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Ptsd In The Things They Carried

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Estimated over 30% of Vietnam Veterans suffer from PTSD. Many suffer from a vast variety of mental health issues. A majority of Veterans feel that they cannot ever explain the negative experiences they suffered in war and the consequences of those. There is a fear of embarrassment and being perceived as weak. In the novel The Things They Carried, Tim O’Brien, the author, conveys that Vietnam Veterans conceal their bad experiences with war; if these are revealed to others, no one knows how to respond. The chapter “Speaking of Courage” focuses on the toil of Norman Bowker when he returns home after the war. O’Brien uses hypothetical conversations to reveal how Norman feels others would react if he revealed his sheltered war experiences. Norman …show more content…

‘How’d you like to hear about the war?’ he might have asked, but the place could only blink and shrug” (137). Norman has this urge to talk to others about his war experiences, but he conceals all of them for what he thinks is for the best. When O’Brien says “the place could only blink and shrug” he is suggesting how others would react who cannot relate to war. O’Brien is conveying how people become dumbfounded by the received information. Norman’s thoughts really stress the idea of why so many Veterans keep all their thoughts concealed with the projected outcome. Veterans only want to communicate if people would clearly listen. Additionally, through dialogue, O’Brien exhibits Bowker’s self-conflict to express his experiences in war and stay sheltered. Norman arrives in the drive-up at Mama Burgers post-war and presses the intercom button to talk to the worker: “‘Well,’ he said, ‘how’d you like to hear about —’ He stopped and shook his head. ‘Hear what, man?’ ‘Nothing’”(146). O’Brien illustrating Norman’s urge to personally talk to a drive-through worker reveals the strong sense Veterans feel to communicate with anyone. Norman knows he should express his feelings but when he is …show more content…

O’Brien uses symbolism through Linda to emphasize that when Veterans communicate their thoughts to others they do not know how to respond. O’Brien flashes back to age 9 when Nick Veenhof passes Linda’s desk and takes her hat off. The visible roughness of Linda’s head shocks the class: “I remember a short, tinny echo. I remember Nick Veenhof trying to smile. Somewhere behind me, a girl said, ‘Uh,’ or a sound like that”(222). O’Brien symbolizes Linda’s cancer and the ugliness of her head as the ugliness that goes through a Veteran’s mind. Linda always covers the ugliness of her head with the red hat; similarly, Veterans hide their trauma and bad experiences from others by not communicating with anyone else about it. In this situation when Linda’s head is revealed it is seen the whole class is silent and has no idea how to respond. All that can be said is “Uh”. Furthermore, O’Brien uses the symbolism of cancer again to produce the idea that Veterans will never be able to mentally improve unless they communicate. Tim has problems accepting Linda’s death and his mom tries to explain cancer to him. His mother consoles him, “Now and then, she said, bad things start growing inside us. Sometimes you can cut them out and other times you can’t”(224). O’Brien symbolizes cancer as the trauma a Veteran carries. War gives Veterans so many horrible experiences, guilt, and trauma that grows and is

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Norman had felt as if he had no one to talk to or relate to because no one around him had experienced war like he had. He tried to keep jobs when he was home from war, but not one of them had lasted more than 3 weeks. Since he feels he is unable to speak to anyone about war, he writes a letter to O’Brien, telling his entire war story. He soon feels as if he cannot do anything without thinking about war and hangs himself in the locker room of his town’s YMCA.

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Through centuries of great wars and battles, history has displayed brave men and women who have fought for their countries. These audacious people have helped propel countries for the greater good. However, the weight and responsibility, of the war, takes a heavy toll on soldiers that is often overlooked. Tim O’Brien, author of the novel The Things They Carried, records his stories, and the stories of his fellow soldiers during the war. However, three of these soldiers are affected in an outlandish way.

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In "The Things They Carried" by Tim O’Brien, coping mechanisms are central to the experiences of the soldiers in the Vietnam War. O’Brien’s work explores the various ways in which soldiers cope with the physical, emotional, and psychological traumas of war. Coping, in this context, represents the soldiers' attempts to manage the stress of combat and maintain their sanity in an environment of constant fear and danger. Through the characters and their stories, O’Brien demonstrates the importance of coping mechanisms in times of extreme stress.

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In the story, there are many different behaviors that make it clear to the reader that Norman is unable to get past the war and the trauma surrounding it. These behaviors include continuing to drive around a lake being stuck in a specific path, making up conversations he might have with his dad about the war, and convincing himself that normal occurrences must be effects of the war. One day while Norman is driving, he passes through a town. He describes it as, “A tour bus feeling, in a way, except the town he was touring seemed dead. Through the windows, as if in a stop-motion photograph, the place looked as if it had been hit by nerve gas, everything still and lifeless, even the people” (143).

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This sentence fragment emphasizes O’Brien’s propensity for making up details or changing the story entirely to convey his point. Another prime example would be the chapter entitled “Field Trip” in which O’Brien tells of a trip to the presumed site of Kiowa’s death with his daughter, Kathleen. As previously mentioned, there is no real Kathleen. Her inclusion highlights the divide between veteran and civilian in a way mere statement could not. In contrast to the creation of a fictitious daughter, O’Brien’s original changes to Norman Bowker’s story result in a loss of “metaphoric unity” and the “terrible killing power” of Bowker's experience in Vietnam (153).

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O’Brien includes Linda’s death as a comparison to the death of the soldiers that he saw. He implies that death affects veterans the same way Linda’s death affected him. Furthermore, O’Brien reveals that he copes with his troubles by writing novels. Through stories, O’Brien was able lessen his guilt and keep his friends alive. The purpose of this chapter was for readers to empathize with veterans and show more

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The soldier's internal dialogue and stream of consciousness reveal his guilt, fear, and confusion as he grapples with the memories of the violent and traumatic events he has experienced. This use of first-person narration allows readers to gain a deeper understanding of the soldier's mental state, and the impact that war has had on him. Furthermore, O'Brien's use of imagery effectively conveys the physical and emotional landscape of war, painting a vivid picture of the soldier's experiences and allowing readers to viscerally feel the overwhelming nature of war. This technique enhances the reader's understanding of the soldier’s inner turmoil and the effects of war on the soldier’s mind and

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The death witnessed during war is often a recurring thought in soldiers returning from war. This idea is explored in The Things They Carried, a novel about the Vietnam war. This novel explains the overall experiences of war and the trauma soldiers faced in and outside of war. The author, Tim O’Brien, carries a lot of guilt from war and wrote this book as a way to reflect on his experiences. Throughout the book, he argues that when soldiers experience the emotional burdens caused by death at war, they need to place blame in order to cope with their emotions.

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He fought a war in Vietnam that he knew nothing about, all he knew was that, “Certain blood was being shed for uncertain reasons” (38). He realized that he put his life on the line for a war that is surrounded in controversy and questions. Through reading The Things They Carried, it was easy to feel connected to the characters; to feel their sorrow, confusion, and pain. O’Briens ability to make his readers feel as though they are actually there in the war zones with him is a unique ability that not every author possess.

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