
When two groups or nations must settle a conflict that has sprouted, war typically becomes the first established barrier between them. War is known to have the most violent and traumatizing experiences that will remain with a veteran for a lifetime. There is nothing like war, and there is nothing that will carry a more lasting and horrific effect on a person. Among the millions of war veterans around the world, U.S. Vietnam War veteran Tim O’Brien decided to channel his mental struggles from the war into his novel The Things They Carried (1990). The author thoroughly describes many of the physical items that the Vietnam soldiers would carry on a daily basis, including the weight of each item. He also continues to dream of a girl, Martha, that is in America during his time in Vietnam. She is a fantasy of his, and although they are not even together, he imagines a loving relationship with her wondering whether or not he will be able to return to her. O’Brien proves that the weight that the soldiers carried both physically and mentally are what left the biggest weight to carry after the war.  In order to understand the significance of O’Brien’s descriptions, the reader must have a better understanding of the background and horror that was caused by the Vietnam War. In Tim O’Brien’s novel The Things They Carried, the weight of the Vietnam War is shown both physically and mentally carried by the soldiers who gave everything they had for their country. In order to understand O’Brien’s novel, the reader should have further background knowledge and a different perspective on what they think they know about the Vietnam War. 

 He evolves his story around a girl that he knows he will never get/have, but always carries hope with him that someday he will. Martha, his love that has no love for him, is idolized and always thought about while O’Brien is in the course of war in Vietnam. The author also uses the factor or weight and the amount of weight each soldier carries during war. He tells what each soldier carries on their back from day to day, right down to its exact weight considering ammo and other optional pieces of equipment. O’Brien purposely uses the idea of “weight” to emphasize the amount of pressure and stress soldiers and war veterans carried during the war and how they continue to carry into their now daily lives. Once a soldier enters a war, it will ultimately change him in both positive and negative ways. The after effects (such as PTSD) of the Vietnam war continue to persist in the lives of many individuals who took part in the fight. 

The Vietnam War was a treacherous and difficult war for the United States due to local terrain and the location being halfway across the planet. Conditions were extremely tough, which is why it took a toll on many of the wartime veterans both mentally and physically. The article I found written by Bruce Bower called Deadly Aftermath for Vietnam Veterans explains exactly how terrible the war was based on how the veterans are effected once removed from the war.  Bower states how the war veterans are coming home and resorting to violent and quick deaths to escape the terrors the war has scarred them with. He says, “Violent deaths, including automobile accidents, suicides, homicides and drug overdoses, accounted for most of the difference” (Bower 117). The experiences the Vietnam war veterans have been through are far past horrifying; some so bad that they are driven to insanity and choose to take their own life to escape the misery. The Vietnam War’s background and history is far more gruesome than most students learn in the classroom, according to Bower. He continues by noting that the post traumatic effects that the veterans endure are directly caused from on-foot combat during the war. He states that, “The researchers conclude that ‘the post service excess of traumatic deaths among Vietnam veterans is probably due to unusual stresses endured while stationed in a hostile fire zone’” (Bower 117). The conditions and factors that contribute to veterans experiencing post-traumatic stress disorder are directly from the war and combat itself. This direct effect leaves the heaviest weight of all on the shoulders of veterans to carry even after the war. 

In Tim O’Brien’s novel he describes the weights of all the materials and equipment each soldier would carry, and continues on by expressing how he believes the war was not just a physical challenge, but also a mental burden that will affect them for the rest of their lives. 

He describes, “-3.5 pounds with its firing device. The all carried fragmentation grenades – 14 ounces each. They all carried at least one M – 18 colored smoke grenade – 24 ounces. Some carried CS or tear gas grenades. Some carried white phosphorus grenades. They carried all they could bear, and then some, including a silent awe for the terrible power of the things they carried” (O’Brien 331). The war was much more than just what they carried. The weight of the war itself was far heavier than the materials on each fighting soldiers backs. The American soldier during the Vietnam War gave everything they had and put their own life on the line to protect their country. 

The second article I found was written in a quite different perspective. The author was describing an interview and recalling many statements students made about a course they took involving the history of the Vietnam war. Many of the student’s minds were blown away when the truth of how terrible the war had been after being revealed. One student during the interview stated, “The sudden thought of what is must be like to live in a non-democratic country made me put things in perspective. I then realized how good my life is. Over 58,000 people died for the democracy I Live in. [As I] passed the Vietnam Veterans Memorial for the final time, I gazed at this magnificent symbol and said a silent ‘thank you’” (Edwards 55). After being taught about the experiences and the weight that the veteran soldiers now carry and had carried throughout the war, the students were better able to understand and respect the situations and challenges that veterans experience every day of their lives. Viewing the war from a totally different perspective and putting yourself in the shoes of a veteran will completely turn the views of the reader while reading O’Brien’s novel about the Vietnam war. 

Background knowledge and having a better understanding of a situation will allow a person to think differently and view situations from different perspectives. Tim O’Brien’s brilliant novel, The Things They Carried, is an exclusive story that gives the reader the insight and feeling of being a wartime soldier. He describes the weight and exact measurements of nearly all of a soldier’s equipment in Vietnam, which ultimately allows the reader to visualize being in their place. With the help of gained background knowledge about the gruesome Vietnam war, any given individual will then forward look at veterans differently and with a different respect. Understanding O’Brien’s story is only accomplished if the reader is able to come in with an open mind and think of the weights the soldiers carry from a different perspective. 
