“The Things They Carried” How does death affect the behavior of people? Although death affects everyone’s behavior differently, knowledge of one’s imminent death is a main force behind behavioral changes. This knowledge causes emotions that motivate people to act in ways that they normally would not. In Tim O’Brien’s “The Things They Carried,” the knowledge of death and its closeness causes the men in the story to alter their behavior by changing they way they display power, modifying emotions ....