Elliot Herman

English 101
11/2/15

The Things They Carried

The Vietnam War was a pivotal part of the history of America in
the 1960s and early 1970s. It was the first time that American troops
were not celebrated, but even attacked when they came back from
combat. American citizens never wanted any part of this war. This
negative attitude had a huge effect of the mentality and actions taken
by the soldiers while at war. As seen in The Things They Carried, the
historical content of the war shaped the way Tim OBrien wrote this
collection of short stories. The characters act morbid and regretting
toward action and because of the poor image of the Vietnam War;
OBrien shaped his stories to reflect the feelings of the United States
citizens and the attitudes of the soldiers.

As someone who actually fought in the Vietnam War, Tim OBrien

obtained the perfect observation point of soldiers negative attitudes
during the war. The US joined the fight in 1959 and attitudes at this
point were pretty positive all around. Citizens wanted to stop the
spread of communism, but didnt want a long fight. Moral was high at
first because not much was expected of the North Vietnamese army.
The first Golf of Tonkin incident in 1964 made people at home gain
support for the war effort. Three North Vietnamese torpedo boats of
the 135th torpedo squadron attacked the US Maddox on a DESOTO

Elliot Herman
English 101
11/2/15
operation performing signal intelligence. Soldiers quickly realized that
this fight was not going to be a short one. OBrien even gives subtle
hints to the longevity of the war in his work. Lt. Jimmy Cross always
talks about a girl that he loves back home. In describing her, he said
About her respect for Chaucer and her great affection for Virginia
Woolf (OBrien 303). The name Virginia Woolf has many denotations
and connotations attached to it. She is an English writer and one of the
most prevalent modernists of the twentieth century. She was very into
independence of women and feminism, but her life is similar to the
Vietnam War. She had a happy life but entered a deep depression. This
dragged on for all of her life. Eventually her life never improved and
her mental state got worse to the point that she drowned herself in a
river when she was 59. This reminds me of the soldiers mindset during
Vietnam War. America joined and the soldiers fought enthusiastically
with intentions of making it a quick war. After dragging on for years,
the United States decided to call it quits, similar to Woolf.

Similar to much of Woolfs work, OBrien used a remorse tone

when the soldiers are speaking. The narrator says, But Ted Lavender,
who was scared, carried 34 rounds when he was shot and killed outside
Than Khe, and he went down under an exceptional burden, more than
20 pounds of ammunition, plus the flask jacket and helmet and rations
and water and toilet paper and tranquilizers and all the rest plus the

Elliot Herman
English 101
11/2/15
unweight fear. He was dead weight (OBrien 305). This narration of
the soldiers actions perfectly sums up how the soldiers went about the
war. This is a run on sentence, which is similar to the war dragging on
pointlessly. Also, the tone of this piece is tired/dragged out. Ted
Lavenders character can be looked at as a metaphor of America. The
US entered the war very hesitantly, but felt we needed to protect
democracy. The US poured troops into the country, as well as
equipment. Adjusted to todays inflation, America spent a little more
than 650 billion dollars in the Vietnam War. Vehicles, aircrafts, boats,
the US had more than enough equipment to win the war, yet they
lost. This is because we had the attitude that get Ted Lavender killed.
The US fought to stop the spread of communism while the Vietcong
fought to save their home. They were more passionate and basically
wanted it more.

The ending of the short piece reflects how American Citizens felt
at home and also emulated the feelings of the troops. Carry on, then
they would saddle up and form into a column and move out towards
the villages west of Than Khe (OBrien 316). Right before this, Jimmy
Cross realized that his obligation was not to love but to lead. He had to
forget about Martha in New Jersey and focus his efforts to the army. He
doesnt follow what he necessarily believes in, or wants, but finishes
the business that he started. The American citizens were very anti war

Elliot Herman
English 101
11/2/15
for a long time. There was a point that citizens werent even mad, but
wanted the army to do whatever it took for the soldiers to get pulled
and spend as little money as possible. This morbid emotional
standpoint is seen through the run on sentences and bleak narration
tone of the end of The Things They Carried.

The Vietnam War was never supposed to be long battle, just a quick
overwhelming operation carried out by the US. The only goal was to
halt the fast-spread of communism through Vietnam. This idea was
celebrated at home, but many of Americas youths disagreed with the
action of sending troops where we dont belong as the war carried
out. Protests were at many college campuses, such as university of
Washington and Yale University, making the campuses very hostile
with extremist opinions on both sides. The most known college protest
being at Kent State University in Ohio in 1970. On April 30, 1970,
president Richard Nixon made the national announcement that the US
would be invading Cambodia. This extension of the Vietnam War
required 150,000 more draftees to fight over seas. Students at Kent
state were furious about it and decided to let it be known. From riots in
the street to setting the ROTC building on fire, students actions
reflected their thoughts of Nixons announcement. About 60,000
Americans had already died because of the war, and students didnt
want to be sent into what was essentially a kill box.

Elliot Herman
English 101
11/2/15
Because of such terrible combat facts one can understand why US
citizens and Soldiers didnt want to be part of this was. Tim OBriens
The Things They Carried accurately describes the war from a
soldiers standpoint while hinting at the true feelings of US citizens and
soldiers towards the Vietnam War.

Elliot,
I really enjoyed reading this. You comments on the voice OBrien uses
(his polysyndeton) is right on, I think. Because of the plagiarism
mishap, I have to deduct points.

Works Cited
"What Were American Soldiers' Feelings about the Vietnam War?What Were American
Soldiers' Feelings about the Vietnam War? - Homework Help ENotes.com." Enotes.com. Enotes.com, n.d. Web. 13 Nov. 2015.

"Tim O'Brien | Howdy Skies!" Tim O'Brien | Howdy Skies! N.p., n.d. Web. 13 Nov. 2015.

Elliot Herman
English 101
11/2/15

Bio.com. A&E Networks Television, n.d. Web. 13 Nov. 2015.

"The Vietnam War." Ushistory.org. Independence Hall Association, n.d. Web. 13 Nov.
2015.

"Kent State Incident." History.com. A&E Television Networks, n.d. Web. 15 Nov.
2015.