
War is grotesque and violent; yet it is something that has been prevalent for the entire human race’s existence. It has shaped the world into what it is today. The Vietnam War started as early as 1954 and continued until 1975; however, the most amount of bloodshed occurred in the later years. On December 1st, 1969 President Johnson instituted the draft which altered the lives of millions of regular men; they were turned into hardened soldiers. One of those millions of men was Tim O’Brien; he was drafted right out of college; however, he had wanted to continue his education in graduate school. Instead, he fulfilled his patriotic duty and went to boot camp and eventually overseas to fight a war and take the chance that he might not come home alive. This was a war that was highly disputed and even Tim O’Brien did not believe in it. O’Brien only served 13 months in Vietnam, but what happened in that long year he would never forget. Like millions of others Tim O’Brien’s return to the United States was all but great. He and many of the other Vietnam veterans began to suffer from “shell-shock syndrome” or what is more commonly known as: “Post Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD).” Simply defined, PTSD is: “A mental condition that can affect a person who has had a very shocking or difficult experience (such as fighting in a war) and that is usually characterized by depression, anxiety, etc.” (Webster). O’Brien uses a unique, however extremely effective treatment for his PTSD, writing. He started with short stories of Vietnam that eventually turned into an award-winning novel called: The Things They Carried. These stories are a useful way of examining PTSD as a mental illness, not only because it displays war time events but it also can be a useful form of therapy for all veterans affected with PTSD. 

By examining Tim O’Brien’s pre-war life, the reader can understand how O’Brien’s moral outlook on the war contrasted with that which the government forced upon him. his government forced. Tim O’Brien grew up in a small town in Minnesota; he had an average American boy childhood and went on to Macalester College in Minnesota. O’Brien was successful in his studies of government and politics and active in extracurricular activities: “At Macalester College in St. Paul, Minnesota, he received good grades and became student body president” (Vermetten 185). Tim O’Brien was a smart and talented young man, yet an unknown skilled writer during his college years. The Vietnam War was going on during O’Brien’s collegiate career and he began to formulate his opinion on why it was morally wrong and not the right move for the United States to be involved: “Occasionally, he'd attend peace vigils and protests against the burgeoning war in Vietnam” (Vermetten 187). At this point Tim O’Brien was starting to take initiative and use his leadership skills to persuade others towards his own opinion.        

After his plans for graduate school were shattered when he was drafted, O’Brien was sent to boot camp at Fort Polk and eventually shipped overseas with minimal training and a M16 machine-gun in-hand. In Vietnam O’Brien served as a foot soldier or more commonly known as a “grunt” (O’Brien 333). This is where Tim O’Brien’s PTSD all began. O’Brien’s PTSD can be viewed differently due to his outlook on the war. It is probable that his PTSD was increased due to his moral position and this adds an entire new layer to his trauma. Most likely, O’Brien’s PTSD would be worse than someone who had chosen to be involved in the war.  It is simple for the reader to think about war and how terrible it is but no one will ever understand what it is truly like until they are thrown into it, especially at such a young age like many of the men who were drafted. People often forget that the men fighting in the Vietnam War were boys that either died, or became men in Vietnam. They were living their normal lives and had normal responsibilities and then suddenly they were picked from a lottery and told to start shooting. The emotional toll war takes on a soldier is insurmountable and when men come back with mental problems they need to be taken seriously and not told to just “man up.”

