Guilt In The Things They Carried By Tim O Brien

In The Things Things they carried by Tim O'brien, many soldiers are forced to deal with guilt for their entire lives. Many of these men were drafted into war and witnessed their fellow soldiers die for unnecessary reasons. As an example, Tim O’brien feels a great guilt for the man who he said he killed with a grenade and this is a major lifelong burden for him. This guilt is something that Tim is forced to carry for his life which relates back to the title, The Things They Carried. In Norman Bowker’s case, his guilt eventually lead him to hang himself not too long after the war. The title of this group of stories is not solely based on the physical burdens the men had to carry through Vietnam but the mental and emotional issues they are stuck with after the war.

Unlike, defeating Hitler, this war served no major purpose to the United States yet many people lost their lives because of it. Norman Bowker was opposed to the war but got stuck fighting in it anyway and indirectly lost his life because of it. After the war, Bowker carried such an emotional burden that it eventually led to his suicide. He carried this emotional burden an entire ten years after the war which is more painful than the temporary things carried during the war. “Bowker followed the tar road on its seven-mile loop around the lake, then he started all over again, driving slowly, feeling safe inside his father’s big Chevy,” (131) Norman is carrying such an emotional burden that it is taking over his life causing him to blindly drive around a lake reminding him of his time in war at the shit field. This is an issue that can take over the rest of Norman Bowker's life preventing him from forgetting about the