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PTSD In Tim O Brien's The Things They Carried

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INTRODUCTION Hook: The horrors of war can leave deep scars on those who experience it, for many soldiers the wounds of battle can linger long after the fighting has ended. Tim O'Brien portrays the shock of PTSD, a condition that can follow troops for years, in a moving and dramatic way. Context:PTSD is a mental health disorder that can occur after experiencing or witnessing a traumatic event. Thesis: In The Things They Carried by Tim O'Brien, Norman Bowker experiences PTSD after being exposed to the trauma of the war, a trauma that reveals itself later in his isolation, depression and eventual suicide. BODY 1 Supporting claim: Norman Bowkers PTSD has caused him to constantly dwell on the past and feel guilty for Kiowa's death. This has resulted in him feeling inadequate and unable to move on from the traumatic experiences he faced during the war. …show more content…

Quote: “Circling the lake , Norman Bowker remembered how his friend Kiowa had disappeared under the waste and water. I didn’t flip out …I was cool. If things had gone right, if i hadn’t been for that smell , i could’ve worn the silver star(147).” Analysis: Norman felt like was stuck reliving this past moment of his life haunted by the memory of Kiowa's death and unable to escape the trauma .These feelings of guilt and isolation are very commonly shown in PTSD as many individuals can be seen struggling with especially these soldiers who are at war. BODY

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Norman could’ve easily saved his friend, but failed when he couldn’t handle the environment. He continues to blame the environment, and this blame would eventually drive Norman to the point of insanity. Norman did try to cope with the loss of his friend, but he only made his condition worse. He tried talking to other people, but no one cared to listen to him and ignored him. At this point, Norman made fake conversations in his head to comfort himself when no one else would in attempts to cope.

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A similar guiltiness is displayed by Norman Bowker, after he feels that his lack of courage resulted in the grotesque death of Kiowa. The feeling of not doing enough to save a friend haunts many war veterans. For Bowker, his inability to save Kiowa and other experiences of Vietnam left him directionless in his life after the war, ultimately leading to his suicide a few years down the road. Unlike Tim, who uses his ability to create stories that capture the complicated emotions of war to cope in his life back in America, Norman feels alone since he is unable to share his inner feelings from Vietnam that still haunt

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