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Obinna Wogu
Mrs. Elizabeth DiGennaro
English IV
26 April 2012
Carrying a Reflection; An Analysis of The Things They Carried
A dark, sweltering night in the Vietcong infested swamp is where Tim O’Brien’s Platoon
would find itself. The smell of the muck was so strong that it brought on the eminence of feces.
The swamp was quiet and still until enemy mortar fire began to bombard the Platoon. Chaos
erupted over the swamp field as the Platoon attempted to fight back and defend themselves.
During the third round of mortar fire, a young Christian soldier by the name of Kiowa was shot
and began to sink into the “sh*t.” His fellow company man, Norman Bowker quickly discovered
him slipping to his peril and grabbed his boot. Out of all the men, Bowker was the most phased
by the stench of the swamp. He “let the guy go”, because the smell was just too disgusting to
bear. Feeling that he betrayed his friend, Bowker spends the rest of his life searching for closure,
something he never finds.
When the United States entered the Vietnam War in March of 1965, the lives of every
American was impacted heavily. There were many men who were ready to fight and die in the
name of their country. Although there was a sense of strong patriotism, there were several men
who believed they were fighting a war that they did not believe in. In need of more forces, in
1969, the United States enacted the draft lottery that would pick specific birthdays and bring men
into the frontlines of the war. There were riots over being forced to fight a political war that
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some truly believed that America had no right to be in. The Vietnam War is comparable to the
War on Terrorism that the United States of America is currently in. In Vietnam, the U.S. tried to
save the country from falling into the hands of Communism and impose their democratic views
on their people. In Iraq and Afghanistan, they have collapsed their governments and instituted
their own ideas of how the country should be run. Once again, there are several men and women
who are ready to fight and die in the line of duty, knowing it is for the good of their country. On
the other hand, there are some individuals who believe we are fighting a blind war.
Tim O’Brien, at the age of 22, was drafted into the United States Army in 1968. He
struggled with many conflicts during the duration of time before he went to war. Would he really
fight a war he did not believe in? Would his fear overwhelm him? Was fleeing to Canada really
an option? Through his tour of Vietnam, his fellow soldiers experienced similar conflicts as they
dealt with the war.
In the novel The Things They Carried, Tim O’Brien explores the physical and emotional
burdens that the soldiers carried on their shoulders and the effects that they had on each
individual. Through the use of reoccurring motifs, symbolism, and conflicts, O’Brien reveals that
the soldiers’ attempt to blend fact and fiction was plainly a way of coping with the fears and
burdens that ultimately changed their lives forever.
Throughout the novel, the soldiers before and after the war continued the search for
courage in a world darkened by fear. Fear, alone constituted the many decisions that Tim
O’Brien and his platoon made during the course of the war that would impact their lives forever.
In the chapter On The Rainy River, O’Brien writes, “They carried the soldier’s greatest fear,
which was the fear of blushing. Men killed, and died, because they were embarrassed not to. It
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was what had brought them to the war in the first place, nothing positive, no dreams of glory or
honor, just to avoid the blush of dishonor. They died so as not to die of embarrassment” (65). As
a matter of fact, he made the claim that people are not truly courageous; their fear of
embarrassment is what pushes them to be brave. This belief is deeply rooted in O’Brien’s child
hood. For example, a school bully was tormenting his late girlfriend, Linda, but instead of
defending her, he stood and watched in terror. He believed that courage is something with a
finite quantity; once one uses it on an occasion, one must save up for the next situation. O’Brien
spent his whole life saving up his courage until the right moment came for him to spend it. When
he had the opportunity to flee to Canada when he was drafted, he realized that his definition of
courage was incorrect. He wasn’t a coward for running away from the war; he was a coward
because he failed to stand up for what he believed in. Later on, he realized that the courage he
“saved” up could not save him on the Rainy River. O’Brien’s theory on courage is also
illustrated when the dentist comes to their camp. Rat Kiley who is afraid of the dentist’s drill is
not even pressured by his peers to have dental work done, but commands the dentist to pull a
perfectly good tooth in order to show his masculinity. In addition, O’Brien is not the only man
who shares this continuous sense of fear; his platoon faces the same trials and tribulations. They
all shared the opportunity to flee to Canada, but their strong sense of pride, not their courage
stopped them from soiling their reputation. Critic, Ronnie Wright states, “These young men,
who acted so brave in combat, were too much a coward to refuse to go to Vietnam. As a result,
they were made to endure, not only the heavy weight of equipment under adverse conditions, but
also the enormous amount of emotional weight as a result of the constant fear of dying. And,
they did it all just to save their reputations” (“A Critical Analysis: The Things They Carried”).
