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Theme Of Courage And Cowardice In The Things They Carried

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Jared Kolaris Debra Galler English 10-4(D-US) 01 June 2023 Courage and cowardice portrayed in The Things They Carried In Tim O'brien's venturesome and wretched novel, “The things they carried”, Tim undertakes an interesting exploration of the nature of courage and cowardice. O’Brien’s deliberate choice to dive into these qualities within the lines of war proves their significance and implies a deeper understanding of the complexities of human nature. In this novel, His exploration of the nature of courage and cowardice presents challenges of oversimplified ideas or narrow views on bravery and fear. By showing that even brave shoulders experience fear and doubt, and their actions can not simply be defined as courageous or cowardly. This …show more content…

O'Brien dives into the complexities of these qualities, by Admitting, “ I was no Soldier. I hated Boy Scouts. I hated camping out. I hated dirt and mosquitoes” (O'Brien 39). This quote shows that O'Brien initially didn't like anything that had to do with war and he was not inclined or pushed to be brave. However, as this chapter continues he faces a moral dilemma. His dilemma was to either go out and fight in a war he did not support, or to stay home at a job and life that he hates. He also had one more option: he wanted to flee to Canada to escape everything: the war, his job, and his life. He says, “ It was a moral split. I couldn't make up my mind. I feared the war, yes, but I also feared exile.”(O'Brien 42) This reveals Tim's real struggle between fear and courage, as he weighs the consequences of participating in the war or avoiding it. O'Brien also has outside parties that he felt pressured by to make a decision. for example “ I feared losing the respect of my parents”(O'Brien 42). O'Brien presents these contrasting feelings through his writing to highlight the complexity of courage and cowardice in the midst of War. By doing this he encourages his readers to reconsider their understanding of these qualities and to recognize their significance in the lives of those who experienced the realities of War. He asks readers to embrace a more nuanced understanding of these

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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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“The emotions went from outrage to terror to bewilderment to guilt to sorrow… I felt a sickness inside of me. Real disease” (O’Brien 43). The idea of going to war brought up so many different feelings for Tim O’Brien including guilt. Tim O’Brien felt that if he didn’t go to war, then people would practically bully him and think that he was a coward for not going to the war. Tim experienced something that many people call an apparition, and his version of one was when many people he knew from the past were shaming him for not going to the war, and for running from it.

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In the novel The Things They Carried, Tim O’Brien expresses to the reader why the men went to the war and continued to fight it. In the first chapter, “The Things They Carried,” O’Brien states “It was not courage, exactly; the object was not valor. Rather they were too frightened to be cowards.” The soldiers went to war not because they were courageous and ready to fight, but because they felt the need to go. They were afraid and coped with their lack of courage by telling stories (to themselves or aloud) and applied humor to the situations they encountered.

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Individuals often compromise their happiness to conform better within society by meeting their expectations. The main character, O’Brien, showed hesitance about experiencing societal pressure as a result of his fearful behavior about joining the army to fight in the war. This was demonstrated when O'Brien stated, "I couldn't tolerate it. I couldn't endure the mockery, or the disgrace, or the patriotic ridicule". This quote supports my argument as it illustrates the societal pressure O'Brien faces because he ran away from his "duty" of fighting alongside his nation since a man is not supposed to show cowardice and only present bravery, according to society.

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O’Brien goes into great depth in this small quote on how loss of innocence and war can affect people in the war. The quote “Often the crazy stuff is true and the normal stuff isn’t” shows how war is so different from what any human experiences at home. After that small quote he follows it up by bringing up how you have to use normal stuff to show how crazy these things are and how much of a pole it can have on somebody during a war. The way that war is treated for many is mostly the mental part that is struggling. But for many "War is hell, but that's not 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.

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O’Brien also shows the reality that they were just young boys who were scared, and forced by shame and their social obligations to fight the war, which contrasts from a “traditional” soldier who is seen as a brave hero. From time to time, throughout the whole book, someone would say that he is just a young boy; this is almost their way of indirectly saying that: they are scared and not as brave as they try to be, and that, they were just boys who had dreamt of living a normal life. Also, right from the beginning of the book, in the chapter “The Things They Carried”, O’Brien illustrates how they try to act with poise and dignity but fails when there were times of panic. He says that “they were afraid of dying but they were more afraid of showing

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O’Brien tells the readers about him reflecting back twenty years ago, he wonders if running away from the war were just events that happened in another dimension, he pictures himself writing a letter to his parents: “I’m finishing up a letter to my Parents that tells what I'm about to do and why I'm doing it and how sorry I am that I’d never found the courage to talk to them about it”(O’Brien 80). Even twenty years after his running from the war, O’Brien still feels sorry for not finding the courage to tell his parents about his decision of escaping to Canada to start a new life. O’Brien presented his outlook that even if someone was not directly involved in the war, this event had impacted them indirectly, for instance, how a person’s reaction to the war can create regret for important friends and

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He did not want to come home,” because at home it was as if he was in a different world than those around him (Hemingway 3). This is also true of O’Brien as readers see through his efforts to tell a true war story that no one could relate or even listen to him without some

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O'Brien wanted to stay out of the war by justifying his fear of going to war, through wanting those who support the war “to head for the front and hook up with an infantry unit and help spill the blood. And you have to bring along your wife, or your kids, or your lover. A law, I thought.”. O'Brien had occasions

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(DE) He teaches that it “had no memory, therefore no guilt” (O’Brien 137). (A) Tim forces himself to forget certain parts or particular experiences that he had in the war. This allows him to breathe a little and limit some of the guilt that he feels.

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Hearing of the hardships of war is one thing, but experiencing them is completely different. He learned this by simply going through the war and experiencing them for himself. Nevertheless, unless people experience these hardships first-hand, like O’Brien, nobody truly knows what the war is like. O’Brien felt obligated to pursue a writing style in which everybody could feel as if they were a part of the war.

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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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Tim O’Brien’s struggle with his decision on the matters of his draft notice conveys an emotional turmoil that soldiers no doubt would have also have felt when seeing a similar notice. However, because of the shame that would have brought those soldiers and their families if they were to flee, they decided on what O'Brien also had decided, to fight and only having desires of fleeing away; never acting upon them. However, because he fails to do what he thought was right and follow through with his desire it causes him to believe that even though he survives the Vietnam War, "it's not a happy ending," for he "was a coward," when going into the war. He recalled this because his decision to go to war was motivated by shame, and he just saw himself as a coward who gave in to social pressures that came along with an obligation he never asked

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This is evident when Mr. O’Brien says, “I would go to the war – I would kill and maybe die – because I was embarrassed not to,” (pg. 57.) In the end the author realized what he must do and went back home, so he could fight in the Vietnam

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