The Symbols of Illusion - Essay Example

The Symbols of Illusion Throughout history, imaginative literature has glorified accounts of warfare.From Beowulf to Lord of the Rings, war is seen as the only means by which heroes can be made and bring out the nobility in man. Accounts of war as they are written about in literature are often focused on the romantic image of the warrior hero, the high ideals of the men involved and their complete commitment to the greater good of the world. However, with greater focus on realism and the psychological theories of the modern day, literary accounts of war in the modern era have increasingly provided new generations with a great deal of insight into the true horrors of war. While this is partially conveyed in the images and stories carried home through the newspapers and factual statistical reports, fictional works give readers insight into the minds and hearts of the soldiers themselves. Through the text of literary works such as the short story “The Things They Carried” by Tim O’Brien, the reader is able to gain a deeper understanding of the truths of war through his characters. Each one carries the truths of war with him, forcing him to realize there is no romance or glory involved, while he also clings to some small crutch that helps him get through both highlighting his common character and his humble and relatively meaningless purpose. The story makes it clear that there is a dramatic difference in perspective of war between those waiting at home and those actually participating in the battle. While the young men featured in the story were once full of the romantic ideas of themselves winning glory and fame through heroic deeds, they have long abandoned these ideas as they continue to lug their tools of war and survival with them with every heavy step. “Among the necessities or near-necessities were P-38 can openers, pocket knives, heat tabs, wristwatches, dog tags, mosquito repellent, chewing gum, candy, cigarettes, salt tablets, packets of Kool-Aid, lighters, matches, sewing kits, Military Payment Certificates, C rations, and two or three canteens of water. Together, these items weighted between 15 and 20 pounds” (469-470). The realities of this list, complete with a relative weight provided that is only relative because of differences in individual appetite rather than any lack of precise measurement, is contrasted with the opening revelation of Martha’s letters to Lieutenant Jimmy Cross. Although it is immediately revealed that these are not love letters from the girl to the young soldier, the soldier has attached romantic ideals to them: “He would imagine romantic camping trips into the White Mountains in New Hampshire” (469). This romanticism is hinted at more as the various personal items of each man is relayed, but becomes well overpowered by the weight of their weapons, ammunition and other gear that continues to be listed, complete with approximate weight. Reality is directly contrasted with Hollywood as this list covers the ammunition each man carried. “It was like watching a rock fall, or a big sandbag or something – just boom, then down – not like the movies where the dead guy rolls around and does fancy spins and goes ass over teakettle – not like that, Kiowa said, the poor bastard just flat-fuck fell. Boom. Down. Nothing else” (472). The boys in the story were once young men dreaming of adventure and perhaps even glory as they risked their lives to save those of their fellow soldiers, but now they are simply trying to survive from one moment to the next, trying and failing to forget the weight of their burden. Most of these characters are also not the soldiers of high ideals often portrayed in the past. They come from a relatively low background and perhaps viewed enlistment as a means of escaping the horrors of poverty and joblessness in their own hometown or had no option but enlistment as a part of the draft. Lieutenant Cross is portrayed as having come from New Jersey, with some suggestion that he comes from a lower income class through the types of scenery described as being commonplace to his girlfriend through brick walls and empty Jersey shore. Kiowa has a strong link with his Native American heritage, continuing to carry his grandfather’s hatchet and his grandmother’s distrust of the white man. Lee Strunck, with his comfort weapon, the slingshot of last resort, gives an impression of a country background. Regardless of their backgrounds, however, they are required to accomplish a number of different missions, many of which required specialized and sometimes relatively sophisticated and mostly deadly supplies. “In mid-April, it was their mission to search out and destroy the elaborate tunnel complexes in the Than Khe area south of Chu Lai. To blow the tunnels, they carried one-pound blocks of pentrite high explosives, four blocks to a man, 68 pounds in all” (474). More than needing to know how to place and wire bombs correctly, these missions also required the dangerous process of crawling headfirst into these tunnels to search, but what they were searching is never mentioned. Through these types of portrayals, it is clear that these soldiers are not noble themselves nor are they involved in noble actions or acting upon any kind of high ideals. They are merely crawling around in the dark, trying to stay alive and following their orders. Rather than fighting for a strong commitment to the greater good of all humanity, these men cling to mostly frivolous ideas that help them get through. Lieutenant Cross clings to his package of letters from Martha believing he is in love with her and she is in love with him despite his clear knowledge that she has many boyfriends and that she is spending time with these boyfriends while he is away at war. The pantyhose of Henry Dobbins’ girlfriend worn about his neck both highlight his superstitious nature as well as highlights the fragility of his mental defenses against the real nature of the war around him. Ted Lavender carries dope, “which for him was a necessity” (469) as he lives every moment terrified. This is highlighted later as it is revealed that this character tends to carry more ammunition “because he was scared” (473) and that he finds it necessary to “pop a tranquilizer” (474) just before he is shot. At the moment that Lavender is shot, none of these characters is truly involved in the war. Strunck is playing in the tunnel, pretending to be a ghost while Lieutenant Cross fantasizes about Martha and the other characters turn into little boys who admit their buddy played a good joke. Although the things they carried were earlier determined by necessity, at this point in the story, “the things they carried were determined to some extent by superstition. Lieutenant Cross carried his good-luck pebble. Dave Jensen carried a rabbit’s foot. Norman Bowker, otherwise a very gentle person, carried a thumb that had been presented to him as a gift by Mitchell Sanders” (475-476). Lavender himself is lost in his tranquilized state one moment and dead the next. Each of these boys is dedicated to his own internal ideals and beliefs, none of which have anything to do with the war and none of them are able to use even these ideals as a means of escaping, even for a moment, the realities of war. By these relentless realities of what they must carry to fulfill their mission and survive their tour and the realities of real enemies out there with real ammunition that really kills, war must inevitably change these young men into fighters. Whether they achieve hero status or simply die on their way back from relieving themselves, they remain common soldiers with common ideals and dreams. Like the rest of the world, they have romantic ideas of what war means and what life will be like coming home as great war veterans, but through their experiences, they become hardened and cynical. Although they remain dedicated to these small ideals and petty symbols of their worlds back home, each one of these characters realizes that their dreams are little more than the fluff of the mind and provide little protection against the violence of the actual world. Although Lavender is able to escape the horrors of the war for a while through his use of marijuana, a substance that was widely in use back home and promised a dream-like relief from stress and worry, his drugged state is not sufficient to protect him from the horrors of war as a simple, everyday activity, an essential act of the human body in the process of living, becomes a fatal exposure. This death affects all of the boys in the group, forcing them to realize the realities of their situation and finally, completely, abandon their fantasies as they recognize them for dangerous delusions. Works Cited O’Brien, Tim. “The Things They Carried.” The Scribner Anthology of Contemporary Short Fiction: 50 North American Short Stories since 1970. Lex Williford & Michael Martone (Eds.). New York: Touchstone, 2007: 469-483. Read More