Tim O'Brien's, The Things They Carried, is a fictional representation of the Vietnam War.  However, while it is technically deemed "fictional" each of the memoirs in the collection are based on the very real and truthful experiences O'Brien had while being a soldier in the war.  Originally, the collection of short stories came across as just a typical war story. However, after further research into the memoirs and their meaning, it is evident that O'Brien's goal in these writings was to tell a story, truthfully, of a time where truth was scarce. 

The Vietnam War era was arguably one of the most hectic times in the history of the United States.  People in this country were divided on whether or not we were fighting a just war and even more importantly what was the reason for us to be fighting this war in the first place.  This era of the 1960's and 1970's was the closest this country has ever been to anarchy.  Whether it was violent anti-war believers beating soldiers in uniform on the streets, mass protesters promising to overthrow the government, or pro-war advocates accusing anyone who did not support the war of being a "Commie," America was truly in a chaotic state. Tim O'Brien, being a soldier in the army and serving in Vietnam, felt that it was important to relay a perspective that no one seemed to care about, the perspective of the soldier.

While it was very important for O'Brien to provide a new perspective of the war to everyone, it was even more important that the story he told was a truthful one.  Tina Chen writes in "Understanding the Deeper Meaning," a piece in which she talked to O'Brien about his writings and then wrote about what he told her, how "O'Brien was obsessed with telling a true war story" (Chen).  O'Brien explained to her that "A true war story, if truly told, makes the stomach believe" (Chen).   He wanted people to read his collection of short stories and change their views on the way they treated the soldiers and the way in which they thought about the war. 

 Much like what was going on back home, the soldiers themselves were in a state of chaos.  One O'Brien's most revealing statements that exhibits this displacement that the soldiers felt is when he explains that the soldiers "principles were in their feet. Their Calculations were biological.  They had no sense of strategy or mission. They searched the villages without knowing what to look for "(O'Brien).  It is clear how the culture of America during this time period was not all that different from what the soldiers were experiencing on the other side of the world.  The people in the United States were confused and upset about a war which they did not have a reason for all the while the very soldiers fighting that war had no sense of how or why they were supposed to.  

Tina Chen's article delves into the true meaning and desire that O'Brien had before he wrote his memoirs. It was not just to tell a war story, it was to tell a true war story and provide a perspective no one had during that time period. One of the unique ways in which O'Brien grips the reader and forces them to think about the story differently is by titling the book as "fiction" however dedicating the book to a group of people who turn out to be the main characters in the collection of stories.  Along with that, the main character whom he writes about is a man named Tim O'Brien.  This confusion and gray area about why is it fiction if it is also an autobiography is a question that many people have a hard time dealing with.  The reason for this is "O'Brien is making an important distinction between life and the body" (Chen).  "Just as the vitality of Vietnam inspires the stories O'Brien has to tell, it is the death of the human body that generates his fiction" (Chen).  The message that O'Brien is attempting to send is that despite the actual accounts of the stories being true, it cannot be labeled a non-fiction simply due to the fact that too much was lost over there and to accurately to bring back something that is dead and gone would not be possible therefore the reason for the stories being labeled "fiction" as opposed to "non-fiction."  

These memoirs were some of the first, which were actually written by a soldier during his time in Vietnam, another aspect that adds to the rawness and truth in these stories.  O'Brien admits to not having written all of the stories in the heat of the moment, but does explain how before he fell asleep some nights he would feel the urge to catalogue the days events in the form of a story.  Whether he originally wrote them with the intention of sharing them sometime in the future or wrote them specifically for himself at the time there is no denying that the way in which the memoirs are told have a greater effect on the reader.  
Tim O'Brien's collection of memoirs portrays the Vietnam in a revolutionary way.  Not only was it unique in the sense that it was from the perspective of a soldier but also the fact that he wrote many of the stories a few hours after they actually happened in real life.  The true meaning and goal of O'Brien was to connect the culture of America with the culture of the Soldiers and expose the fact that despite protesters hating soldiers and pro-war advocates hating protesters, no matter who you represented, everyone at the time was fighting their own individual chaotic battle. 

