
Memorable events, whether they are for good or bad reasons, leave lasting physical and psychological effects on everyone. Soldiers, civilians or others, who have fought or been involved in military campaigns, often demonstrate their hardships through long lasting posttraumatic stress disorder. Posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) is a mental disorder that can affect someone after they have experienced a traumatic event, such as war or a car accident. Those affected with PTSD often experience strange dreams often related to the event, suffer mental and physical distress, and may have thoughts of suicide. Many soldiers who fought during the Vietnam War fell victim to PTSD, both during and after the war. With the understanding of PTSD, the argument can be made that the writing style and context of “The Things They Carried”, by Tim O’Brien, is a representation of Posttraumatic Stress Disorder.

The Vietnam War was fought between November of 1955 and April of 1975. The war pitted North Vietnam, backed by the Soviet Union, China, and other communist sympathizers against South Vietnam, backed by the United States, South Korea, Australia, and other communist detractors. North Vietnam was also supported by the Viet Cong (VC), a group of communist South Vietnamese, who carried out guerilla tactics against the south. As the war went on, it started to lose support of the American people, who believed American soldiers should not be giving their lives for a cause that did not make sense. Author of “The Things They Carried”, Tim O’Brien, was drafted into the U.S. Army during the war, and served from 1969 to 1970. O’Brien wrote “The Things They Carried” in such a way that it is both fictional and nonfiction at the same time. 

“The Things They Carried” has a very unique writing style. The book begins with information about the platoon leader, Jimmy Cross. After a short paragraph About Jimmy and his love interest, the focus suddenly shifts to the men of the platoon and what they carry.  The men in the platoon have respect for what they physically carry; a compass and codebook, a good luck charm in the form of a pebble, a bayonet, nine rounds of ammo, a severed thumb, a slingshot, brass knuckles, and machetes, to name a few items. O’Brien demonstrates this writing, “Then at full dark he would return to his hole and watch the night and wonder if Martha was a virgin. . . . The things they carried were largely determined by necessity” (O’Brien 328). The book continues in this form of short ideas cutting to others quickly, causing the reader to be somewhat lost in the timeline of events. O’Brien writes in this way to mimic the effects of PTSD, specifically the effect of flashbacks. PTSD causes flashbacks that relate to the event that brought on the disorder. O’Brien’s writing style simulates the flashbacks of PTSD so the reader can feel what it is like to have those thoughts and timelines jumbled, like soldiers that are affected by the disorder. They carry the war and all its horrors with them internally. 

The soldiers of Jimmy Cross’s outfit were not only weighed down by the weight of their gear, but their emotional weight as well. Each soldier carried with them the emotional burden of the war that weighted on them not only during, but after their combat was finished. The main action of this story comes when Ted Lavender is shot in the head. Cross took Lavender’s death personally, with O’Brien explaining, “He pictured Martha’s smooth young face, thinking he loved her more than anything, more than his men, and now Ted Lavender was dead because he loved her so much and could not stop thinking about her” (O’Brien 331). It can be assumed that this event could have triggered the PTSD that some of these men may have experienced. This can be assumed because the National Institute of Mental Health states, “Some factors that increase risk for PTSD include: living through dangerous events and traumas, seeing another person hurt, or seeing a dead body” (NIoMH). After Lavender’s death, two men of the company, Jimmy Cross and Kiowa, demonstrate the effects of PTSD more clearly than the others.

To fully understand how the death of Lavender impacted Cross, it is important to observe Cross before the death occurred. It is stated many times that Cross had a love interest named Martha, from back in the United States. This love for Martha often got in the way of his commanding and his attention to his men. O’Brien writes, “On occasion he would yell at his men to spread out the column, to keep their eyes open, but then he would slip away into daydreams, just pretending, walking barefoot along the Jersey shore, with Martha, carrying nothing” (O’Brien 332). Jimmy Cross was a distracted leader, who would often put Martha before his men in his mind, but that all changed when Ted Lavender was killed. From that point forward, Jimmy Cross no longer expresses emotion, which is another symptom of PTSD. As stated by Feeny, Zoellner, Fitzgibbons, and Foa, “Dissociative symptoms, including [emotional] numbing have been found to be related to PTSD” (Feeny, Zoellner 491). Cross’s PTSD causes him to lose his emotions and solely focus on commanding and taking care of his men. 

The second member of the company to be struck with PTSD after Ted Lavender’s untimely death is Kiowa. Kiowa is a Native American and appears to be the most thoughtful and respectful of the men under Cross. Kiowa was particularly affected by Lavender’s death, in that he could not stop talking about it and how awful it was. Kiowa cannot get it off his mind. While talking with Norman Bowker they exchange: 

“Like cement, Kiowa whispered in the dark. I swear to god – boom, down. Not a word.

I’ve heard this, said Norman Bowker.

A pisser, you know? Still zipping himself up. Zapped while zipping.

All right, fine. That’s enough. 

Yeah but you had to see it, the guy just –

I heard, man. Cement. So why not shut the fuck up?” (O’Brien 336). Kiowa is exhibiting yet another symptom of PTSD in that he cannot stop thinking and talking about the event that occurred, like a film loop or meme constantly replaying over and over. This repetition of the event could be caused by either flashbacks or upsetting memories. Kiowa’s inability to move on mirrors the novel’s writing style, in that it keeps coming back to Ted Lavenders death, much like PTSD returns the one who experienced the trauma back to their horrific event.

Tim O’Brien is very careful about the style and context in which he writes “The Things They Carried”. Having gone through the Vietnam War, O’Brien knows of the hardships that the men and women who served must face. O’Brien remembers the sights, smells, and sounds of the War. The style in which he writes the novel is intended to be a metaphor for posttraumatic stress disorder and its symptoms and side effects. He does not tell the story in chronological order, but in flashbacks. Not only does the novel itself mirror PTSD, but two characters in particular exhibit its symptoms and side effects after the death of Ted Lavender. Prior to the death, platoon leader Jimmy Cross, is a happy, love-struck, young kid who is easily distracted by his love interest Martha. Post death, Cross is more vigilant of his men after he loses his emotions due to his guilt over lavender. Kiowa, young Native American soldier, is rattled after Lavender’s death, and cannot stop talking about it, displaying symptoms of PTSD. Without a deeper look into the text, one might think O’Brien’s writing style is random and odd; however upon further review, it is clear that he writes this way and uses these characters as an overarching metaphor for Posttraumatic Stress Disorder, shedding light on the importance of reading cultural evidence into the text.
