
The Human Mind has been a subject of interest throughout history. Since early times mankind has been trying to comprehend the science behind the human mind and make sense of it. Two examples of texts that explore the human mind and mental struggles of men are The Things They Carried by Tim O’Brien and Periera Declares by Antonio Tabucci. These two texts interest me because they are about mental struggles that the main character has in the time of conflict. In each story the main character has to deal with what he thinks is right for himself and what he knows to be right for others. In Periera Declares he faces the choice to either save himself by staying out of the conflict in Portugal, or try to make a difference by reporting the actual news about how the government is unjust. In The Things They Carried, the main character is presented with a similar conflict. He must decide between holding onto his love for a girl which causes him to be a bad leader, or forget his love and be the leader the unit needs.

These two texts really examine the mind when faced with a conflict but they do so in much different ways. 

Conflict is very important to any story because stories are centered around how characters react to and deal with conflict. These two texts are similar in this way. In each story the main character has to decide between something selfish that could only benefit themselves and doing something that can help others. This is a tough decision that takes the main character the entirety of each story to decide on. Each character has to deal with a lot of mental struggle because they want to be selfish and do things for themselves but they know it is morally right to try and help others. Another similarity between these texts is that they are both set in a time of war. This is very important because it makes the choice that the main character decides on much more impactful.

The Difference is that one character is on the brink of war and trying to prevent war while the other is in the middle of war and just trying to get through it. Pereira’s Portugal is on the brink of war and tension is rising in the country. Pereira sees all of the tension rising in the country around him and wants to stay out of harm’s way and under the radar. However, as the story goes on, Pereira starts to realize that it is the job of the newspaper to report on all news and he could not in good mind just stand idly by and censor himself about the happenings around the country. He finally decides that people need to know what is going on and writes about the injustice within his country. Lieutenant Cross is faced with his challenge while going through a war. He has to decide between following his heart and loving his girlfriend from back home and dropping his love for the girl in order to be able to focus on helping all of the soldiers in his unit. This decision is very tough for him because his love for this girl is what keeps him hanging on to the reality of home. Without this love, he is fully accepting the war and will be unable to hold on to the real world. In the end, lieutenant Cross decides that he must forget about his love in order to be able to focus on protecting his soldiers. 

The mental struggle that people deal with every day is a very interesting subject of study. In these two texts we see a closer look into the mind when faced with a decision that can help others or benefit the self. In each of the texts, the decision that will benefit others is picked and the wellbeing of the self is put aside for the time being. Each writer shows this in their own way. They both are set in a time of war which makes the repercussion of their decision greater than if it were in a time of peace, and both stories examine the mental struggle a main character is faced with. However, the stories differ in that one character is on the edge of war and one character is right in the middle of war. From comparing these two texts you can conclude that when faced with a conflict between pursuing something selfish and something that can benefit others, people will pick the option that will help more people because they care about them. This selfless attitude is something that each author tries to instill in the reader. 