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War In Tim O Brien's The Things They Carried

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“They carried all they could bear, and then some, including a silent awe for the terrible power of the things they carried.”, the former quote is from Tim O'Brien's book The Things They Carried. The quote is relating not only to the physical belongings they carried but also the emotional turmoil they acquired during their active years as soldiers. As the weaponry and artillery that soldiers carry change with each new war one thing remains constant; soldiers don’t always leave the stress from their experiences at war ,on the battlefield. War has been around for hundreds of years but post traumatic stress being recognized as a disorder by the American Psychiatric Association only happened 35 years ago (Friedman). This information led me to …show more content…

In his article “The Civil War's Hidden Legacy” Horowitz discusses 25 year old corporal John Hildt who who had lost his right arm during battle and then “lost his mind” (Horwitz). John Hildt was an example of what the hard realities of war do to some of those who have experienced it first hand. After John had served his country and lost his in arm in the the war he was institutionalized in a government hospital for the insane because he was said to be suffering from acute mania (Horwitz). According to Horowitz’s research John Hildt had no previous history of mental disorders. It could be assumed that Corporal Hildt’s was afflicted by PTSD and not a physical exertion of some sort. John Hildt John Hilton most likely never receive the proper therapy to treat his post traumatic stress due to it never being properly diagnosed. An article on Post Traumatic Stress Disorder written by Leo Sher discusses the importance of PTSD being diagnosed correctly in order to provide proper treatments (Post-traumatic Stress disorder: The importance). Until 35 years ago , Post Traumatic Stress Disorder was most likely written off as “Nostalgia” or even “Combat Exhaustion” (Horwitz and Goodpaster). Kasey Goodpaster discusses some of the early treatments that were available to those most likely suffering from PTSD , but misdiagnosed with some other

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However, some soldiers believed shell shock could be cured, there was a British soldier named Charles Myers. Myers was a medically trained psychologist who had theories about curing shell shock. “Myers identified three essentials in the treatment of shell shock: "promptness of action, suitable environment and psychotherapeutic measures,"” (Jones, Shell shocked). Brooks writing about the illnesses and environment of life on the frontline helps paint a picture in his audience’s mind of the ordeal of problems soldiers dealt

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In “The Last True Story I’ll Ever Tell”, John Crawford shows how war can drastically change soldiers by having psychological effects on them and when soldiers come back from war they can feel like they are alone. Some psychological effects are post-traumatic stress disorder, also known as PTSD, depression,

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The Mental Cost of War The book by Tim O’Brien The Things They Carried is about the Vietnam War. He was a young boy only nineteen in 1969. He explained what he remembered of the Vietnam War. It could be bearable at times while other times it was grueling and scary, making the mental cost of war difficult.

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In the novel The Things They Carried by Tim O’Brien, the author skillfully presents a paradox about war and how it is both horrible and beautiful. Through O’Brien’s vivid storytelling and sorrowful anecdotes, he is able to demonstrate various instances which show both the horrible and beautiful nature of war. Within the vulnerability of the soldiers and the resilience found in the darkest of circumstances, O’brien is able to show the uproarious emotional landscape of war with a paradox that serves as the backbone of the narrative. In the first instance, O’Brien explores the beauty in horror within the chapter “Love.”

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The Effects of War in In the Lake of The Woods The theme for In the Lake of The Woods is the effects of war a soldier must face when they come home from battle by the novel focusing on the protagonist John Wade and his internal struggles. The author uses imagery, symbolism, and diction as John Wade as he struggles to live alone with his wife on a cabin on a lake in the woods with both his past and future haunting him. In Tim O'Brien's novel, there are many instances of imagery when John is having to go through his memories of what happened in Vietnam, especially when he is in a trench and saw everyone around him kill all that moved or breathed..

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War is a topic most people have a strong opinion on. Most people clearly show if they are for a war or against it. Tim O`Brien the main character in the novel The Things They Carried by Tim O’Brien was drafted to fight in the Vietnam War. O`Brien view of war is very similar to Henry David Thoreau, the author of “Civil Disobedience ”, view on the war. O’Brien was against the Vietnam War and in his own words says, “ I was drafted to fight a war I hated (O`Brien 40)”.

