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The Voices Behind The Vietnam War By Tim O Brien

1611 Words7 Pages

The Voices Behind The Vietnam War The Vietnam War was previously one of the longest wars in history, causing chaos, terror, and tragedy to everyone. The war officially started in 1955 and ended long after in 1975. The war took place in Vietnam, Cambodia, and Laos and was fought between the communist forces of North Vietnam and the South Vietnam government. The U.S. gave its support to South Vietnam as it supported the anti-communist side of the war. This war marked a turning in not only American history but the history of the whole world. People got drafted into the war without choice and had to serve a country that didn’t even align with their beliefs. At the end of the war, it left a divide in the world's society, with no clear winner …show more content…

The personal soldier stories appealed emotionally to people the best. “I was shot twice…For a long time I lay there all alone, listening to the battle,”(O’Brien 180). "I" repeatedly highlights the troops' sense of isolation and their unique experiences during the battle. "All alone" reflects the soldier's vulnerability and helplessness. While the expression "listening to the battle" emphasizes how persistent and unrelenting combat is. O'Brien uses emotional appeal to paint a vivid picture of the horrors of war. The Secretary of State at the time, John Foster Dulles states, “These risks are far less than those that will face us a few years from now if we dare not be resolute today,” (Dulles Speech). Dulles appeals to the readers by expressing his larger concern for the near future and shows ways we can stop the problem at the root. Dulles utilizes emotional and logical appeal to cater to the concerns of the individuals. O’Brien utilizes intimate, personal stories about the tragedies of the Vietnam War, while Dulles utilizes logic to portray his ideas about the war. Through telling personal stories about the war, O’Brien conveys ideas about how unnecessary the violence in the war was. This signifies the differences between individuals that experienced the war differently. Although Dulles perceived the right concept, he would never know what it felt like to endure the pain and suffering of the Vietnam War. Neil Young created the song “Ohio” while utilizing famous artists of the time to get his message more widespread. Young talks about the personal aspects of the war, “Soldiers are gunning us down Should have been done long ago. What if you knew her and Found her dead on the ground,” (“Ohio”). Neil Young, the artist of the song “Ohio” portrays a more brutal and personal view of the war. This is similar to the views that O’Brien portrays. In both of

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The grueling Vietnam War, disrupting the lives of soldiers and their families, un-packs its complexities through the journey of the soldiers. After the death of Curt Lemon, a fellow soldier, O’Brien exclaims, “War is hell, but that’s not the half of it, because war is also mystery and terror and adventure and courage and discovery and holiness and pity and despair and longing and love” (80). O’Brien’s metaphor conveys his perception of the Vietnam War while setting a strong precedent of what the war really was like. Furthermore, it is evident that the complexities of war are hard to navigate as soldiers, tearing away at their mental health, revealing soldier’s experiences at war that corrode their overall well-being. Furthermore, this toll on overall-well being can be self-inflicted when soldiers assign blame to themselves as guilt culminates into lifelong burdens.

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Tim O’Brien is a novelist and a retired soldier from the Vietnam War. He wrote a semi-autobiographical novel titled, The Things They Carried, in a format that seemed as if we were in the novel itself. As readers continue with this novel one can envision and have the impression of deaths and all the effects war has on a soldier from the war. O’Brien explores the effect of war on an individual through fictionalized stories he tells in this novel in order to show how humans can change through drastic events that happen to them due to the war. Being in a war affects the way we think and the people we love.

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Although the soldier he killed was an enemy soldier, instead of vilifying him he was able to humanize the man. O’Brien was able to describe the physical appearance of the soldier and imagine her life before war. The author was able to portray an emotional connection and made the line between friend and enemy almost vanish. This was able to reveal the natural beauty of shared humanity even in the context of war’s horror. O’Brien is able to find the beauty in the midst of this tragic and horrible event.

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In addition, Tim O’Brien conveys how society’s view on cowardice leads to the feeling of guilt in soldiers in the Vietnam War. In “On The Rainy River”, O’Brien claims that he opposes the Vietnam War, and he sees no reason for the war. However, against his own will, he is drafted and is required to go to war. O’Brien reacts negatively to this saying, “All I wanted was to live the life I was born to... now I was off on the margins of exile, leaving my country forever, and it seemed so impossible and terrible and sad,” (50 and 51).

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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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