The Vietnam War Reflected In Tim O Brien's The Things They Carried

The Vietnam War was a long battle of seventeen long years. There were many causes leading up to this traumatic event. The U.S. got involved because of the spread of communism throughout Asia. The novel, The Things They Carried is about how morality can change both how a soldier thinks and feels. In Tim O’Brien’s historical fiction novel, The Things They Carried, both the physical and geographical surroundings shape the psychological traits of the characters during the following events: Mary Anne’s disappearance, the death of Curt Lemon and Mitchell Sander’s unbelievable story. In the chapter, “Sweetheart of the Song Tra Bong” Mary Anne, one of the characters, was highly influenced and persuaded by the earthly environment of Vietnam. When Mary Anne arrived, she showed several traits of innocence and purity like her bubbly personality and happy smile. Soon Mary Anne became accustomed to

Mitchell Sander’s had described the meaning behind how The Vietnam War had caused soldiers to be constantly on the edge, and how their surroundings were full of sounds and hallucinations. Six men were on watch, camouflaged in the woods scoping out the enemy when they kept hearing noises. The strange noises drove the soldiers to the point where they unloaded several ammunitions of firearms and bombed and fired the entire area just because of hearing choir music and conversation. After returning to the base, they couldn’t even explain to their commanding officer why they ordered such weaponry when they weren’t being attacked. As Tim O’Brien expressed, “Mitchell Sanders was right. For the common soldier, at least, war has the feel- the spiritual texture- of a great ghostly fog, thick and permanent. There is no clarity. Everything swirls.” (79). This quote explains that everything a soldier does has no recognition and that the things they do are out of spite and plain gut