In Tim O’Brien’s short story “The Things They Carried,” the main protagonist, Lieutenant Jimmy Cross, deals with his inner struggles and burdens, while being enveloped in the madness of the Vietnam War. Jimmy struggles to stay focused on his reality and instead opts to daydream about being back in America with his love Martha. However, this lack of attention to the war at hand leads to the death of one of his men, Ted Lavender. Lavender’s death is an important event for Jimmy, as it symbolizes Jimmy’s negligence to the men he is supposed to lead and protect. Ultimately, Lavender’s death is the spark that teaches Jimmy his inner burdens are no more important than anyone else’s and he needs to let go of Martha, so he can tend to his responsibilities as a Lieutenant. As a Lieutenant in the Vietnam War, Jimmy carries with him many burdens and responsibilities. However, he is not the only one in this war as all of his men carried some sort of burden being it inside or outside. “They carried all the emotional baggage of men who might die” (O’Brien 503). This explains that inside Jimmy and his men felt the horrors of war, where every situation could result in the end. Along with emotional burdens on the inside, Jimmy and his men carried heavy “necessities” on the outside. These “necessities” ranged from weapons, food, and equipment. It is interesting how O’Brien creates a connection between the inner burdens and the outer burdens. The inner burdens are small in size, but the tolls they take on a man’s mind are far greater than the weight of the heavy equipment they carry. O’Brien illustrates this point with the letters from Martha that Jimmy carries. Martha’s letters weigh only 10 ounces but the effect that have on Jimmy is far greater than something such as his pistol that weighed 2.9 pounds. Lavender’s death also could be an inner burden that weighed tremendously on Jimmy’s mind. “While Kiowa expl