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The impact of the Vietnam War on American culture
The impact of the Vietnam War on American culture
America in the vietnam era
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Before the war O’Brien worked hard on his studies and didn’t believe in the war. Once he got drafted into the war he had a moral split. He seriously contemplated running away from his problems and fleeing to Canada. Minnesota and Canada separated one life from another. He drove up to a lodge where he met an older man who changed his life forever.
Being their first hand, O’Brien is able to show people how it is. What the soldiers go through on a day to day basics. Being able to show the world how war was, helped the world to understand it. By openly writing about war, more people were able to help the soldiers. The transition from war to civilian life is a hard one.
The things they carried Tim O’brien had strong feelings about the war. He despised it and protested against it but that still didn’t stop him from being drafted into it. He felt depressed and isolated after being drafted. O’brien tried to get out of it but failed. Tim hated war, he understood that sometimes there needed to be one but, he did not feel that way about the vietnam war.
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.
“A thing may happen and be a total lie; another thing may not happen and be truer than the truth” (83). The theme of “happening-truth” versus “story-truth” is a constant opposition Tim O’Brien uses to convey his “true war story” to his audience. Many times in the book The Things They Carried, O’Brien lies to the reader to attempt to give the reader realistic events, so they can relate to the emotions O’Brien felt during the Vietnam war. O’Brien makes it clear in the chapter “Field Trip” that a person who has not been to war cannot comprehend what it was like. He uses a fictional character, Kathleen, to be a stand in for the reader; she is innocent and free from the burden of serving in wartime.
In the short story, “The Man I Killed,” O’Brien focuses on this to show that everyone fighting in a war has a story. He spends the story describing the man he killed and searching for justification of his actions. He carries around guilt with him because of it, and his fellow soldiers try to help him justify and come to terms with his action by saying things like, “You want to trade places with him? Turn it all upside down= you want that? I mean, be honest,” (126) and “Tim, it’s a war.
Ever since July 4, 1776 “people sleep peaceably in their bed at night on because rough men stand ready to do violence on their behalf.” Although the U.S. had a few times of doubt, we have been and continue to be a solid, secure country since then. Over time there has been many stories written on behalf of war and the rough men that fight for us so we can sleep without a worry at night, and here is where we dive deeper. To begin with, a perfect story to start with is “The Things They Carried” written by Tim O’Brien, which is about a platoon of American soldiers fighting for their country on the ground during the Vietnam war.
This forewarns the reader that they could be reading something that is real or something that is completely made up. O’Brien is a masterful writer who has created an unique story about the experience of war through his style of writing.
O’Brien does not try to justify his actions, but makes up a life story that is very similar to his own to try to familiarize with the dead Viet Cong soldier he stumbles upon in the story “The Man I Killed”. The story O’Brien makes up highlights the dead soldier's life. Going from being teased for his women-like appearance at school and faking his excitement of fighting and being patriotic in front of his father and uncles. O’Brien continues to make up stories about the young Viet Cong soldier, how he went to continue his passion in math, going to study in Saigon and how he met this girl that liked him for his bony legs and small wrists. The way that O’Brien handles guilt after the war shows his own problems that arose during the war.
While he was in the country he “wrote a few letters home; didn’t go into much detail; motive was "more superstitious" than protecting parents; wrote some short pieces for the Minneapolis newspaper and one for Playboy (published after he returned) that became the basis for his first book, If I Die in a Combat Zone; had always wanted to be a writer, but Vietnam made him need to be a writer; pieces were about events and other people, not about him; went to graduate school at Harvard after his return, kept writing short pieces, not intending them to be a book, but at some point, they accumulated into one. ”[Interview, 04:19] H said that the books he read inspired him to be a writer even if he hadn't gone to Vietnam, though “his experience made him a certain kind of writer; all his books are about the individual’s struggle to do the right thing against outside forces” [Interview,06:15] O’Brien takes the “awful experience of war; tries to reflect the non-linear experience of Vietnam; of his books, The Things They Carried and In the Lake of the Woods best capture that.” [Interview, 06:15] “I was drafted in 1968 and spent the summer playing golf and worrying about Vietnam and dying and killing. But it’s abstract.
Years afterwards, he still feels detached and numb, so he must write to attempt to reconnect himself: “[O’Brien’s] moments of introspection also become emotional releases, opportunities to cut through the numbness that the war has created in him so he can feel again” (Herzog 115). He uses his writing as a form of therapy to manage his emotions of stress and intense guilt in an effort to thrive despite his traumatic recollections. Moreover, he fears facing the emotional weight of killing people and leaving his comrades to fend for themselves in the past, but O’Brien also does not want to become emotionless and indifferent to hurting others (Herzog 118). He still cannot place all of his emotions and memories in order; he says of himself: “Even now I haven’t finished sorting it out. Sometimes I forgive myself, other times I don’t.
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.
This quote epitomizes the trauma caused by war. O’Brien is trying to cope, mostly through writing these war stories but has yet to put it behind him. He feels guilt, grief, and responsibility, even making up possible scenarios about the life of the man he killed and the type of person he was. This
O’Brien felt because of this there was a need to stay and fight. In making this choice he felt himself to be a coward (Herzog 1). O’Brien says “My conscience kept telling me not to go, but my whole upbringing told me I had to” (Vietnam 22). O’Briens life played such a major role on his decisions about Vietnam and every event helped shape him into who he is
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.
