shows, but through real life people. It is almost certain that these men will probably experience some type of Post Traumatic Stress Disorder. “Combat fatigue,” “shell shock,” or “war neurosis” (Kulka) are all associated with PTSD. But with the weight of Lt. Cross’s men on his shoulders, their lives resting in his hands, is definitely hard. Battling the war of love in his head, asnd battling the Vietnam War as well, is a great means of PTSD in the making.
Similarly, Jimmy Cross carries compasses and maps and, with them, the responsibility for the men in his charge. Faced with the heavy burden of fear, the men also carry the weight of their reputations. Although every member of the Alpha Company experiences fear at some point, showing fear will only reveal vulnerability to both the enemy and sometimes cruel fellow soldiers. Tim O'Brien (born October 1, 1946) is an American novelist who often writes about the Vietnam War and the impact the war had on the American soldiers who fought there. He has held the endowed chair at the MFA program of Texas State University-San Marcos several times, from 2003 to 2004, then from 2005 to 2006, and a third time from 2008 to 2009.
The Counterculture obviously relates to Kesey theory of drugs being the key to an individual liberation. When Kesey was in the process of writing the novel One Flew over the Cuckoo’s Nest the Korean War was still a fresh memory, and then in shock came World War II after. According to Kesey war can cause trauma to patients. Following the daily beast article many of the patients in the nove One Flew over the Cuckoo’s Nest suffered from war trauma. For example, “Old Colonel Matterson thinks he’s still in World War I, Billy Bibbit suffered a breakdown in ROTC training when he couldn’t answer the drill officer’s command without stuttering, and McMurphy, who received a dishonorable discharge in the Korean War for insubordination” (American Dreams).
There are no clear answers when war is waged. War is not as simple as a game of checkers. From policymakers and strategists to soldiers, war will inevitably take physical and emotional tolls on the participants of both sides on and off the battlefield that will last throughout their lifetimes. Tim O’Brien’s The Things They Carried eloquently describes stories of participating in the Vietnam War and the events that occurred, factual or not, and provides readers with the horrors of war that soldiers
“The War We Couldn’t Win” In Tim O’Brien’s “The Things They Carried,” O’Brien wanted to create a realistic picture of what the war in Vietnam was like. He did so by letting you get to know a little about each soldier and what they each carried with them along with the war. The ‘things’ the characters carried are both literal and figurative. While they all carry physical burdens, they also carry emotional burdens. Both of these ate away at the men; mind, body and soul.
DEAR AMERICA: LETTERS HOME FROM VIETNAM A Documentary direct by Bill Couturie DEAR AMERICA: LETTERS HOME FROM VIETNAM Dear America: Letters Home from Vietnam is a 1987 documentary, directed by Bill Couturié. The film uses real letters written by US soldiers and archive footage, the film creates a highly personal experience of the Vietnam War. * This video provides us with a glimpse into what it was like in the jungles of Vietnam. What the soldiers had to endure and what their state of mind was when writing home to their loved ones. I believe war wreaks havoc in a soldier’s life and each one handles their situation differently.
Tim O’Brien’s “The Things They Carried” features a young lieutenant, Jimmy Cross, commander of the Alpha Company during the Vietnam War. The essential theme of the indicatively titled story is the many ‘things’ the soldiers must carry and bear across the Land of Seagull & Fox, both physically and emotionally. O’Brien lists the standard issue equipment, personal effects, as well as the ever present abstract themes of duty, cowardice, rank, and personal history of each soldier. The tale impresses upon the reader the sheer ‘heaviness’ of the entire experience and of how the men ‘soldier on’ despite this. We find our protagonist distracted with an infatuation of Martha, a young university student with whom he shared an arguably one-sided relationship with before being deployed.
Alannah Francis All across the world, hundreds of thousands of children are forced to become child soldiers. They are numbed by the loud noise of gunfire and splatters of blood. They commit crimes to stay alive. Most importantly, when they come back from war, they face a dilemma. Recently, the new book, A Long Way Gone by Ishmael Beah, a former child soldier, has drawn attention to the issue of child soldiers.
Literary Analysis “Things They Carried” by Tim O’ Brien Admittedly, the greatest fear of a soldier is the fear of death. The mere thought of being shot and buried in a mud with a bunch of other corpses or getting stuck and buried alive in a tunnel under the tons of earth, makes a person have goosebumps. In his story “The Things They Carried”, Tim O’Brien managed to explicitly elucidate the burden the soldiers carried throughout the Vietnam War and more importantly, he portrayed that the fear of death could be eclipsed by more frightening things. The story appears to have to a peculiar structure. Particularly, the actions are repeated throughout the story but described from different angle or in more details.
Baggage: Inside and Out “The Things They Carried,” written by Tim O’Brien helped recognize particular aspects of the Vietnam War as it associated with the soldiers and their lives individually and collectively. O’Brien described the overall mood of the war and the soldiers involved regarding the physical, psychological, and emotional weight the soldiers bared. We too, as individuals carry things with us in our daily lives that attribute something to our physical or mental well-being. For me, these are feelings as well as tangible objects. The men in this story carried “all the emotional baggage of men who might die.