Physical And Emotional Loads Of The Soldiers In The Vietnam War - Essay Example

43181Table of Contents Explore the meaning of the The Things They Carried. Think about the metaphor of weight and carrying and how this theme (and the carried things) resurface throughout the book. You should consider the characters and their personalities as you look at the things carried: literally, personally and metaphorically. In the novel 'The Things They Carried,' William timothy O'Brien writes about the difficulties and hardships of the soldiers who participated in the Vietnam War. He explains the internal conflicts which the soldiers experienced when they were in the middle of war. The 'things' which he mentions in the title include the physical objects which the soldiers carried with them, and the emotional thoughts and pressures which they had to carry in their minds. These physical and emotional loads were symbolic of and filled with fear, love, grief and their longings. O'Brien specifies the physical loads which all the soldiers carried with them. Many of them were things of common use in the war, while apart from these soldiers also carried things of personal value to them. Soldiers basically carried with them an assault rifle, which is usually carried by soldiers of low rank. Some of them also had grenade launchers, multi-purpose two-pound poncho and even magazines of ammunition. Some included mosquito repellents, chewing gums, marijuana and pocket knives. Their priorities could be seen from the things they possessed. These loads were taken along because it would be of physical help to them in the war. There were other things which gave them psychological support, which made them emotionally strong in facing the war. These things were of great value to them. Lt. Jimmy Cross, carried with him reminders of Martha, his love. Cross has the letters which she sent to him. He occasionally took them out and read, hoping that she would be his sometime in future. He also keeps in his mouth a good-luck pebble, which was given by her. Henry Dobbins was peculiar because he found his girlfriend's pantyhose important and put it around his neck. Ted Lavender found it imperative to calm himself down and so always kept tranquilizers with him. Kiowa preferred the New Testament and kept it safe. While they literally carried these things, they also carried emotions, which were emphasized with their possessions. Cross keeps Martha's reminders and Dobbins puts the pantyhose around the neck in remembrance of their love. It gives them comfort in the war to think about the girls they love. Compasses and maps are also carried by Cross, because he has the responsibility of the lives of his men during the war. Some of them like Lavender carry fear which never leaves him. Apart from all these, the soldiers have the reputation, which puts them under a lot of pressure. They have the responsibility to fight courageously forgetting all their personal thoughts and grieves. Whatever they feel, it must not be taken out when facing their enemies and this demanded a lot of strength. As it is mentioned in 'On the Rainy River,' many of the soldiers might have been forced into war like O'Brien was and they may not have enough strength to fight or face the enemies. Their internal conflicts together with a repulsion towards war, increased their mental sufferings. Even after the war, the soldiers have psychological burdens with the thoughts about their dead fellow-mates and the terror of the war. They are never relieved of its frightening experiences and its thoughts. Thus, the physical and emotional loads which they carry with them to the war are what the author means by 'things.' The things that they carried were of great importance to them, because all of it either physically or emotionally helped them face the war. While the rifles gave them safety, the mosquito repellents made survival easier. The religious books made them brave and courageous and the reminders of love performed a role of relieving their thoughts from the terror of war and fear of lives to a happier and safer future, where they would unite with their loved ones. 2. Although the novel is mostly about the men of the Vietnam conflict, there are several women characters (Martha, Mary Ann, Billie, Linda, Kathleen, Dobbin's unnamed girlfriend, Sally Kramer/Gustafson). What roles do these women play in the novel and how do they affect the men they are associated with Though none of the women characters play a leading role in the novel and the war, the novel is incomplete without their presence. The soldiers survive the difficulties of the war by indulging in thoughts about these women, some of whom are not even with them during the time of war. There are four women characters in the novel, Martha, Mary Anne Bell, Linda and Dobbin's girlfriend who is not given any name. The soldiers keep different types of reminders of these women to ease the troubles they are forced to face during the war. These thoughts are the only relaxation to them, as it helps them think of a world without war and filled with love and happiness. Martha is remembered by Jimmy Cross through the reminders he safely keeps with him. Though Martha had not reciprocated his love, he constantly thinks of her. He believes that at some point in future, she will come to him. His inspiration throughout the war-time is his love and hope that they will unite soon. Her letters and good-luck pebble play equally important roles in the novel, because it is through