The book "The Things They Carried" written by Tim O'Brien is about a historical story during the Vietnam War. This book published in the year 1990 is also called as meta-fiction and there is a confusion that whether it is fiction or reality. But if we deeply read the book it is about the real facts that occurred when author was a soldier in the Vietnam war. The author tells about the life of the soldiers in the war field including him and the incidents that happened during that time. Through his vision the author highlights the mental status of the soldiers where they remembers their relationships and families. So this story is not a fictional story rather a non fictional one. There are examples of fiction where the author sees a lake in the story and imagines the various person in his life. He shows how a soldiers struggles between life and death .But still it is a nonfictional story because the life of various soldiers and their characters are discussed. The story unfolds the truth of how war effects a soldier's life. It is an autobiography of the author during his service in Vietnam which the author has described in a beautiful manner. This is not a war story but small incidents that occurred in war field . The author remembers his own experiences in the war. He also puts light on the life of various soldiers and their relationships. So it is not about Vietnam , not about war but about soldiers whom we think to be very strong from inside , having no fear, loves killing men. But we are unaware of the other side which author narrates in a simple and emotional way.
During this period there were some memorable and enjoyable moments the author spent with his fellow soldier like learning rain dance with them. In the first few pages of the book the author describes how the soldiers carried various items and like canteens, grenades , malaria tablets, love letters ,comic books and various other things to the war fields. There were incidents of the voices coming from the jungle . The author does not discusses from where the voices came from but gives importance to the experience of the voices that the soldiers had. There are various characters of the soldiers that the author met and he shows how in this intense situation i.e. between life and death the soldiers are fun loving, caring and always remembering their families(O'Brien, 4).
The Different Characters
The interaction of the author with Lt. Jimmy Cross who is the leader of the Alpha community during his service is a strange personality always lost in the memories of his girlfriend, Maratha. He carries many things with him all the time to remember Maratha . He even thinks that Maratha will read the letters and she will come to find the lieutenant . But the sudden death of Ted Lavender in the war field shifts his distracted mind to his soldiers. He thinks that his love for the girl is more than the love for soldiers. Under his leadership another soldier dies Kiowa following the order of Cross to cross the sewage. But while crossing it he dies . Jimmy Cross is so much engrossed in his own thought that without trying to find the body of Kiowa ,he thinks of writing a letter to the soldier's family. Later, when he visits the author after 20 years they spent time remembering their friends who were killed in the war and Cross blames himself responsible for the death of his men and also about his feelings for Maratha. (O'Brien, 8).
There was also a character named Mitchell Sanders. He is a dedicated , loyal soldier with a good sense of justice. Mitchell refuses to help the author to take revenge against Bobby. He did not support the lieutenant who lead the soldiers through the sewage. While passing through the sewage the soldier Kiowa dies and Mitchell did not forgive Cross for this mistake. He also helped Rat Kiley to flee from the war field by shooting himself on his toe. Sanders is referred to as the mouthpiece of the author(O'Brien15),.
Another character was Kiowa who belongs to native America but has different perspective than the other soldiers. He was honest and hardworking person .He was practical in his approach and carried items like moccasins that will help other soldiers to take right decision specially the author whose action of killing a soldier was an unfair decision. But he dies while crossing the sewage due to wrong decision of lieutenant Jimmy Cross. His death also shows that how in life we are not prepared of unforeseen events and within moments of wrong decision our life can be ruined.
As mentioned by the author Ted Lavender was the soldier who carried tranquilizers and marijuana as he was fighting with his own fear. This soldier was selected to search the tunnel but was shot by the enemy. This created restlessness among the other soldiers and Kiowa was unable to sleep. But after keeping his head on the New Testament he carried with him always, he was able to come out of the grieve.
Henry Dobbins was another character who was called the machine gunner with gentle, simple nature. There was another soldier named Norman Bowker mentioned by the author who was a quiet person. But the death of Kiowa has impacted this soldier so much that even after the war is over he has written a letter to the author in "Notes" . It shows that in order to come out of the mental trauma the soldiers share stories.
There was the soldier of the Alpha company, Curt Lemon. The author describes him as careless and childish in nature who fainted during a routine checkup in front of an army dentist. The author did not like this person but his sudden death haunts him.
So the author depicts the various aspects of the life of the soldiers who were in the Vietnam war and their experiences in the war and after the war. The title of the story "The Things They Carried" implies that the author wanted to pass the message to the readers about the memories of the family the soldiers carried during war rather than the necessary items that are required in the war. As Vietnam war was one of the tough times the soldiers faced in the history of America ,the author narrates how they struggled in the jungle like the mountains, rivers, the elephant grass etc making it difficult for the American soldiers to survive but they still fought with nature. The story also shows how the sudden death of a fellow soldiers impacts the other soldiers. The lack of team work and irrational behavior among them created the mental trauma they passed through even after the war. The story shows that the soldiers who were very young to handle the situation were sent to the war without proper leader. The soldiers had the ability to save their fellow mates from sudden death but the lack of maturity and irrational behavior was the reason of such incidents. It story shows that even soldiers dislike war but due to necessity they land up killing people and become unhappy. The hassles they face , the stress they pass through are enforced on them . They do not enjoy it but the stress and fear of war lead them to kill their own men. These soldiers also have dream in their life , they desire to spent time with their girlfriend, they want to lead a life stress free, they have hopes, fear, feelings, weakness just like normal human being. The story shows the difficulty in leading a life in the jungle and the cozy life we lead in our home. Carrying weapons and other ammunitions everyday creates a physical stress and along with it comes the fear of war. The author also imagines how to accept in front of his daughter Kathleen and tell the story that he killed a soldier during the Vietnam war. The fight with the sound of grenades, landmine and his own feelings is the experience that the author faces even after twenty years. It shows how mental stress affects soldiers even after war is over. The author has well written the book in the form short stories about the different challenges faced by the soldiers in the war.
Works Cited
O'Brien, Tim. The Things They Carried . United States: Houghton Mifflin, 1990.
