Symbols

Sybolism- in the chapter " The man I killed”, O’Brien stands staring at a dead Viet Cong soldier on the trail. He expresses his bitterness at being placed in a situation where he must either kill or be killed by people like himself. Earlier in the book he express his feelings about the war, "There should be a law, I thought. If you support a war, if you think it's worth the price, that's fine, but you have to put your own precious fluids on the line. You have to head for the front and hook up with an infantry unit and help spill the blood. And you have to bring along your wife, or your kids, or your lover. A law, I thought."( O'Brien,42)

Symbolism - Each soldier in the story “humps” an object of escape in the form of imagination, fantasy, or mind altering substances. Lt. Jimmy Cross, means of escape is love. This is brought through in vivid detail about his obsession, a girl from back home named Martha. He reads her letters stares at her pictures, and will even sometimes taste the envelope flaps and Rat Kiley uses imagination as an escape through his comic books just like Kiowa carries a New Testament bible, not only to read but also for the comforting smell of it. ( O’Brien, 5)

Symbolism- The book opens with descriptions of the physical and emotional baggage that each of the men carries with him through Vietnam; the author mentions the specific weight of every item, and how the men decide whether an object is worth its weight in the feeling of safety it provides. Additionally, the author also describes how the men feel the weight of guilt, responsibility and the fear of being seen as a coward.”They carried their reputations.They carried the soldier's greatest fear, which was the fear of blushing. Men killed, and died, because they were embarrassed not to.” (O’Brien,20 )

Lado and Jose