To take a deeper look at O’Brien as a writer, the reader must understand about O’Brien’s life after the Vietnam War. Many years after O’Brien had been home in the United States he wrote multiple novels including The Nuclear Age (1985) and The Things They Carried (1990). His first novel received criticism and did not sell well, however O’Brien did not stop there, he continued to pursue his writing career and when he released The Things They Carried he became an overnight success. His book is read and used in high school and collegiate classrooms across the United States. The novel is labeled as non-fiction, but Tim O’Brien merely extends and embellishes the truth of certain scenarios that he or his fellow-soldiers encountered in Vietnam. It shows the gruesome and disgusting sides of war, while also not negating the feelings of the soldiers during their time overseas. He uses incredible descriptions and short stories to reveal the truths about war and there is no underplaying in this novel. One of O’Brien’s goals in The Things They Carried was to shock the reader, and this he certainly proves successful. comes through. The reader should take time to stop and think about the events that transpire. about what just transpired and distinguish between fiction and non-fiction, which at times can be challenging, but this also proves how little normal people know about war. Without being told, the reader could easily assume the novel is autobiographical and non-fiction. Similar to actual PTSD, O’Brien’s stories are quick and considerably similar to a dream-like state that an ex-soldier with PTSD might actually experience within his own mind. This is significant to the story and to the reader because O’Brien’s style of writing is so descriptive that the reader can easily get caught up in the wartime stories. This is also difficult for the readers of this novel that actually have PTSD because this can resemble the instability of the traumatized mind. 

It is crucial for the reader to analyze the actual things that were carried by the soldiers (characters) Tim O’Brien writes about. While many of these items are physical and can be touched many of the “things” are emotional and carry a weight much stronger than that of a real item. The soldiers carried the necessities: “P-38 can openers, pocket knives, heat tabs, wristwatches, dog tags, etc.” (O’Brien 328). These were crucial for survival in this war time and without those items the soldiers would not have made it. The emotional things the soldiers carried weighed them down, not physically, but mentally. The intangibles of the Vietnam War were what made it so difficult for the soldiers to carry on, especially when they were sent home. They witnessed their friends get blown up, shot and taken as prisoners of war. They heard shells exploding and bullets whipping through the air, constantly in fear of their own life and their best friend next to them. These horrors are depicted within O’Brien’s novel: “…right then Ted Lavender was shot in the head on his way back from peeing. He lay with his mouth open. The teeth were broken. There was a swollen black bruise under his left eye” (O’Brien 334). Description of death is something that the reader needs to get used to while reading this excerpt and the entirety of the novel. The reader can imagine themselves in these situations but can never truly understand how it felt. Losing friends and fellow soldiers was just something these young men had to become accustomed to. Within the excerpt O’Brien states timelessly: “Until he was shot” (O’Brien 332). He speaks of certain situations and recalls what certain men carried and immediately states in the following sentence “Until he was shot” (O’Brien 332). This shows how many different men O’Brien might have known during his time in Vietnam and how he can subtly remember what men carried certain things.

The Things They Carried was Tim O’Brien’s own personal way of dealing with his PTSD. He had seen an abundant amount of war terrors in the 13-month span he was in Vietnam and his book sheds a bright light on these horrific events. The book is a collection of short stories that correlate together to make one large novel. It is important for the reader to recognize right away or early into the novel that it is in fact a work of fiction and not perfect accounts of the war. The reader understands early on that one of the main protagonists’ name is Tim O’Brien, however this is not an autobiography and can make it challenging at some points for the reader to remember this. O’Brien uses his PTSD to create these short-stories by calling upon his own memory and recollecting what he can. O’Brien stretches what he remembers to catch the reader’s attention and try to get them to understand what it was truly like. The reader can infer that Tim O’Brien uses his own name as part of his PTSD therapy. Although the character in the stories is like O’Brien it is not entirely autobiographical and the reader needs to take this into account while examining the entire novel. in the story is nothing like O’Brien,Without the inclusion of his own name his writing would not have been the same. (Vermetten).

PTSD or (Post Traumatic Stress Disorder) has consistently affected humans, but was not recognized as a real psychiatric disease until the late 20th century. (ADAA). The term was coined to describe the mental state of millions of soldiers who had served in the war and returned home. While many veterans of World War II were alive during this time, PTSD was more focused towards the veterans of the Vietnam War. O’Brien is currently still suffering from PTSD from his time in Vietnam, however writing about it and talking about it has made it much easier for him to deal with. Although PTSD is a proven mental illness it is still not taken seriously: “We underestimate the eventual magnitude of this problem” (Vermetten 184). Vermetten describes how dangerous PTSD is and that if it is not treated carefully, it can cause major problems for the individual. O’Brien’s The Things They Carried is more than an educational read, it is an outlet for people who are struggling with PTSD and those veterans can connect with the author in a way that other civilians cannot. It helps those people because Tim O’Brien makes it acceptable to talk and write about the horrors of war. This proves that it does not necessarily take medication or traditional mental illness treatments to combat PTSD.  

