Trauma In The Things They Carried

The experiences of war leave profound impacts on soldiers, both physically and emotionally. Beyond the physical scars and injuries, veterans grapple with returning to a normal life after their service. Transitioning from a war environment to civilian society is extremely difficult due to their trauma and social obstacles. The government fails to provide adequate aid to returning soldiers, resulting in financial struggle and emotional despair. In The Things They Carried written by Tim O’Brien, soldiers witness violence and death, forcing them to bear emotional burdens that haunt them throughout their entire lifetime, impeding their ability to achieve a sense of normalcy. This reveals the challenges soldiers face in readjusting to civilian life,

After soldier’s return from their service, people only care about the victories and heroic acts, not the dark and disturbing experiences veterans endure. After returning from the war, Norman Bowker finds himself unable to express himself to anyone in the town, and says that “Nobody in town wanted to know about the terrible stink. They wanted good intentions and good deeds” (O’Brien 150). O’Brien uses a metaphor portraying soldiers' burdens as “the terrible stink” to convey that nobody in the town wants to hear about gruesome and painful memories. This demonstrates a lack of understanding and empathy from the civilian population, resulting in superficial gestures that neglect the deeper emotional needs of veterans. Introducing programs to support veterans such as therapy would immensely benefit them, and create a tighter knit community. Psychological distress is not the only obstacle veterans face, as they also experience economic hardships. In the interview about the man who killed Osama Bin Laden, the author writes, “And it's a simple truth that those who have been most exposed to

This can result in the use of drugs and alcohol as coping mechanisms in an attempt to manage the lingering effects of their experiences. In The Things They Carried, soldiers carry a variety of items on the battlefield. Certain characters take narcotics with them, as “Ted Lavender carried 6 or 7 ounces of premium dope, which for him was a necessity” (O’Brien 2). Lavender’s “necessity” of dope signifies his need to numb his emotions in order to escape his trauma. Lavender uses narcotics to distract himself from the war, and while it helps him in the moment, the emotional burdens he carries persist over the course of his life, destroying any hope of healing psychologically. Drugs only provide temporary tranquility, and cannot fix the long term effects of trauma. The excessive use of substances interferes with the functionality of the human brain, preventing an individual from thinking clearly. In the song “Sam Stone”, the author says, “But the morphine eased the pain, And the grass grew round his brain” (Prine 1). The song lyric illustrates the brief soothing effect of morphine, but also demonstrates the lack of clarity it causes to an individual. The cost of morphine is a large financial burden, and without government support, it drives their monetary value to the ground. It drains veterans both emotionally and economically, creating a high stress