Soldiers tend to lose emotion over time and begin to view death and pain as a daily norm due to all of the violent crimes they are forced to do while at war. The fictional story titled The Things They Carried focuses on the lives of real soldiers during the Vietnam war and what they experienced. It also ties in some personal aspects of each character portrayed which allows the reader to see a shift of personal changes over time. The people portrayed in the story written by Tim O’Brien have all been desensitized to the gruesome acts they are exposed to daily, therefore increasing their chances of developing post-traumatic stress disorder and other issues regarding mental health.

All of the characters in The Things They Carried have some personal attachment back home that helps them cope with the fear and violence they experience at war. O’Brien lists physical items each soldier has with them to keep them in touch with either their families, loved ones, or home in general. In the beginning of the story, the first sentence reads, “First Lieutenant Jimmy Cross carried letters from a girl named Martha… they were not love letters, but Lieutenant Cross was hoping” (O’Brien 328). This was an item carried in order to remind Cross of his love for this woman, which is how he was emotionally connected to something outside of the war. Due to the fact that everything around him was violent and negative, having these letters and photographs kept him in touch with his feelings. Continuing on with the listing of items carried by each man, O’Brien mentions that, “Henry Dobbins carried his girlfriend’s pantyhose wrapped around his neck as a comforter” (O’Brien 332). The context literally states that this item from his loved one is what made him feel comforted, which is what each soldier found in each “sentimental” item they brought with them overseas to Vietnam. Having tokens that symbolize either family or loved ones really keeps the soldiers in check with what is going on outside of the warzone and is what reminds them the violence they see doesn’t depict a negative world as a whole. 

In an attempt to cope with the fact that they are away at war and there is no positivity or hope around them, soldiers totally lose their judgment. After being exposed to death and living in fear for so long, they tend to become desensitized to events that typically cause a negative reaction. For example, when O’Brien wrote about Norman Bowker and how he carried around a thumb, he said, “He [Mitchell Sanders] put his hand on the dead boy’s wrist... and used Kiowa’s hunting hatchet to remove the thumb… Sanders wrapped the thumb in toilet paper and handed it to Bowker… Smiling, he kicked the boys head” (O’Brien 334). This act really shows how gruesome a man can become after being away at war. Sanders had no empathy for the 15-year-old boy’s corpse and completely disrespected it by kicking his head and cutting off a body part, smiling as he was doing it. In an article titled “Vietnam War and U.S.: Haunting Legacy”, the author writes about a man named Bob Kerrey who “admitted that a combat mission which he led during the Vietnam war was responsible for shooting dead more than 20 unarmed civilians, mostly women and children” (“Vietnam War” 1793). This act of violence really proves how easy it is for men to lose judgment at war and can do things totally out of character. Kerrey received a bronze medal after the squad’s commander reported that these lives were all 21 Viet Chong as opposed to innocent human beings. That commander along with Kerrey chose to protect themselves from the consequences of this war crime instead of taking responsibility for the killing of women and children. Eventually Kerrey came to his senses and came forward, but this example shows how difficult it is to make moral decisions when it comes to being away at a place surrounded by blood, violence, and death. 

The men away at war go through such traumatic events that it alters their character and emotions due to the stress they endure on a daily basis. After O’Brien writes about the soldiers all waiting for Ted Lavenders chopper to arrive and take his body, he says:

“they carried all the emotional baggage of men who might die. Grief, terror, love, longing… they carried shameful memories. They carried the common secret of cowardice barely restrained… they carried the soldier’s greatest fear, which was the fear of blushing. Men killed, and died, because they were embarrassed not to” (O’Brien 338). 

This is a very powerful quote, stating all of the things the men carried on an emotional level to really understand how they felt. They were all living in fear, awaiting their deaths, unaware of the future, living with no hope at all. Being in a position where your job demands bravery, strength and determination causes a man to become afraid of not possessing those qualities. Although they all felt afraid and hopeless, none of them could show it because it would be a dishonor. It seems as if they had to act as tough as possible, even when faced with killing another human being, in order to avoid looking like a coward. Being put under all of this pressure causes the soldiers to change the way they feel and deteriorates any positive, hopeful aspect of their personality they previously had. It changed their perspectives and ultimately leads to a negative outlook on life. 

This all leads to the need for understanding what exactly post-traumatic stress disorder is and what in particular tends to cause it. An article written to review who exactly develops the disorder states, “diagnosis of PTSD requires exposure to a traumatic event that causes feelings of extreme fear, horror, or helplessness. Traumatic events are defined as experiences that involve death, serious injury, or threat of death” (“Who Develops” 169). This definition for what determines the diagnosis of PTSD is the epitome of the events stated in The Things They Carried. After reading the short excerpt, Tim O’Brien mentions the feelings all of the soldiers are going through which are fear, emptiness, loneliness, and a constant fear of death. This is why PTSD is very common when it comes to veterans of war- they are all exposed to traumatic events that cause a huge change in their perspective on life as a whole. This is the reason the soldiers described in the story have a high risk of being diagnosed with post-traumatic stress disorder. Reading through each man’s experience and the way they handle situations that are previously mentioned, they are going through the difficulty that predisposes them to this mental disorder.

After spending time away at war, soldiers tend to lose emotion due to the death and pain they are constantly exposed to on a day to day basis. Being expected to be brave, strong, and emotionless as a man sent away to war can be very dehumanizing to a person. As described in The Things They Carried, the characters all have to mask their fear in order to not be portrayed as a coward and in order to protect their reputations. This leads to them committing violent acts and brushing off emotional, sad events in order to shield them from embarrassment. These violent acts the men constantly see and are forced to put on a brave face causes them to completely change and become immune to such horrible tragedies. They carry on their lives wondering when their last breath will be, causing them to live in complete utter fear and sadness. The characters described in The Things They Carried have all been desensitized to the violence they are exposed to, causing them to lose emotion and feelings which ultimately increases their chances of developing post-traumatic stress disorder and other mental problems. 