Men are always told to stay strong and not be a baby; the reader can recognize and understand that is how most of these men were raised and brought up. Many of the soldiers had a difficult time understanding what was going on within them, especially emotionally. These were extremely young men that were basically thrown into this war. They did not think they would be in this position and they were not prepared to witness what they did. Due to the institution of the draft and young men going to Vietnam to fight, PTSD started to affect an entire new generation of people. The average age of a man suffering from PTSD drastically dropped and is still low today (ADAA). Some of these soldier’s fathers or relatives fought in World War II and they had to deal with their PTSD before it was even recognized as a real problem. They were older at the time of the Vietnam War and had spent many years recollecting the horrors of the previous wars they had been involved in. However, the young men were now thrown into the mix and it was time to diagnose these mental instabilities and find a way to treat it. 

There are different types of ways that PTSD is treated and controlled so the individual can attempt to live a normal and pleasant life. Tim O’Brien uses a treatment called “Exposure Therapy” (ADAA). In simple terms, using exposure therapy exposes the individual to similar events that specifically effect that person. This concept uses: “Mental imagery, writing, or visits to the place where the event happened” (ADAA). In Tim O’Brien’s case, he recalls what he can and puts it to pencil and paper. Before he knew it, he realized it was something that he could work with. The Things They Carried is used primarily for education, but for someone that can relate to any one of O’Brien’s short stories, it can easily be used as exposure therapy. This was an effective tremendous way for a person like Tim O’Brien to cope with his PTSD, he used his passion for writing to fight his own mental disease and he refused to let PTSD get the best of him. 

Since PTSD is a relatively new concept and recognized disease, it has not always been as easy to treat as it was for O’Brien. Although exposure therapy did not make Tim O’Brien’s PTSD dissipate, it keeps it in check and allows him to function normally. On the contrary, many soldiers affected by PTSD were given drugs to help control the illness., however However, these opioids that were prescribed to the soldiers were highly addictive and often led them to become overly-dependent on them. Opioids, or more commonly known as “painkillers,” did not necessarily help with controlling soldier’s PTSD and if anything, they promoted addiction to a highly-controlled substance. One of the most common illegal drugs in the United States is heroine, almost a mirror image and “street substitute” for opioid drugs. It has taken countless lives in the past year and is now becoming ever more popular for Veterans. Since PTSD treatment with opioids has been proven to not control it enough, thousands of soldiers are being weaned off the substance. However, this is easier said than done and many are turning to heroine to fuel their addictions. Due to high costs of insurance and specifically psychiatric care, soldiers are looking for a more economical way to manage their mental problems. The government needs to become more involved and recognize how much damage is being done to the men who served the United States in the military. 

No matter how much time a soldier spends in a war zone they are bound to experience the horrors of war and that is something that is not easily forgotten. These memories lead to PTSD and are not always easy to treat. These soldiers bring home memories that can never be unstuck, they saw indescribable things, and watched their friends die. This leads to a difficult time reintegrating back into normal life. The soldiers had forgotten what it was like to live in a world where they were not in constant fear of their own lives. Tim O’Brien realized that he could use his passion for writing to control his own PTSD and he took off with it. He has bridged a gap between a normal civilians’ life (which he lives now) and the life of a Vietnam War soldier (which he had lived). He has also created an escape for other Veterans, by allowing them to read his novel and use it for their own personal therapy. Although his stories are graphic and often violent he had to make sure the reader understood how hard it was to be there. PTSD must be treated correctly and efficiently or the well-being of the men who fought for the red, white and blue will all be at risk. 
