Sentiment Towards War in "The Things They Carried"

The Things They Carried takes places during the Vietnam War, a highly controversial time for America. Liberal spirits ran high during the 1960's, especially amongst teenagers and young adults. Many teenagers adopted liberal political and world views that inspired them to protest the Vietnam War and generally detest the government. This blog post will analyze the sentiment towards war of the characters of The Things They Carried.

It is evident after reading the first short story of The Things They Carried that many of the soldiers who fought in the Vietnam War were there by force, not choice and resented the war as a whole. Many soldiers were young, inexperienced and did not support the war at all. On page 15, the narrator states, "They searched the villages without knowing what to look for, not caring, kicking over jars of rice, frisking children and old men, blowing tunnels, sometimes setting fires and sometimes not, then forming up and moving on to the next village, then other villages, where it would always be the same." This quote exemplifies not only the soldier's lack of experience, but also their general indifference towards the war and towards doing their jobs. Many other soldiers that fought in Vietnam probably had similar experiences of really not knowing what they were supposed to do. I mean, would you know what to do if you were sent to a foreign land at age 18 and told to go find the enemy in tunnels underneath forests?

After reading the fourth short story, "On The Rainy River", the reader sees a firsthand account of draft evasion from the point of view of Tim O'Brien. Many soldiers at this time probably had similar experiences to Tim O'Brien in trying to avoid conscription. O'Brien defects to Minnesota on the Canadian border for six days and lives with an old man on a campground while trying to decide whether to move to Canada or return home and go to war. This decision does not only affect him mentally but also physically. On page 50, he states, "After supper one evening I vomited and went back to my cabin and lay down for a few moments and then vomited again; another time, in the middle of the afternoon, I began sweating and couldn't shut it off." O'Brien's physical pain reveals to the readers just how hard and traumatizing of a decision this was. I believe I would go through a similar experience to O'Brien had I been in his shoes. At the end of "On The Rainy River" O'Brien decides to go to war. Not because he wants to, but because he was afraid of being viewed as a coward. In his words, "What it came down to, stupidly, was a sense of shame" (pg. 52).

The Things They Carried aptly demonstrates the intense time that was the Vietnam War. Anti-war sentiment was popular at the time and many drafted soldiers either evaded the war or went and resented every minute of it. It was a tough choice for many young American men at the time and as an 18 year old who has to sign up for the draft soon, I am shaken by the thought of being conscripted.