these reminders that the readers can relate cross and Martha. The thoughts are so much of an obsession that when Lavender dies, despite the fact the fact that he was under Cross's responsibility, Cross feels guilty about it. Even after the war, he regrets his irresponsibility that led to his companion's death. Henry Dobbins puts around his neck, a pantyhose that belonged to his girlfriend as a reminder. Like Cross, he too is obsessed about her thoughts. He believes that it would bring him good-luck in the war. Though it is a superstition, he is motivated by her reminder. It makes him think not only about his girlfriend, but also about his home and the good memories help him survive all the troubles in Vietnam. A third woman character is Mary Anne, who is invited by her lover Mark Fossie to Vietnam. She comes over to Vietnam and stays with the Fossie for many days. As she gets used to the atrocities in the war, it is evident that she is adapting to it easier than the soldiers. However, soon it is found that the culture of Vietnam influenced her. Gradually, she surprises Fossie and other soldiers with the drastic changes in her. She begins to follow the culture of Vietnam, she begins to wear their traditional dresses and sings their songs. The author, through her conveys how the Vietnamese culture influenced people's lives terribly, like the war. Mary Anne becomes addicted to adventure and she finds the culture of Vietnam more suited to it than the American culture. The last woman character is Linda, O'Brien's childhood friend, who died at a very early age. She is very important in the novel, despite the fact that she is already dead. O'Brien keeps her memories alive and through believes her to be alive and this drives him forward in the war. Linda is his motivation. O'Brien relates to the tragedies and terror of deaths during the war with his childhood experience with Linda's death. Though the last story talks about Linda and her death, it has relevance in the war, because the soldiers faced their companions' tragic fates just like how O'Brien's father taught him to face Linda's death. Linda's character is also significant in giving emotional support to O'Brien even after her death. To conclude, though some of the female characters are not present in the novel, their presence is felt through their significance in the stories. The soldiers are motivated by the thoughts of these women. Characters like Mary Anne help the author in conveying the problems they faced clashes of cultures. These women characters bring in emotions of love, hope and motivation in the soldiers and these emotions are what they symbolize in the novel. 3. It has been suggested that the story "On the Rainy River" is the moral center of the entire novel. In what ways might this be true On the Rainy River is a very important story in the novel. In this story, O'Brien narrates how he was forced to join the war, despite his aversion towards fighting. Though the story is narrated from his perspective, it is evident from the novel, it was the same situation that almost every soldier faced. The story is obviously fictional, but it conveys the emotions of O'Brien and other soldiers, and the terror and confusion created by the war more than any other story in the novel. It can be seen from the story that with the passing of time, the attitude of these soldiers towards war and killing changed and gradually they began to kill other people without feeling regret or any other emotion. "It's about the ways people try to withstand the crushing weight of their consciences and their loneliness." (Fox). In the story, O'Brien says that immediately after he graduated from college, he was drafted for the war and he was quite reluctant to participate in it. He is against the war, because of the savagery in it and also because he didn't a perfect idea about the causes of war and its probable consequences. In the novel he says that he didn't even know what type of person the President of North Vietnam was. O'Brien in this story represents the thousands of young men who were drafted to the war. His ignorance about the situation frightened him. He didn't find it necessary to wage a war, which killed many innocent people for uncertain reasons. He means that many of the people, including the soldiers didn't know the exact situation and its gravity at the time when they were drafted. Many of them were against it and had to come to war against their wishes. In this story, issues moral principles are discussed by the author. He says his decision to go to war, made him feel guilty. This is similar to Cross' guilt on his irresponsibility in Lavender's death. O'Brien is not sure of his motives in joining the war. He made the decision half-mindedly. He knows that most of the soldiers joined the war only because their country demanded it. This decision often caused for confusion in their minds regarding their country and their principles. This decision resulted in moral dilemmas as their conscience did not support war. The terror of war demands a stronger mind and often they are forced to forget their principles. They feel guilty about killing other people, but as they find their companions getting killed in the war, they turn violent. Like Mary Anne, the different culture of war influences them and they begin to kill their enemies. O'Brien joined the war because he knew that if he did not join it, he would have to flee to Canada and thus would incur the shame from his community and family. If he joined