleeps in the sand?.
Yes, how many times must the cannon balls fly, Before they're forever banned?.
The answer my friend is blowin' in the wind, The answer is blowin' in the wind.
Yes, how many years can a mountain exist, Before it's washed to the sea?.
Yes, how many years can some people exist, Before they're allowed to be free?.
Yes, how many times can a man turn his head, Pretending he just doesn't see?.
The answer my friend is blowin' in the wind, The answer is blowin' in the wind.
Yes, how many times must a man look up, Before he can really see the sky?.
Yes, how many ears must one man have, Before he can hear people cry?.
Yes, how many deaths will it take till he knows, That too many people have died?.
The answer my friend is blowin' in the wind, The answer is blowin' in the wind." Bob Dylan.
"The Things They Carried" is a story of love during the wartime. Every man in our humanistic society has a role to play, but because of the war in Vietnam, many men were forced to carry what they loved to the battlefield. In reality, the things every man carried into the war were a representation of the role of man in a society and the influence of war on such roles. Moreover, the book also depicts the differences between the Vietnam War and other wars such as the World Wars, the Revolutionary war, and Civil War in the history of America. For instance, the Vietnam War is the most costly war ever fought in American history; more than the world wars and the civil war in which American soldiers fought.
In the first chapter of Tim O'Brien's work, the narrator explains what different soldiers carried with them to war, which arguably represents some of the manly roles in the society. Firstly, O'Brien shows a man's role to love a woman, and how war interrupted this intimate relationship between a man and a woman.
