The Things They Carried: Anaphora-Page 24 and First Chapter

During the first chapter, Tim O'Brien uses anaphoras as rhetorical devices in his writing. Throughout the entire chapter, he consciously repeats the phrase "they carried" and "the things they carried". In addition, the phrase "he would" is used multiple times on page 24 at the end of the first chapter. O'Brien repeats these three phrases to emphasize his point. I think the phrases "they carried" and "the things they carried" are stressed continously in order to really assert the fact that war can be burdensome and grueling. These words are thrown at the reader over and over again because they denote weight. To really show that war is weighty and influential, O'Brien purposely stresses phrases repetitively that are associated with weight when he discusses war.When O'Brien uses the phrase "he would" on page 24, he is emphasizing the future for Lieutenant Cross. O'Brien is making a deliberate point that Lietenant Cross is going to change his ways as a leader from now on. The author's technique is effective because the points that he wants the reader to focus on clearly stand out.