Francisco Torres Dr. Stefan Honors English 12 3 April 2023 Examining the Lasting Impacts of Trauma in O'Brien's The Things They Carried O’Brien’s The Things They Carried (1990) retells the author’s experiences during the Vietnam War through a multitude of short stories. Throughout the novel, he recounts various experiences from his time during and after the Vietnam War. While O’Brien intentionally makes it unclear if the stories he tells are real events that did occur, he has one consistent theme throughout the novel: the lasting impact the trauma he experienced has left on him. Many readers and critics see the novel as the author’s attempt to work through his own trauma. O’Brien’s dramatic retelling of the experiences he underwent gives the …show more content…
In “Ambush”, where O’Brien killed a lone Vietnamese soldier, we get a glimpse of how O’Brien reacts to the experiences he undergoes during the war. O’Brien gives a grisly description of the dead man’s corpse, showing just how deeply the memory is etched into his brain. O’Brien also speaks of how, years later, he “hasn’t finished sorting it out” (O’Brien 128). Despite so much time passing, he is still incapable of forgiving himself for the things he did during the war. Further, this isn’t the only experience that O’Brien isn’t able to get past. In “How to tell a true war story”, we are treated to the story of Curt Lemon’s death. During a routine patrol, some of the soldiers were playing games to alleviate the stress of war. Unfortunately, a soldier named Curt Lemon steps on a rigged 105mm howitzer shell, and explodes. O’Brien speaks about how, even twenty years after Lemon’s death, he can still vividly picture the death in his mind (O’Brien 80). Both of these examples of death serve to further the idea that O’Brien hasn’t been able to move past the traumatic experiences he experienced during the war. Ultimately, these two vignettes both highlight how trauma can be an inescapable burden that some have to carry for decades before being able to work through …show more content…
It can remain attached to the mind for decades, unable to be removed and dealt with. From feelings of isolation to obsessing over past actions, trauma can prevent the mind from living a normal life. O’Brien is incapable of forgetting the horrors he experienced during the war, and still had to deal with the memories of the traumatic experiences he underwent. Norman Bowker’s story also acts as a tangible example of what can happen if trauma isn’t confronted. The isolation he felt due to a lack of people who could empathize with his experiences led to his unfortunate suicide. O’Brien’s novel serves as an outlet for him to work through his trauma, as well as offer a warning as to what might happen if others don’t do the same. If O’Brien’s warning isn’t heeded, then the unchecked damage that repressed trauma can cause may lead to vulnerable people suffering the same fate as Norman
Throughout the story, Tim O’Brien writes about things he carried from the war to his normal life and speaks about the difficulties of it. He carries things from the war to his normal life because of the PTSD he suffers from. He brings words from the war over to normal life because the words used in war have become the new normal for him whether it be good or bad, but either way, PTSD reminds him about the experiences using these words during the war. The story states, “He doesn’t know how to live with the guilt of the war. He uses words that he would only use in the war because he is not used to normal life after the war.”
Tanayah London Ms. Okossi English Honors II 6 April 2023 Literary Essay Experiencing war leaves behind a trail of trauma, PTSD, and triggered emotions. The sensation affects others, the environment, and others around you. Soldiers carry a range of physical and emotional burdens during their service, both on and off the battlefield.
Tim constantly thinks about the war, and his life is centered around writing books about it. In fact, writing the books may be Tim’s own attempt to cope. The Black Hole of Trauma states that survivors may be able to overcome their trauma for a short period of time, however they almost always will revert back to reliving
O'Brien examines the various ways that soldiers cope with the trauma of war, from medication and suicide to storytelling and denial, through the experiences of his characters. O'Brien underlines the value of individual choice and the need to respect each person's path in coming to grips with trauma by illustrating the nuanced and frequently contradictory ways in which his characters deal with their experiences. Ted Lavender, one of the first soldiers introduced to the reader, copes with the stress of war through the use of drugs. Lavender “went to heavy on tranquilizers” (O'Brien 31) to help him deal with the fear and uncertainty of combat. He is described as being "scared" and "nervous" throughout the book, and his drug use is a way for him to escape the reality of the war (O'Brien 31).
The loss, the fear and the uncertainty that war brings is never truly gone from these men, and these men will remember it. Post-traumatic Stress Disorder is a disorder that you cannot pin down as something simple, yet something fearful and lurking within the minds of those long after the war is over. It envelops the lives of its victims, leaving them constantly reliving the fear they felt so long ago. In some cases, the victim believes that they themselves are the monster, feeling the guilt and hatred within themselves and they feel the need to hurt themselves as punishment. For some men, PTSD is a giant wall, one that separates the scarred, quiet man from those who can comfort him the most, holding back his stories for fear of being mocked or misunderstood.
