Blog 3 CA

" The Things They Carried" by Tim O'Brien is not just another narrative that describes the Vietnam War and the actions taken in it. Although the first two chapters persuade us to think so, the reader soon realizes that the book discusses concepts like the necessity of war, courage and expectancy of soldiers and families, coping with memories and emotional scars that are left behind by bloodshed and aggression and the publication of war in media. All of these concepts are discussed with the help of varying narratives and are told through characters which the reader can easily relate to.
Tim O'Brien discusses the chaos that surrounded the war, when it came to understanding the goals and reasons for the American involvement at a conflict that seemed to be so far away and so irrelevant. In the chapter " On the Rainy River" he is unquestionably honest about his past and does something which the majority would not, due to the fact that it is seen in society as unhonourable and cowardly; he confesses that he tried to run away from war, and that he was confused to why he, who was educated and well behaved, had to die for such a distant cause. This same concept is also mentioned by the author while saying: "They marched for the sake of the march. They plodded along slowly, dumbly, leaning forward against the heat, unthinking, all blood and bone, simple grunts, soldiering with their legs, toilling up the hills and down into the paddies and across the rivers and up again and down, just humping,one step and then the next and then another, but no volition, no will becouse it was automatic, it was anatomy, and the war was entirely a matter of posture and carriage, the humpwas everything, a kind of inertia, a kind of emptiness, a dullness of desire and intellect and conscience and hope and human sensibility."( p. 14), where he clearly shows how monotone war became for the troops who did not have a true incentive other than " serving their country".
It is no surprise that soldiers are expected to be strong and unbreakable and are often shown that way through the media in order to underline the military power of a nation. However, through the guidance of books like " The Things They Carried" we realize that this information is far from reality. Throughout the chapter " On the Rainy River" and the chapter "Dentist" we are introduced to the feelings that the soldiers really feel and the pretend feelings which they use as a cover to satisfy their surroundings. This concept is discussed throughout the book and strikes the reader as one of the most important topics of the book. The best phrase to explain this humane imotion is as follows: "They were afraid of dying but they were even more afraid to show it" ( p.19).
It is obvious that O'Brien has found his way to cope with his memories of war; writing. He discusses that without this relaxation he might not have handled the things that he has seen and might have ended up in a much worse state, like many of the soldiers that returned from Vietnam. This topic is especially expressed in the chapters " The Man I Killed", "Notes" and " The Lives of The Dead". The writer further investigates how he copes with all of the deaths he has had to whitness: by writing about them and keeping their memories alive. The best example to this would be the little girl he fell in love with when he was just a child; Linda.
In the story " The Things They Carried", Tim O'Brien has discussed varying issues that mostly deal with the psychology and emotion of the war and the ones that took part in it. He brings his ideas across by using his memories and telling them to the reader just like a retired soldier would tell his children and grandchildren.
Can Atalay