Psychological Warfare In Tim O 'Brien's The Things They Carried'

The soldiers were shattered and traumatized by the death of their fellow brothers. Lieutenant Jimmy Cross blamed himself for the death of Ted Lavender. He might still blame himself until this day. Tim O'Brien mentions how Jimmy Cross lamented and wept, and he said, "He had loved Martha more than his men, and as a consequence Lavender was now dead, and this was something he would have to carry like a

His reasoning to his attempts wasn’t just the war ,but also a divorce which deeply impacted him and a family which was once loving and peaceful; now torn apart by alcohol. Overall the wr had changed him, a man who was a perfectly normal productive member of society, now suffering side effects from the war. Another individual John F. Ferguson , Vietnam veteran who served from 1967- 1971 in the 15th counter intelligence team. Ferguson one of many vietnam veterans describes his war experience to have been physically exhausting and terrifying business.

Point of View All Quiet on the Western Front is in Paul Baumer ’s point of view. This book tells us the story of Paul on the battlefield during World War I. Paul explains his pain and terror throughout the book and his point of view makes us feel his pain and terror along with him. He talks about his view on war and how he thinks it is pointless.

In the book The Things They Carried by Tim O’Brien, he describes the different way war impacted him, and his Alpha brother in short stories. In the stories he elaborates vividly about the different experiences that they lived through. For instance, Tim O’Brien and Norman Bowker had things in common. Certainly they were both consumed with guilt, shame, and remorse. The war had killed them deep inside, where they no longer had sense of any emotion.

In June of 1958, Tim O 'Brien was drafted into the US Army. The trauma he experienced was unforgettable, s unforgettable that he would go and write a book describing the horrors of war. In the book, Lt. Jimmy Cross represents the guilt that soldiers experience during war and the absolute lack of structure that was consistenty in the back of their minds. In The Things They Carried, Tim O 'Brien, the narrator, portrayed Lt. Jimmy Cross as emotionally unfit to be in a position of power in the military as shown by his feeling guilty for Ted Lavender and constantly being reminded of Martha, both contributing and being cause by him not paying attention to waht 's going on around him in the times of need. Lt. Cross feels extremely guilty about Pvt.

Kiowa’s death was the result when the company mistakenly camps in a sewage field which become the focus point of three stories. Mitchell Sander in the story strongly influences the narrator. Mitchell is the most likeable out of the bunch a devoted soldier to justice, and friendship. From the story you could tell Sander struggled with war same with O 'Brien. In the story it gives expmales where they had to demorlize the VC to make it feel as if these people where not human at all.

Given that The Things They Carried was primarily about the mental baggage that war forced upon soldiers while on the battlefield, the hostile atmosphere impacted not just O’Brien, but the men around him as well. For instance, while on patrol, “Lee Strunk and Dave Jensen got into a fistfight… [about] a missing jackknife” (O’Brien 59). Then, Jensen’s anger escalated and resulted in him breaking Strunk’s nose. This incident, originally being a petty scrap, intensified with every passing day, though. Soon, it lead to Jensen “taking special precautions” as “it was mostly in his head [that there was…] a silent tension between them” and an unspoken “vow of revenge” (O’Brien 60).

This is the way that many soldiers lost their friends and comrades. Such a life of strain and panic became too much for many soldiers to bare. Many soldiers chose to take their own life rather than continue to fight. Approximately 3,828 German soldiers walked into enemy fire.

In the book, All Quiet On the Western front, the main character is Paul Baumer, an eighteen-year-old boy. Many of his classmates also enlisted to be in the war, they were around Pauls age. One of the reasons why the war takes such a huge toll on the soldiers is because they are being forced into a state of mind where it is either kill or be killed. They are not children in high school anymore. This relates to the lost generation because it asserts the loss of the innocence in the soldiers.

Psychology Behind Shame: a Paper by Ellie McEwen Shame is defined by the Merriam Webster Dictionary as a : a painful emotion caused by consciousness of guilt, shortcoming, or impropriety b : the susceptibility to such emotion The generation of Veterans coming home from Vietnam had a spike in mental health issues as well as feelings of guilt and shame but an argument could be made that it stems from attitudes back home. Many men coming back from Vietnam had deep rooted shame that was not present before they left, as well as a deep hatred and anger towards people and their own country. The Vietnam war differed from every other war previous to it, as the vast majority of U.S. citizens felt shame themselves that their country took place in the war, so it’s easy to understand hostile attitudes towards the pawns that fought. It’s common knowledge that war is a very unpleasant experience, and vietnam is definitely no exception.

Over all, this story allows us to observe changes within the mentalities of army officers. First, the trauma of living in a war zone can add a significant amount of intangible weight into someone’s life. In “The Things They Carried,” we discover that Cross’s men “carried all the emotional baggage of men who might die (443).” Given that the majority of humans have experienced some form of trauma, we can understand how some men were driven to suicide and others into

The policy for receiving treatment and compensation for PTSD for soldiers in the military during the war ,was that if the soldier experienced symptoms 6 months after their return home it was considered a “transient situational disorder” meaning that it was a pre existing condition which was not eligible for treatment by the United States government. Many veterans survive tour after tour only to come home, back to civilian life, to die from not getting treated for PTSD. This is a major waste of life, because they are not getting the help they deserve from the country that did this to them. Many veterans die, because they do not know how to cope with their unknown illness. PTSD is by no means a falsely diagnosed disorder , and in analyzing accurate perspectives concerning the treatment of PTSD , one can view the disorder in a more truthful and knowledgeable light , as a valid affliction that does and always deserved specific medical attention.

In Tim O’Brien’s story “Notes,” he discusses his fellow soldier “Norman Bowker […] [who hung] himself in the locker room of the YMCA” (149). Bowker symbolizes the pain that many veterans experienced, and how they sadly found their only escape through suicide. Yet, veterans potentially could have survived and even thrived if they had access to resources such as therapy, psychiatrists, and psychologists. When organizations supporting the idea that veterans should have opportunity to obtain these assets proposed this concept to The House Committee members, “members repeatedly balked at the notion that Vietnam Veterans required special counseling programs to help readjust” (Scott 38).

Huckleberry Finn moved on from the loss. John Grady Cole had experienced severe depression and had almost killed the captain due to his experiences. He had also learned that his father died at the end of the novel, however such news had a far greater impact on John

During and after the war the way the men live their lives are haunted by the guilt of the men they killed. As Tim explains to his daughter “I returned with my daughter to Vietnam, where we visited the site of Kiowa 's death , and where i looked for signs of forgiveness or personal grace or whatever the land might offer.” This quote says a lot about the men and how much they feel obligated to feel responsible for their comrades deaths. Kiowa 's death was by an ambush on a routine patrol when he was gun downed while going pee. His superior ranking lieutenant was off his guard when Kiowa 's death occurred.