The men, who appear before their country as valiant young soldiers, are not the brave souls that
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they portray themselves to be. They force this constant pain of war on themselves everyday
because they were too coward to refuse to fight in Vietnam. Even after the war came to an end,
the choices made on the Rainy River were forever perpetuated in the hearts of the soldiers. For
instance, the fear-driven decisions made by Norman Bowker, during the war, severely impacted
his life and eventually cost him his own life. One night on a swampy feces infested swamp, the
platoon set up camp for the next day. Suddenly, the soldiers began to take enemy mortar fire and
quickly moved on the defensive. During the third round of fire, Bowker realized that his man,
Kiowa was hit and was quickly sinking into the swamp. Bowker, out of all the men had a strong
aversion for the smell of the swamp. Instead of grabbing Kiowa and pulling him out of the
swamp, he let him sink away from his grasp. Kiowa’s death was a major turning point in the
mood of the novel. Kiowa, a very peaceful man deterred the men from excessive violence. After
the war, Bowker faced problems figuring out what to do with his life. The guilt of Kiowa’s death
was forever on his shoulders. Lost in life, Bowker hanged himself in a YMCA locker room in his
hometown.
In the beginning of the novel, O’Brien thoroughly goes through the physical equipment
that the soldiers must carry through bushes, swamps, and trails. Some of these things include
personal and military necessities. For example, Lieutenant Jimmy Cross carried letters from a
woman named Martha, who he was in love with back in the United States. “Dave Jensen carried
three pairs of socks and a can of Dr. Scholl’s foot powder as a precaution against trench foot”
(O’Brien 3). “Kiowa, a devout Baptist, carried an illustrated New Testament that had been
presented to him by his father, who taught Sunday school in Oklahoma City, Oklahoma.”
(O’Brien 3) Some of the heavy militaristic gear that the platoon incorporated “P-3 can openers,
pocket knives, heat tabs, wristwatches, dog tags, mosquito repellent, chewing gum, candy,
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cigarettes, salt tablets, packet of Kool-Aid, lighters, matches, sewing kits, Military Payment
Certificates, C rations, and two or three canteens of water. Together, these items weighed
between 15 and 20 pounds.” (O’Brien 2) O’Brien evokes a strong contrast between the physical
and emotional aspects of the soldiers’ lives during the war. It becomes apparent that the physical
gear serves to symbolize the struggles the soldier’s have coping with pain. For instance,
Lieutenant Cross carries around these worthless letters from Martha, a woman he is obsessed
with. He desires to take her virgin body and becomes preoccupied contemplating whether she is
actually a virgin or not. Carrying these letters, allows Cross to continue everyday in the war in
hopes of being reunited with Martha, but what he does not know is that it causes him more pain
than happiness. His fantastical desires about Martha distract him from his duty and responsibility
to his men and allow Ted Lavender to be “zapped” and killed by enemy fire. After this life
shattering event, Cross was filled with the guilt that it was his fault that he had a fallen man, and
dedicated his life to shaping a better version of himself. As the novel progresses, the emotional
burdens fairly outweigh the physical burdens of war as the characters look for redemption.
O’Brien is the only soldier to truly reach this redemption. For example, after costing several men
their lives due to his negligence, Cross returns to O’Brien after the war to find out he is writing
war stories. “When he visits O’Brien’s home after the war, he asks O’Brien to portray him as a
heroic leader. He hopes to find deliverance in O’Brien’s writing” (“The Things They Carried:
Free Study Guide/Literary Elements”). He believes that if he lives vicariously through O’Brien’s
false story, he will finally come to terms with his mental state during the war. Sadly, his dreams
are never fulfilled and he continued to endure the guilt of his fallen man and a broken heart. On
the other hand, O’Brien actually comes to terms with his actions during the war. After years, he
returns to the feces filled Vietnamese swamp with his daughter. When recounted, Kiowa’s death
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is written in such a way as to lead us to believe that he was the young soldier who turned on the
flashlight at night, causing the platoon to be mortared. “Whether or not this is the case, Kiowa’s
death has such a profound effect on him that he returns to the spot twenty years later in an
attempt to find closure. O’Brien’s re-immersion back the muck of the shit field is a type of
baptism. Though he emerges stained with sewage, he is somehow cleansed within. To further
emphasize the chapter as a transitional point in the author’s life, he buries Kiowa’s sandals deep
in the mud (“The Things They Carried: Free Study Guide/Literary Elements”).
