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    This document summarizes and analyzes Tim O'Brien's short story "The Things They Carried" which presents a realistic portrayal of drug use among soldiers in the Vietnam War. It notes that the character Ted Lavender, who represents the average soldier, used marijuana and opium which were readily available and cheap in Vietnam. The lack of enforcement meant that drug use became widespread. Some soldiers only used drugs as a way to cope with the stresses of war and avoid isolation. The story provides insight into why many young drafted soldiers resorted to drugs during the Vietnam War.

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    This document summarizes and analyzes Tim O'Brien's short story "The Things They Carried" which presents a realistic portrayal of drug use among soldiers in the Vietnam War. It notes that the character Ted Lavender, who represents the average soldier, used marijuana and opium which were readily available and cheap in Vietnam. The lack of enforcement meant that drug use became widespread. Some soldiers only used drugs as a way to cope with the stresses of war and avoid isolation. The story provides insight into why many young drafted soldiers resorted to drugs during the Vietnam War.

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    47 views3 pages

    Drug Use by Soldiers in The Vietnam War

    Uploaded by

    Vanish Star
    This document summarizes and analyzes Tim O'Brien's short story "The Things They Carried" which presents a realistic portrayal of drug use among soldiers in the Vietnam War. It notes that the character Ted Lavender, who represents the average soldier, used marijuana and opium which were readily available and cheap in Vietnam. The lack of enforcement meant that drug use became widespread. Some soldiers only used drugs as a way to cope with the stresses of war and avoid isolation. The story provides insight into why many young drafted soldiers resorted to drugs during the Vietnam War.

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    of 3

    Williams 1

    Jameson Williams

    Karen Bristow

    English 102

    11 April 2021

    In his story, “The Things They Carried” (1990), Tim O’Brien presents a strikingly

    realistic view of drug use by soldiers in the Vietnam War.

    In “The Things They Carried” O’Brien mentions the character Ted Lavender “carried 6 or

    7 ounces of premium dope, which for him was a necessity” (367). Ted Lavender is the character

    in the story that most represents the average soldier. Lavender was a soldier who was probably

    drafted into service. A good portion of the soldiers in Vietnam did not want to be there, much

    like Lavender, and about 60% of soldiers were drafted into service involuntarily (“Vietnam

    War”). Many of those unlucky men turned to drugs to cope. This was a big problem because in

    Vietnam marijuana was plentiful and cheap, with opium and heroin also being similarly

    available. According to Jeremy Kuzmarov, it would cost around $1.50 for a pack of cigarettes

    with marijuana (123). When something is as readily available as your food, it would be stranger

    for no soldiers to have tried drugs.

    The lack of enforcement allowed drug usage to become commonplace in wartime. In the

    context of the Vietnam War, Encyclopedia of Drugs, Alcohol & Addictive Behavior says that “the

    great majority of drug users received little or no disciplinary action and were honorably

    discharged” (“Vietnam War”). When the government made policies to punish or rehabilitate drug

    users, they did little for the men in Vietnam, as the enforcement of those policies was next to

    none.
    Williams 2

    Some soldiers only participated in drug usage because it was a group activity and they

    did not want to be isolated (Kuzmarov). During quarantine, we were able to get a glimpse into

    what those soldiers felt like. Imagine the stresses of feeling isolated combined with the stresses

    of war. While I am not condoning the soldiers’ extensive use of drugs, I can understand that it

    was their escape from the harsh situation that they were in. The choice was essentially to join

    with their fellow soldiers in an activity that was against the rules or to abstain and be isolated.

    Tim O’Brien’s story shows a realistic picture of how soldiers used drugs in the Vietnam

    War. Lavender, in particular, shows the average soldier and gives us an idea of why many normal

    18 year old soldiers turned to drugs in Vietnam.


    Williams 3

    Works Cited

    Kuzmarov, Jeremy. “The Myth of the ‘Addicted Army’: Drug Use in Vietnam in Historical

    Perspective.” War & Society, vol. 26, no. 2, Oct. 2007, pp. 121–141.

    O'Brien, Tim. “The Things They Carried.” The Vintage Book of Contemporary American Short

    Stories, by Tobias Wolff, Random House, 1994, pp. 366–384.

    "Vietnam War: Drug Use in U.S. Military." Encyclopedia of Drugs, Alcohol & Addictive

    Behavior, edited by Pamela Korsmeyer and Henry R. Kranzler, 3rd ed., vol. 4, Macmillan

    Reference USA, 2009, pp. 282-284. Gale Health and Wellness,

    link.gale.com/apps/doc/CX2699700460/HWRC?u=sier28590&sid=HWRC&xid=748117

    e8. Accessed 22 Mar. 2021.

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