Tim O’Brien writes about the emotions of war in his book, The Things They carried.” There are many stories about the tragedy and violent nature of the Vietnam War along with stories of comradery and a togetherness that is only felt by brothers of war. Spending months of your life in this environment is bound to have lasting effects on a person. If you experience death, fear, and un-predictableness as your normal, the only chance of survival lies in adaptability. Tim O’Brien proves through his short stories about himself, Mary Anne, Norman Bowker, and others that war changes a person.
Tim’s character in his book starts out as a freshly graduated 21 year old that is drafted unwillingly into the Vietnam War. He felt he was too good for the war and had big plans of Harvard for his future. Tim says,
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In the chapter, “Notes,” Norman Bowker struggles to find his place in the real world after Vietnam. He could not keep a steady job, lived at home with his parents, and was depressed because of some of the events he witnessed as a soldier. He writes to Tim a very scrambled letter on his feelings about Kiowa’s death and his struggles being at home. Norman was never able to work through his emotions after war and chose to end his own life. In his earlier letter to Tim he writes, “I mean, who in his right mind wants a parade? Or getting his back clapped by a bunch of patriotic idiots who don’t know jack about what it feels like to kill people or get shot at or sleep in the rain or watch your buddy go down underneath the mud?” (O’Brien 150) This shows me how bitter he was that he could not speak to anyone who would understand him. Dealing with witnessing the death of a friend on top of the many other tragedies that are faced in war is hard to handle when no one around you can truly relate. Vietnam took Norman as another one of its victims. This story shows that the change war brings can last longer than the war