Through the use of the motif storytelling, O’Brien is able to reveal to his audience the
main purpose of his work. By constantly recounting stories about his war experience, O’Brien
makes it evident that the validity of his stories is not what is imperative, but more importantly
how the story makes someone feel. O’Brien’s aim in blending fact and fiction is to make the
point that objective truth of a war story is less relevant than the act of telling a story. “He is not
attempting to write a history of the Vietnam War through his stories but rather to explore the
ways that speaking about war experience establishes or fails to establish bonds between a soldier
and his audience. The technical facts surrounding any individual event are less important than
the overarching, subjective truth of what the war meant to soldiers and how it changed them.”
(SparkNotes Editors, “SparkNote on The Things They Carried”). Instead of telling a lackluster
story about his stay in Vietnam, O’Brien chooses to use these fabricated stories to reveal the real
truth behind war. O’Brien states, “I want you to feel what I felt. I want you to know why a storytruth is sometimes truer than a happening truth,” (171). He believes that if that someone can feel
it emotionally, it makes a situation more realistic. “For example, any author can say, “I shot this
guy and he died”. That does not really have a lasting effect on the reader. But when the author
gives a whole back-story on the guy like, “he wanted to be a mathematics teacher… he hoped the
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Americans would go away soon”, it gives the reader a whole new perspective. Personally, I feel
sad about the guy who was killed. The story may not be true, but it really evokes emotions
among the readers. Any author can spit facts and numbers onto the page, like 1 million people
were killed and it may be all true, but it does not create an impact on the personal level for the
reader. By giving this dead man a long back-story, we feel sorry for him, and because of this, we
think the story is true” (“The Things They Carried- Five Responses, Character Analysis (Mini
Essay)”). O’Brien is able to support his idea by counterattacking it with another fabricated story.
He tells the well known story of the soldier who jumps on a grenade in an attempt to save the rest
of his men, but they all die in the blast anyway. That is a type of story that does not evoke any
ethos in the audience; the type of story that is probably not “remembered at all” (“The Things
They Carried: Free Study Guide/Literary Elements”). “A true war story, if truly told, makes the
stomach believe.” (Page 78) “But he also points out many people cannot listen or read with their
stomachs, they want stories with heroic plots and happy endings. After one reading, a lady
approaches him and suggests he put away the sad memories and find new stories to tell. This
lady didn’t understand the underlying message of the story. They aren’t really war stories at all;
they’re stories that use war as a vehicle for insight about life. None of the stories are true because
they never really happened, yet there is truth in the stories that somehow makes them more real
than an actual occurrence” (“The Things They Carried: Free Study Guide/Literary Elements”).
By writing so objectively, the audience is able to take what the novel gave to them, apply it to
their own lives, and learn a little bit more about themselves. At the end of the novel, O’Brien
reflects back on his life and realizes that all the stories that he has told throughout his life have
helped him cope with the lost of loved ones. It becomes apparent that several of the stories that
he has told and possibly the whole novel is fabricated with true details in order to keep the
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memories of his fallen comrades alive in his heart. This idea is represented on the last page of the
novel, O’Brien quotes “I’m skimming across the surface of my own history, moving fast, riding
the melt beneath the blades, doing loops and spins, and when I take a high leap into the dark and
come down thirty years later, I realize it as Tim trying to save Timmy’s life with a story.” (246)
Tim O’Brien’s struggles as a rebellious young soldier during the Vietnam War are very
comparable to the plights that people go through every day. People are peer pressured into
stealing or doing drugs because of the fear of embarrassment. They feel the heavy weight of guilt
when they make a poor decision that leaves them feeling that they betrayed a close friend.
O’Brien and his men all went through similar situations, and although several of them failed to
find peace, O’Brien never gave up. It may have taken him thirty years to find it, but he finally
reached redemption. Those who read this book can discover a life lesson from O’Brien in order
to finally find peace within them. The inspirational words of Thomas Szasz states “People often
say that this or that person has not yet found himself. But the self is not something one finds, it is
something one creates.” One must not focus on what the present could be, but what their future
envisions to be.
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Works Cited
O'Brien, Tim. The Things They Carried. Massachusetts: Mifflin, Houghton. 1991. Print
“The Things They Carried- Five Responses, Character Analysis (Mini Essay).” Writing Hood.
n.p., 8 March 2011. Web. 26 April 2012.
“The Things They Carried: Free Study Guide/Literary Elements.” The Best Notes. n.p., 19 May
2008. Web. 26 April 2012.
SparkNotes Editors. “SparkNote on The Things They Carried.” SparkNotes.com. SparkNotes
LLC. 2002. Web. 25 Apr. 2012.
Wright, Ronnie. The World Change Cafe. 2008. Web. 1 March 2012