The Historical Context of The things They Carried

The Historical Context of The things They Carried

Introduction

The book ‘The things they carried’ is a collection of connected short stories that shift in time, location and characters in an attempt to show America’s involvement in the Vietnamese war. The author, Tim O’Brien was also a soldier in the war, and he writes the book the way he remembers his experience as a soldier in the war. The historical background of the book is based on the traumatic time during the Vietnamese war. It was traumatic because the American government was drafting young men into the war and sending them to Vietnam to serve as foot soldiers. He gives detailed accounts of his experiences as well as those of his colleagues in an attempt to explain why they behaved the way they did. The war had severe effects on the soldiers, and many people died during the Vietnam War.

Discussion

To begin with, America forcefully drafted young men into the Vietnam War. O’Brien did not believe in the war, and when he got his draft letter, he considered running away. “I was drafted to fight a war I hated…but even so, the American war in Vietnam seemed to me wrong. Certain blood was being shed for uncertain reasons” (O’Brien 38). His statement implies that many of the young men who were drafted never knew the reasons for the war, they were doing so under orders. To further cement his claims that the young soldiers never understood the reason for the war, he imagines that the young man who died at My Khe must also have been forced to join the war. He concluded that the man only did so to avoid being branded a coward and a disgrace. That was the same reason why O’Brien changed his mind and went to Vietnam instead of running away to Canada. The two instances show that the young American soldiers only fought the war to prove their bravery rather than defending America.

Moreover, the American soldiers in Vietnam were untrained and barely more than teenagers. Seeing that they were forcefully drafted, they were not adequately trained for the war. The soldiers who marched with O’Brien were neither physically nor psychologically prepared for the war, and this increased their trauma. O’Brien gives an example of a fellow soldier, Ted Lavender who died in the war. Ted Lavender who was scared, carried tranquilizers until he was shot in the head outside the village of Than Khe in mid-April (O’Brien 2). As such this implies that this young soldier was not prepared to go to war and he had to take tranquilizers to cope up with the violent environment.

According to Alair, combat veterans may be expected to have worse physical and mental health on average than people who have never faced combat (2). As such This is because a war required trained soldiers who have been prepared both psychologically and physically to handle the stress, pressure, and loneliness that comes with war. Therefore, sending an untrained man to war places him in great danger as he might suffer severe post-traumatic stress disorder. As such this was the case of Ted Lavender, who could not do without tranquilizers until the point of his death. The lack of proper training of the drafted soldiers cost the lives of many American soldiers.

Furthermore, the soldiers suffer from emotional burdens from the loneliness in the war. For instance, their Lieutenant Jimmy Cross leads his fellow amateur soldiers into war while his mind sought distraction and relief by daydreaming about a woman called Martha (O’Brien 1). He was trying to escape from the brutal and horrifying experiences of the war, and as a result of this distraction, Ted Lavender got killed. As such this was an additional emotional burden since Jimmy Cross blamed the death of Ted on his constant daydreaming while at the same time he could not stop thinking about Martha. Apart from the heavy bags he had to carry, Jimmy was responsible for the lives of all the men under his command, and this was too much for him to bear. O’Brien was influenced by such incidences where he saw young men like himself struggle to maintain calm in the middle of a war they did not believe in.

Besides, the soldiers shared a common secret of cowardice. First, Vietnam was not primarily a war of confrontation, but a war of infiltration-a guerrilla war. It was not a war of fronts, but one in which the enemy was fluid, mobile, and, it often seemed, ubiquitous (Robert, Gallops and Ellen 4). Such a war means that the infantry forces move ahead to identify the enemy’s weak point and isolate dangerous areas ahead of forces with the heavier weapons. As such, this means that O’Brien’s troop had to march to potentially dangerous areas and risk their lives. Such a dangerous task requires serious skill and a high degree of specialized training, and since these young soldiers did not have such training, they were afraid for their lives. They carried shameful memories. They carried the common secret of cowardice barely restrained, the instinct to run or freeze or hide, and in many respects, this was the most onerous burden of all, for it could never be put down, it required perfect balance and perfect posture (O’Brien 20). These soldiers were all afraid of dying in the war since they were marching blindly into the territory of the enemy. However, none of them admitted to feeling afraid and therefore they all acted in bravery.

Although the soldiers always march together, the experience a lot of loneliness. Each of the soldiers hangs onto something that reminds him of home. Jimmy Cross has letters and souvenirs from the woman he loves. Whenever he wants to escape from the reality of the war, he reads the letters and thinks about her. Kiowa carried his Bible which was a gift from his father, and it reminded him of his home in Oklahoma. Ted Lavender carried tranquilizers which provided him with the calmness he needed at war and Henry Dobbins wrapped his girlfriend’s stockings around his neck as a comforter. All these items which were souvenirs from home seemed to bring comfort to the young soldiers who were in the midst of a dangerous war away from home.

Also, the young men attached a lot of importance to respect and reputation during the war. They feared and hated looking weak, and as such, they did obscene things to seem brave. One instance is where all of them were afraid of searching tunnels before blowing them up. Blowing up tunnels were orders from their seniors and defying them was unheard of. Searching the tunnels was a terrifying job, and they were all afraid of it. O’Brien describes the fears of however was chosen to search the tunnel before blowing it up, “If you screamed, how far would the sound carry? Would your buddies hear it? Would they have the courage to drag you out? In some respects, though not many, the waiting was worse than the tunnel itself. Imagination was a killer.” The soldiers were terrified of carrying out some orders, but since they were from higher command, they had no choice but to carry them out.

Some soldiers carried the blame of the death of their friends who died during the war. According to Alair, Greek soldiers expressed the same feelings of grief and rage on the fields of Troy as did American soldiers in the jungles of Vietnam (2). These are the feelings of guilt and rage for the loss of their fellow soldiers. For instance, Jimmy Cross blames himself for the death of Ted Lavender and Kiowa. In the case of Ted Lavender, he felt that he had neglected his men by daydreaming about the woman he loved in the line of duty. As a result, he got rid of all souvenirs from Martha to focus his energy on the war. In Kiowa’s case, he had orders to set up camp there, but he felt that he could have faked the coordinates and moved to higher ground. O’Brien presents his thoughts, “He should’ve moved to higher ground for the night, should’ve radioed in false coordinates. There was nothing he could do now, but still, it was a mistake and a hideous waste. He felt sick about it.” (157). O’Brien witnessed his fellow soldiers blame themselves for the deaths of their colleagues.

Two more soldiers blamed themselves for the death of Kiowa for they felt that they should have put more effort into saving him. Bowker felt guilty for letting go of Kiowa instead leaving him to sink in the muck. Also, O’Brien blamed himself because he let go of Kiowa’s boot instead of pulling him from the muck. These feelings of guilt had developed over time because the soldiers had become attached as they faced the war together. It was like a spirit of brotherhood.

Lastly, some soldiers were not able to fit into society after the war. First, much discussion on the effects of war has dealt merely with the tensions and problems produced by returning from the combat theater to a civilian society -in which the war was not popular and in which veterans received little moral support for the sacrifices they had made for their country (Robert et al. 3). As scuhThis was the case of Norman Bowker, who found out that he had no-one to talk to about the war. His best friend was dead, his former girlfriend was already married, and his father was not interested since Bowker did not get any prestigious medals as his father expected. This depression and loneliness made Bowker commit suicide shortly after the war.

Conclusion

The things they carried is a novel that has greatly been influenced by the events of the Vietnam War. It is mostly about the dangerous and lonely life led by the amateur soldiers as they defended America. O’Brien describes their behaviors and shows how the war shaped their personalities.