Summary Of The Things They Carried By Tim O Brien

Over 9 million military personnel served in the Vietnam War, one of, if not the most, controversial wars in American history. Studies conducted in 1968, before and after the presidential election, showed that the majority of people believed that entering the war was a mistake. As well as this, the studies also showed that nearly 60 percent of people believed that America should pull its troops out of Vietnam, either by an active effort to end the war or by pulling out entirely (Lau 474). Despite the fact that it was perhaps the most controversial military operation in history, 75 percent of the total forces in Vietnam were volunteers (Hall 25). This begs the question, what led these soldiers to serve in a war that nearly half the country

“On the Rainy River,” further explores the theme of shame that, “The Things They Carried,” introduced by giving background information about Tim O’Brien. The short story is about the conflicted choice that O’Brien has to deal with, either ignoring the draft, risking the judgment of his family and friends, or accepting the call and renouncing his morals (On the Rainy River 162). O’Brien’s unique use of storytelling, for example, the structure in “The Things They Carried,” highlights how cowardice and courage are interchangeable given a different perspective. For example, from the perspective of the audience it is generally presumed that when O’Brien finally decided to fight in the war, that he never believed in, it was because he was courageous. However, the audience learns that O’Brien believed that by joining the war, he betrayed his morals, and he harshly claims that he was a coward for doing so (On the Rainy River 163). Motivation to join the war was not the only thing that O’Brien highlighted, as he also highlighted soldiers being considered cowards by their fellow men in

At the beginning of the story, the soldiers in the unit believe that dying in this war would be honorable and even courageous. It becomes apparent as the story progresses that this is nowhere near the case as one of the least respected soldiers, Ted Lavender dies. Lavender, considered a coward by the rest of the unit, is shot in the head by a sniper as he is walking back to the group (O’Brien 570). His death was the first in the unit and began to open the eyes of the other soldiers. Because his death showcased the opposite of what the other soldiers thought, that dying in war would make you courageous, the importance of perspective begins to unravel. As the soldiers realize this they begin to feel shame, Jimmy Cross blames himself for the death of Lavender, and Kiowa feels a sort of shame in that he cannot relate to this when he feels like he should (O’Brien