Lesson №4 Theme №4

3. Tim O’Brien, “The Things They Carried”
This is the eponymous short story in a collection of tales about the Vietnam War. The story reflects on the things soldiers carry with them into war:
To carry something was to hump it, as when Lieutenant Jimmy Cross humped his love for Martha up the hills and through the swamps. In its intransitive form, to hump meant to walk, or to march, but it implied burdens far beyond the intransitive.
The opening phrase is a context clue that directly explains the author’s meaning. The passage further explains that although hump has alternative meanings, such as “to walk” or “to march,” in this context it means something more abstract, something heavy and grim.