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Does war have a negative impact on a person's mental health? War is always brutal. One of the major themes in the novel "The Things They Carried" is the trauma of war. Soldiers endure the tragic life and death experience of fighting in Vietnam. People died suddenly, randomly and horrifically, whether from snipers, stepping on mines, or even drowning in sewage fields.

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Challenges at War Robert E. Lee once said, “What a cruel thing war is… to fill our hearts with hatred instead of love for our neighbors”. The novel The Things They Carried by Tim O’Brien takes place in Vietnam. He and a handful of other men experience things only one can image and hope they will never have to experience again. They learn how death among them can greatly affect them, and many others. War is not an easy task to get through and these men all had different coping methods.

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War has a profound and lasting impact on individuals and society. In “The Things They Carried” by Tim O’Brien, he tells different stories of before, during and after war and how it affects the soldiers, mentally and physically. In these stories Tim O’Brien illustrates these traumas and the long-lasting effects and impact that the war will always have on these men. Even though all the men didn’t survive the ones that did continue to have traumatic flashbacks. War has a lasting impact on individuals and society, affecting not only the physical but the mental and emotional well-being of those involved.

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During the Vietnam War the soldiers, whether or not they wanted to be there, many of them developed mental illnesses. The things they would experience would cause burdens on them for the rest of their lives. “Ted Lavender, who was scared, carried tranquilizers until he was shot in the head outside the village of Than Khe in mid-April.” (The Things They Carried) Lavender carried tranquilizers until he died, because he was scared.

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Those who had mental illnesses were placed in institutions that were essentially like jails, and those patients were mistreated heavily, confined in small spaces, and were receiving harsh methods of treatment. The first account of the term PTSD being used is in 1980; one hundred and fifteen years after the Civil War. The Civil War was essentially the reason that mental health- especially in soldiers coming home from war- was finally being researched. Until PTSD was given its name in 1980, it was called shell shock- referring to the reaction to the explosion of artillery shells-, war neuroses, combat stress reaction, and battle fatigue ("History of Mental Health"). Overall, mental health was not thoroughly researched until post Civil War when soldiers that came home showed -what will be known as PTSD-

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Psychological Warfare in ​The Things They Carried Unless you have been in war or have read ​The Things They Carried​, you can't fully understand the psychological toll on a person's mind and body, you can't understand the psychological hardship soldiers go through in war. However, ​The Things They Carried​, by Tim O'Brien, is written to where it shows the overall psychological effects of war on soldiers in and out of Vietnam; as shown throughout the story, the recurring themes of trauma, love, and guilt give the clear psychological implications of war.

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Accompanying these weapons was the first emphasis on war trauma-related mental illness, with soldiers returning from battle with PTSD, misnomered and misunderstood as ‘shell-shock’. Rates of PTSD climbed steadily after World War II and the Vietnam War as weaponry became more and more advanced, reaching 12% of soldiers who saw direct combat in the Gulf War being diagnosed with PTSD afterwards (cite). Clearly, there is a strong connection between advanced weaponry and mental illness in soldiers, proving that violent weaponry negatively affects those who are forced to encounter

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The True Weight of War “The Things They Carried,” by Tim O’Brien, brings to light the psychological impact of what soldiers go through during times of war. We learn that the effects of traumatic events weigh heavier on the minds of men than all of the provisions and equipment they shouldered. Wartime truly tests the human body and and mind, to the point where some men return home completely destroyed. Some soldiers have been driven to the point of mentally altering reality in order to survive day to day. An indefinite number of men became numb to the deaths of their comrades, and yet secretly desired to die and bring a conclusion to their misery.

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Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder in The Things They Carried During the turbulent times of the Vietnam War, thousands of young men entered the warzone and came face-to-face with unimaginable scenes of death, destruction, and turmoil. While some perished in the dense Asian jungles, others returned to American soil and were forced to confront their lingering combat trauma. Tim O’Brien’s The Things They Carried provides distinct instances of Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder and reveals the psychological trauma felt by soldiers in the Vietnam War. Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder, PTSD for short, is the most common mental illness affecting soldiers both on and off the battlefield.

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