Injustice In The Things They Carried By Tim O Brien

When people think about soldiers, what comes to their mind? Often, people think about bravery, discipline, and seriousness. These are positive adjectives for soldiers; however, these adjectives create a set of unattainable expectations for them. As we send these men and women into a war chosen for them by the United States Congress, these expectations bedevil them, and they are often left struggling to cope with the traumatic experiences they encounter. A veteran of the Vietnam War, Tim O’Brien, chose to write about this injustice experienced by himself and other soldiers in his book, The Things They Carried. In this essay, I will discuss and explain the different dilemmas given to the soldiers in The Things They Carried, how the soldiers respond, and conclusions that can be drawn from O’Brien’s work. War itself is a

Soldiers physically carried photographs and items from their previous lives throughout the war, with the hope of maintaining a sense of familiarity. They regarded these items as sacred. For example, a young soldier searched the Tra Bong River for hours, hoping to find a photo of his ex-girlfriend that he lost in battle (page 164). Either way, these soldiers found ways to show resilience in the face of injustice, demonstrating a sense of hope to people currently facing injustice. Despite the clear and upfront examples of injustice and horrific events portrayed in The Things They Carried, O’Brien also conveys hidden messages through allegorical stories. One message he portrayed was the loss of innocence among soldiers through war. There are two main allegories used to convey this text. The first one is the story of the baby water buffalo. In this story, Rat Kiley, a soldier, takes out his anger and frustration on a baby water buffalo (page 75). Kiley wounds the water buffalo multiple times through gunshots, kicking, and slashing, to the point where the water buffalo is