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The Vietnam War Revealed In The Things They Carried By Tim O Brien

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The Vietnam War was a long and catastrophic war. Among the American people, it caused divisive conflict between the state and those who opposed. However, regardless of U.S Military strength, the Americans lost the war and withdrew forces under the order of President Richard Nixon in 1973. In the late 1960's, younger Americans began to realize that the battles were a waste and men refused to fight in the war. Nevertheless, young adults were drafted into the U.S Army, including a young Tim O'Brien, author of many novels including fiction novel The Things They Carried, a collection of semi-autobiographical short stories, had just completed undergraduate school. In the novel, the protagonist, Tim O'Brien, catalogs a variety of experiences his fellow soldiers and himself endured during their time in Vietnam. In war, soldiers become brothers and their lives become intertwined; talking through their lives before war while experiencing the same disasters of war every day. O'Brien writes, "they carried all the emotional baggage of men who might die" (1141), in which this phrase represents their time together as it might be their last. In O'Brien's Vietnam novel The …show more content…

'I carry the memories of the ghosts of a place called Vietnam - the people of Vietnam, my fellow soldiers,' he tells host Neal Conan. 'More importantly,' … 'I carry the weight of responsibility, and a sense of abiding guilt.'" (The Things They Carried 20 years on). Copious amounts of veterans of war come back home having lost a friend, in which the veterans will carry home to their fallen comrades home their legacy, and the humbling stories. "Civilians aren't privy to the bonds forged in the heat of battle. They can't truly grasp the vulnerability of putting one's life in someone else's hands. They've never felt the eternal link shaped by staring down terror, then pulling each other into the blaze of bravery required on the battlefield" (Remember

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The United States of America conducted lotteries to determine the order of call to the military service in the Vietnam War for men ages 16-21. Many men were forced to leave loved ones and special people behind. “The Things They Carried” by Tim O’Brien gives readers the inside look of what it was like to be an American Soldier in the Vietnam War. His memoir includes unforgettable images of a nightmarish war that people are still trying to absorb. The book is a set of connected short chapters that tell the stories of soldiers before, during and after the war.

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Love, regret, fear, and courage are all intertwined into Tim O’Brien's book, The Things They Carried. O'Brien uses his own experiences with the Vietnam war as well as stories told from his companions to create a book to show how the war affects people differently. By using his own story, he is able to have an honest outlook into the war that tells about the things that happened off of the footage that the nation could watch. The individual stories of the men are shown throughout this book to allow for a full circle story that captures most all aspects of the war, in essence, what happened other than the fighting. Instead of discussing the book as a whole, I am focusing on the main themes that are shown throughout the book.

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The soldiers of the Vietnam War were mostly innocent young men that were forced to face overwhelming emotional distress like the fear of their own deaths, guilt associated with taking the life of another soldier, and sorrow after witnessing their fellow comrades’ deaths. In The Things They Carried, author, Tim O’Brien, uses fictional stories to display the immense emotional burdens that the soldier Tim and his fellow members of Alpha Company experienced before, during, and after their unforgettably haunting time in Vietnam, and how each handled this “baggage” they carried. O’Brien’s sympathy belongs to the soldiers in the novel, knowing full and well that none of them belonged in the middle of the unjust war. Whether it was by the use of

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Coping Mechanisms In The Things They Carried Essay

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The soldiers in the Vietnam War are portrayed as losing themselves in the chaos and trauma of combat. Through the stories of the soldiers and their experiences, O’Brien explores the ways in which war strips away one's sense of identity and humanity. The author himself is depicted as losing himself in the war. O'Brien served in the Vietnam War, and his experiences inspired much of the book. Through the character of Tim O'Brien, the author explores the ways in which war can strip away one's sense of self and purpose.

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1251 Words | 6 Pages

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1268 Words | 6 Pages

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1298 Words | 6 Pages

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