Book Report on
The Things They Carried
Tim O'Brien was born in the town of Austin, Minnesota, and moved to Worthington at the age of 10. He went to Macalester College and participated in the Vietnam War from 1968 to 1970 as an infantry soldier. After the war, he completed graduation from Harvard University and worked as a reporter with The Washington Post for a short duration. He launched his literary career in 1973 with the publication of If I Die in a Combat Zone which established him as a leading writer on Vietnam issues.
In the book “The Things They Carried, Tim O’Brien have written variety of stories related to the experience of serving as a soldier in the Vietnam War. This is a matchless and stimulating book coming out of a multifarious selection of literary traditions and can be called both a novel and a collection of short stories that are inter-related. The writer presents the readers a combination of material to include war memoirs, autobiography and gives the whole book a fictional touch too. Due to nature of writing and storytelling and the way a reader comprehend the story, it is well established as a fiction work and not a nonfiction historical book. In the introductory article, O'Brien defines the major characters and describes what they carry, to include physical items such as canteens, grenades, lice, and even the emotions of fear and love. It is after the first chapter that the narrator is identified as "Tim O'Brien," a middle-aged war veteran.
War experience is something unexplainable and it can be understood only by someone who has actually participated in a war. Even to a reader, the war story fascinates and changes his ideas about the reality of life. The war changes solider in many ways. The angle with which a war veteran looks at life is altogether different from his earlier perspectives. In normal life, talk about life and its different aspects is a routine, however, death is rarely discussed. The reason being the fear of death as no one wants to die; everyone wants to live and enjoy the colors of life. During war, when a soldier sees death from very close and his concept about life changes. When a soldier sees his colleagues dying in front of his eyes and when he is unable to save the life of his friend, he understands the reality of life. This can only be understood by someone who has seen someone dying in his hands. So that changes the perspective of a soldier about life and he is then no more afraid of death. Reality of death changes the reality of life and that changes the whole perspective about life. After the war, this is the psychological burdens carried by men during the war which define them. The survivors carry guilt, grief, and confusion as part of their personality. In the story “Love,” Jimmy Cross shares with O’Brien of his guilt about Ted Lavender’s death. Norman Bowker drives aimlessly in his hometown to overcome the grief and confusion. Similarly, Tim O’Brien shares the feelings he carries, with the readers and thus reduces his guilt of so many ifs and buts. That is how war experience changes the soldier and his personality.
Courage is a result of mix of things; the very first being the fear of being ashamed in front of seniors in the war. Tim O’Brien explains his account of story in “On the Rainy River” that he was not willing to go to Vietnam after receiving his draft notice because he was not convinced of the righteousness of the war. However, he did not want to be blamed or labeled as a coward, therefore, he went to the war despite not considering it a just cause. So what keeps O’Brien from escaping to Canada is not his love for the country or dedication to the cause which is the traditional motivating factors for fighting in a war. He was more concerned with what his family, friends and community will think if he did not sign up for the war. There is always a conflict between the cause of the war and one’s willingness to fight in view of that cause duly affected by the factor of what people will think. Now this fear of shame motivated reluctant men to go to Vietnam and affected their behavior during the war. In “The Dentist”, Curt Lemon decides to take out a good tooth to lessen his shame about his faintness in an earlier encounter with the dentist. Variety of other aspects also affects the courage factor during war to include the stress of the war, the strangeness of the place, and the inexperienced youth of the soldiers. These factors combined create psychological dangers and thus affect the courage negatively. An example of Jimmy Cross, who went to war only because his friend also went for war and ended up as a confused and diffident leader who risks the lives of his under command. Thus fear of shame is one factor which is not a positive but an unavoidable motivation for going to war.
O’Brien does not think that he is brave; instead he explains his social compulsions that compelled him to go to Vietnam. Through his narration of story, O’Brien confesses that he was a coward and despite not believing in the war, he went to participate in the war. He considers this as a failure of his convictions. Bravery is judged or measured in a situation where those involved are convinced of the cause for which they are fighting for. Without conviction the behavior of bravery cannot be defined in the real perspective. If soldiers are convinced of the cause of war, the show their inner self and then their behavior can be judged under the term bravery. Fighting without a cause or without a conviction is not bravery but a reactionary behavior. O’Brien was not convinced of the cause for going to Vietnam War, therefore his behavior cannot be judged under the term bravery.
War affects the minds of young men psychologically. The recurring painful memories of the war which remind soldiers of their good friends do not let them sleep. The dead bodies of dear friends and their disposal pinch the mind every time. O'Brien recalls a repeated image of the death of his friend, Kiowa with whom O’Brien made good friendship and strong connection. It was the scene of his friend Kiowa which motivated him to write several stories. When in war, the soldiers carry heavy physical loads and very heavy emotional loads composed of anguish, terror, love, and longing and physical burden underscores the emotional burden. A young man who never fought before and never heard of sound of gunshots when all of sudden founds himself in the middle of war, that is not a welcome change for him. He takes time to get into the situation and when he understands the situation, it is all blood and smoke all around him and life which lived earlier seems a dream now. This affects the mind of the soldier and he gets carried away; sometimes gets out of his mind, sometimes becomes straggler and sometimes absents himself from duty. However, this leaves long-lasting effects on his mind and memory and he is no more the same person. Thoughts of war haunt him throughout his life and he cannot get rid of the bitter and bloody memories of war.
Works Cited
O’Brien, Tim. The things they Carried. Collection of Short Stories. Houghton Mifflin. (1990). Print.