The man froze with fear after taking two steps away from the grenade and died instantly. The scenes of the dead body were horrific and O’Brien stood in front of the body for some time staring, and beating himself up over it. Two accounts of how those events in the night on that beaten path were told but O’Brien could never quite come to terms with what he had done. O’Brien did say; “even now I haven’t finished sorting things out’, 20 years on from the event. Storytelling may be able to bring people back through memories but it will never be able to erase
When people reach the limit of trauma they can handle they will break down and become permanently scarred. The horrors of war and the gruesome events they experienced haunt Soldiers for the rest of their life. When civilians felt like they missed out by not fighting in Vietnam O’Brien responded with “Well, you missed out on having your legs blown off and you missed out on having nightmares the rest of your life. You missed out on horror” (O’Brien “Civilians” 31). War causes soldiers to witness many horrors giving rise to nightmares when their brains try to process the trauma and horrific acts they witnessed.
In the short story, “The Man I Killed,” O’Brien focuses on this to show that everyone fighting in a war has a story. He spends the story describing the man he killed and searching for justification of his actions. He carries around guilt with him because of it, and his fellow soldiers try to help him justify and come to terms with his action by saying things like, “You want to trade places with him? Turn it all upside down= you want that? I mean, be honest,” (126) and “Tim, it’s a war.
The Vietnam War is widely considered one of the most traumatizing wars ever and had at least 58,220 recorded deaths. In his 1990 war novel, author Tim O’Brien asserts that easing the pain of trauma is extremely difficult to manage. However, through memories, storytelling, and limiting the weight of emotional agony, alleviating these struggles becomes less difficult. Simply recalling the memories of people who have died and made an impact on one’s life can relieve traumatizing experiences. Tim O’Brien recalls his first encounter concerning death which involved his first love, Linda, and while pondering this, he explains that “as a writer now, I want to save Linda’s life.
The Double-Sided Trauma of War Over 1,000,000 United States veterans suffer from posttraumatic stress disorder (Reisman). Harsh psychological effects of war cause it, resulting in intense anxiety, flashbacks, insomnia, depression, and much more. This acts as just one example of the many long-lasting effects of war. John Hersey in his book Hiroshima and Tim O’Brien in the chapter “Ambush” of his novel The Things They Carried capture tremendously different perspectives in war but they similarly show the harmful, long-lasting effects on the individuals participating. When developing an understanding of wartime media, considering the background of the piece and the creators proves vastly important.
He fought a war in Vietnam that he knew nothing about, all he knew was that, “Certain blood was being shed for uncertain reasons” (38). He realized that he put his life on the line for a war that is surrounded in controversy and questions. Through reading The Things They Carried, it was easy to feel connected to the characters; to feel their sorrow, confusion, and pain. O’Briens ability to make his readers feel as though they are actually there in the war zones with him is a unique ability that not every author possess.
His coping mechanism that he uses is through his writing about the Vietnam War. He is writing because he is trying to deal or understand what happened in the war. In the chapter “The Lives of the living Dead”, explains that through O’Brien’s writings, he able to come to peace at what he observed and did in combat. He may not understand why events had happened because he has not remembered the most traumatic experiences clearly. Even if his friends are dead, he will be able to remember them and his surviving platoon, through his stories to immortalize them.
The Things They Carried by Tim O’Brien displays Post Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD) to a reader who is not familiar with what it is perfectly because of the many different perspectives and examples he gives in his stories. National Geographic started a program where war veterans could create a mask to show their experiences after the war. This is such an important program because it helps soldiers express themselves in a way that they can not do so with words, and it also spreads awareness to anybody who wants to look at the masks. Many of these masks happen to relate to the themes of different stories in The Things They Carried, both the stories and the masks are a great way to understand someone
O’Brien had to grapple with the effects of war and his memories of killing people. Transition into a civilian life was hard for O’Brien; he often had to deal with post-traumatic stress disorder and nightmares relating to his evocative bygone. Tim sacrificed a great amount of his time re-confronting the traumatic incidents of the war to bring in the truth and horror of a war. His greatest nightmare was killing an innocent boy with a grenade. Finally, his sacrifice of going over the memories was a resolution and a confession to the life he has taken in the war.
The novel focuses on coping with the death and horror of war. It also speaks volumes about the true nature of Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD) and the never-ending struggle of dealing with it. In the