Rat Kiley: What He Carries in The Things They Carried

Tim O’Brien uses Rat Kiley to examine trauma, duty, and truth in war. O’Brien does not turn Rat into a medic; he puts him in the role as a prism through which readers perceive the price of war. What Rat carries reveals what goes on inside him. His equipment and behavior are allusive, demonstrating that war defines identity and puts feelings of emotional stamina to the test.

The medical kit that Rat carries is not simply a set of tools. It denotes his status as a healer and, simultaneously, his proximity to death. The morphine, bandages, and plasma represent the symbol of care but also of pathology, failure when nothing can help to save lives. Every unsuccessful rescue is a weight on Rat, and the kit serves as a reminder of both responsibility and guilt. Therefore, Rat literally carries the medical tools to help people survive, which have a hidden meaning and are the symbol of his life choices and circumstances.

Grief is another burden that Rat carries. The death of Curt Lemon transforms him, as the reader sees from his long emotional letter to the sister of Lemon in the hope that it will celebrate his dead comrade (O’Brien 63). However, Rat not only gets no peace with the letter, but her remains further increase his agony. This is the point where O'Brien gives the expression of moral solitude, which is the inner sorrow soldiers usually experience without being noticed.

Another burden that Rat is subject to is storytelling. He narrates and gives stories a flourish, employing the narrative to extract meaning from loss (O’Brien 139). In this, O’Brien demonstrates that one of the methods to retain the memory and overcome a traumatic experience is through storytelling. Truth in the case of Rat is not connected to a fact, but rather to emotional integrity. Hence, this makes the readers question the fact that truth can be experienced instead of being demonstrated during war.

The other trauma symptom is the violent release of Rat. He stations a killing of a baby water buffalo after the demise of Lemon (O’Brien 71). The action both surprises the platoon and the reader, but such cruelty is not a meaningless thing, rather, it is a cry of sorrow. O’Brien presented this action as an instance of expressive suffering, revealing the interior discontinuity brought about by war.

Loyalty burden both saves and destroys Rat as he puts his life in jeopardy to rescue injured soldiers and takes care even in the chaos. This loyalty alienates him because he is constantly a witness to other people, and he runs out of emotion. Rat’s madness is expressed in his last gesture of shooting himself in the foot (O’Brien 76). The trauma is not cowardice but a desperate way of trying to endure the mental fatigue. The author employs it to challenge conventional notions of heroism because, with it, he hints that in some cases, courage involves the decision to survive even by way of self-imposed exile.

The character of Rat also brings out a contradiction regarding masculinity. Through humor, he conceals his fear and appears strong in the sight of people, but tender and compassionate in his letters. O'Brien makes Rat reveal that emotion and toughness do not contradict each other. This combination dispels the myth that soldiers must be hard or cold at all times.

The objects Rat carries serve as a tool of narration. They base the narrative on material reality as they trace inner feelings to the physical items. His comic books relate him to the home and normalcy, and bandages relate him to the field of suffering. This information allows the reader to make inferences regarding the psychological meaning of his belongings, which makes the story a reflection of the burden of emotions, not merely a war story.

In conclusion, Rat Kiley carries tools, tales, trauma, and loyalty. Everything he carries brings to light part of war’s heavy price. O'Brien demonstrates how duty and feeling usually clash. The burdens of Rat remind readers that, in war, the use of physical power is not the only element that determines survival; the mind also plays a vital role in this scenario. The character demonstrates that one does not need to bear the heaviest burdens on their shoulders, but rather in their heart.