the war, he would shame his own conscience by making a decision against his principles. He could not stand the shame from his community and family and so went to Vietnam rather to than go to Canada. Elroy Berdahl, the old man in the story does not advice him about whether he must join or not and O'Brien finds it imperative to make a decision by himself and so he goes to Vietnam. In the story, he conveys to the readers that he and his companions joined the war not because they wanted to kill other people, but because their country forced them to join. Through Lavender, he explains how many of them feared the war and its consequences. The situation and pressure that young men faced at that time can be seen in the story. Through it, he justifies his actions by asking the readers what they would have done if they were in his position. He says that he was helpless and had to go to war. He also explains how the war changed their principles and their moral values with its brutalities. The soldiers gradually become used to seeing the dead bodies of their companions and begin doing the same to others. 4. Although the work is supposedly about the Vietnam War, the final story focuses not on the war but on an episode from O'Brien's childhood. Discuss how this story relates to the stories of the war. What is O'Brien's purpose in ending his collection of stories this way 'The Lives of the Dead' is the final story in the novel and it deals with the life of Linda, O'Brien's childhood friend who died when she was very young. O'Brien's experience in facing her death helps him in the war. Through this story, the author says that life and death are closely related. He means to convey that the dead can influence the living ones with their memories. In the story, O'Brien feels that Linda is still alive through his constant memories of her and she motivates him to survive the war successfully. It must be noted that the novel deals with a lot of deaths. The author gives more than a mere account of the war experiences, he wishes to explain how the dead can inspire the living ones with their memories and how it makes sense to life. "By moving beyond the horror of the fighting to examine with sensitivity and insight the nature of courage and fear, by questioning the role that imagination plays in helping to form our memories and our own versions of truth, he places ''The Things They Carried'' high up on the list of best fiction about any war." (O'Brien). Linda, who suffered from brain tumor died when she was a small girl and O'Brien who was her close friend found it very hard to face her death. It was his first experience with death and he saw that Linda, without life seemed to be different. It was his father who helped him face it better by offering to buy him ice-cream. Though it seems awkward that anyone could have ice-cream at the death of a friend, O'Brien says that this was the policy followed by his fellow soldiers during the war. They usually joked about someone's death and teased the dead about their obsessions as if they had been enemies. The author justifies their actions by saying that this was only a strategy followed by the soldiers to relieve the shock and terror that the deaths brought with it. It was shocking to see a companion's lifeless body, especially when he was alive seconds before. The soldiers found it hard to face the realities and this was the only way they could take it lightly. Even to O'Brien, Linda remained alive in his memories. After her death, he began to develop a liking for sleep, the reason for which was that it helped him think about Linda. She teaches him that he could face any difficulty in a better way by imagining. He kept imagining her in his sleep and this made him feel that she was not after all dead. The power of his imagination motivated him to face the difficulties of war in a better way. This helps to reduce the feelings of loss. O'Brien feels happier talking to Linda in his dreams and never even once gets frightened by her appearance in it. O'Brien also conveys the message that untimely death can happen even to the innocent ones. His fellow soldiers went to war and killed their enemies and so were in one way responsible for their deaths. On the other hand, Linda was in no way responsible for her fatal disease and death. She had brain tumor and it made her head bald. Linda kept her disease from other students in her class by wearing a cap, which she never removed. One day, a fellow student took off the cap and everyone around found that she was bald. Soon, it was known to everyone that she suffered from brain tumor. Being a small innocent girl, Linda was not responsible for her untimely disease and death. However, O'Brien's imagination helped him feel that Linda was still alive and this gave him comfort during the war. The title of the story is 'The Lives of the Dead,' and this refers to how the dead people were made alive through imagination. Though the story talks only about Linda and his experience with death, the incidents relate to the war and his experiences there. Through this story he says that the dead people can influence the living people to a great extent. Linda takes a significant role in the novel, though she is not present in it by living in the mind of O'Brien and supporting him in his life. Works cited Fox, Wade. The things they carried. - Book Reviews. Bnet. 2009. 6 May 2009. . O'Brien, Tim. Too Embarrased Not To kill: The Things They Carried. The New York Times. 2009. 6 May 2009. . Read More