Imagine living in a world of complete fear. Long endless days, inhumane nights, and insurmountable odds. This was the routine for over 2.7 million American soldiers who served in the Vietnam War. This conflict started in 1954 and ended in 1975. The Vietnam War was and is one of the most controversial wars to the American people.  Many Americans felt that it was not the United States’ business to interfere with a foreign country’s affair. The biggest antiwar argument was that the soldiers had a hard life in Vietnam and that the death toll on top of the effects the war had on the soldiers was just not worth it. In the excerpt from Tim O’Brien’s The Things They Carried, the author, who is a Vietnam war veteran himself, gives readers insight on what life at war is like. O’Brien conveys the endless terror in knowing that at any moment your life can be taken from you and there is nothing you can do about it. In “The Things They Carried,” Tim O’Brien highlights a dark chapter in American history by showing us the barbaric nature of the war, the lives of the soldiers on the front lines, and the effects the war had on the soldiers.      

To start off, O’Brien alludes to the historical context of the Vietnam War by showing us the barbaric nature that categorized the event. This war was violent and destructive; upwards of 2 million Vietnamese civilians died, and between 200,000 and 250,000 United States soldiers died that, per the Encyclopedia Britannica’s website (“Vietnam War 1954 – 1975”).  Tim O’Brien shows us this savagery when Kiowa, one of the soldiers fighting in the war, describes watching one of his fellow soldiers dying; Kiowa says “it was like watching a rock fall or a big sandbag or something” (O’Brien 330). After watching this traumatizing event, the soldiers simply just took all the things valuable to them off the fallen man’s body and sent his body off. In what kind of society is this normal? This shows that the rules of social order don’t apply in the war. This is an act of complete barbarism and these soldiers seem used to the horror of this event. That must mean that the war setting surrounding them is so barbaric and hostile that it has taken their humanity and turned them into fighting machines, barbarians. This transformation can also be seen through lieutenant cross and how he starts off the excerpt in love with Martha and by the end he loathes her.  Another example of the violent nature of the war occurs after Lee Strunk finishes searching an underground tunnel. After he emerges, Lee and the platoon are all joking around about the intimidating tunnel “Lee Strunk made a funny ghost sound, a kind of moaning, yet very happy, and right then, when Strunk made that high happy moaning sound, when he went Ahhooooo, right then Ted Lavender was shot in the head on his way back from peeing” (O’Brien 334). Ted Lavender died coming back from an everyday task that every human being must complete. He had no idea his life was about to end but just like that, he was gone. This shows that the barbarism of the war is always there and inescapable, even when the soldiers think they are safe from death in a moment like this one, boom one of their comrades fall dead of sniper fire. These examples are just a few of many that portray the violence and barbarism of the Vietnam War and give the reader a sense of the historical context in which the events the author describes.

Another component that helps the reader understand the historical context is the constant references of the day to day lives of the soldiers. The author tells us in many instances items that some of the soldiers would carry with them. This gives the reader an insight of what their lives where like from day-to-day. Many of the soldiers carried personal things that “were determined to some extent by superstition. Lieutenant Cross carried his good luck pebble. Dave Jenson carried a rabbit’s foot…” (O’Brien 334).  This shows us that a lot of these soldiers must have barley been adults. Carrying such random objects seems childish and shows how in the Vietnam war most of the soldiers that were fighting were just kids straight out of high school barely 18. Along with some of the personal things the soldiers carried O’Brien also gives the reader insight on some of the things they had to carry to survive.  He talks about how the platoon “[takes] turns humping a 28 pound mine detector” (O’Brien 332) and then list smaller things the soldiers had to carry like ammunitions and different weapons. By doing this the author shows the danger and struggle of the war. We can see the struggles and danger of the war in Sharon Raynor interview with a Vietnam war veteran. When asked if he had no regrets from the war the veteran stated “I began to appreciate things. A cold drink of water. Something out of the refrigerator that was cold. Uh, you were literally in a hundred, anywhere from 90 to 120 degree temperature at any time in the shade. Several days I had to go without food”( Raynor). This interview shows us the true struggle of the Vietnam war and affirms the struggle the reader sees in Things They Carried. Along with this, by giving the readers information about the soldiers day to day lives, O’Brien assist readers in understanding the historical context of the novel.  

Lastly, Tim O’Brien alludes to the historical context of the Vietnam War by portraying effects the war had on its participants. The Vietnam War is known for not only its physical effects but also the phycological effects it had on the soldiers. Kim Servart Theriault in her scholarly essay “ Re-membering Vietnam War, Trauma, and ‘‘Scarring Over’ After ‘‘The Wall’’ said that “It was a time that dismembered individuals, families, and much of the government and society—physically, psychologically, and intellectually” (Theriault 421). effects of this war on the soldiers can be seen in many of the soldiers in the book. One example is lieutenant Cross and how his love for Martha changes throughout the novel. Throughout the excerpt, Cross often debates weather or not Martha loves him. He wonders if she has found a new man or if she truly cares about him las she tells Cross in the letters she mails him. This internal debate often seems insane and crazy, with him getting mad at the man that he believes her to be with. In the end of the excerpt Cross finally ends up not loving Martha which shows us the transition of his mental state in the war. He starts off young, naïve and full of love but in the end of the war his innocence has been taken from him. Cross is no longer capable of love; the war has change him psychologically and his innocence has been taken from him. 

In the end, O’Brien does an amazing job in his master piece “The Things They Carried”. From displaying the barbaric nature of the war through shocking events to giving us insight on the effects of the war O’Brien never disappoints. He skillfully works these elements into his writing to give both an entertaining and informative story. To conclude, Tim O’Brien gives us a historical context by showing us the barbaric nature of the war, the lives of the soldiers on the front lines, and the effects the war had on the soldiers.      
