
War is common these days. Conflict is global, spanning from Mexico to the far reaches of East Asia. In the 1960’s brutal conflict broke out in Vietnam, a small country surrounded by by Cambodia and Laos. The Northern Vietnamese led by Ho Chi Minh were advancing south with the goal of turning all of Vietnam Communist. Met with Resistance in the South, the US intervened to prevent the spread of Communism, as well as halting the expanding Soviet influence. Much closer to home, and a little bit later, drug wars were ravaging South and Central America. Cartels made a rise to power, and cartel/gang related violence shot up, leaving tens of thousands scarred from the extreme violence, that eventually spilled over into the United States.  Everything Healthy and Unhealthy Wars and Narco Emotions both fuel our understanding of The Things They Carried and the different effects violence has on the human mind, and the methods of coping with said violence. 

Healthy and Unhealthy Wars: The effects of Ingroup-Committed Violence on Physical and Mental Health was written in a journal published by the American psychological Association by Bernhard Leinder, Mengyao Li, and Peter Kardos. The article is written about the effect violence between multiple groups has on the physical and mental health of the individuals of each group. The Authors’ findings were relatively simple, though the essay was quite exhaustive, using many sources. The essay highlights the differences between defensive and non-defensive coping strategies that group members may employ. Perhaps one of the most important things mentioned in this essay is the idea of intergroup violence expressed in a perpetrator/victim dynamic. The essay makes the claim that during intergroup violence, the victim is “generally more adversely effected” by intergroup violence, however also claims that, while research is nonexistent, it’s likely that the perpetrator is impacted by the violence just as much. This all depends on whether the perpetrator even views themselves as such. The authors go on to write, “Groups rarely see themselves as perpetrators, both during and after conﬂict—especially since WWII. Ingroup-committed violence is usually portrayed as a response to violence or injustice suffered at the hands of the adversarial group.” (Leinder/Li/Kardos, 339) More or less, the inflicting group often views themselves as righteous. In the case of the soldiers in the Vietnam War, including the squad in “The Things They Carried”, may not feel like the violence has an affect them, until it strikes one of their own, only furthering their own justification that they are in the right. Mentally, it’s a slippery slope, as it can build to justify terrible things, which will be seen in “The Things They Carry.”

Healthy and Unhealthy Wars: The Effects of Ingroup-Committed Violence on Physical and Mental Health informs the reader on why the soldiers act the way they do in combat zones.  The soldiers are described as having loads to carry of varying sizes. Some of it is gear, some of its emotional baggage from back home, like Lt. Cross and his memories of Martha. Something particularly surprising and disturbing was the few that carried the severed fingers of fallen enemies. On page 338, Tim O’Brien writes, “They kicked corpses. They cut off thumbs. They talked grunt lingo. They told stories about Ted Lavenders supply of tranquilizers, how the poor guy didn’t feel a thing, how the poor guy didn’t feel a thing, how incredibly tranquil he was.” (O’Brien, 338). There is a stark contrast in this quote. On one hand, there are these incredibly brutal acts. Kicking the bodies of men they’ve killed, cutting off their thumbs, while at the same time, they’re sitting back and talking about how much of a shame it is that Lavender was killed, and reassuring themselves that his death was peaceful. These acts of mutilation and violence are juxtaposed against hopeful conversation that the killing of their friend was peaceful. The perpetrators in this case are the soldiers, who are committing these acts, though they don’t view themselves as such. Talking about Lavender while this is happening shows that the soldiers view themselves as victims, and the VC as the perpetrators. The victim mentality is what is justifying the acts they are committing, which is a large part of Healthy and Unhealthy Wars. This sort of dehumanization of the enemy was and is very common in wartime, and sometimes leads to desensitization towards violence. 

The two different reactions given by the men and Lt. Cross show the effects of desensitization, as well as destination in the works, which in turn reveals two different ways of coping with loss and extreme violence in different ways. The thumb example, already explored in depth is a great example of one side of the desensitization argument. In Narco Emotions, the authors write, “This phenomenon, affective desensitization, is characterized by the numbing of (negative) emotional reactions to events that typically would elicit a strong response, as well as by an increase in aggressive behavior” (De Choudhoury-Monroy Hernandez-Mark, 2) This quote is especially interesting in the context of The Things They Carried because the reader gets to see the before and after of affective desensitization. The “before” comes with Lt. Jimmy Cross. His reaction to the death of Lavender is very emotional, the complete opposite of the troops, who characterize the after. O’Brien writes, “He realized it was only a gesture. Stupid, he thought. Sentimental, too, but mostly stupid. Lavender was dead. You couldn’t burn the blame.” (O’Brien, 340). After the death of Lavender, Lt. Cross burns everything that Martha had ever sent him. He felt guilty. He felt something. Compare this image to the scene of the Soldiers after Lavenders death. O’Brien writes, “They kicked corpses. They cut off thumbs. They talked grunt lingo. They told stories about Ted Lavenders supply of tranquilizers, how the poor guy didn’t feel a thing, how the poor guy didn’t feel a thing, how incredibly tranquil he was.” (O’Brien, 338). The death doesn’t really affect them. They mill around and act normally, taking drugs, and cutting off fingers. The affective desensitization as described in Narco Emotions is clearly visible here. Lt. Cross represents the before, not entirely innocent to the ways of the world, but has never faced a true tragedy up until the death of Ted Lavender. At this point, reality hits Lt. Cross. He can’t be stuck in his thoughts about Martha, being idealistic about how he wants things to turn out. Behaving this way is what in Lt. Cross’ mind got Lavender killed in the first place. In The Things they Carried, the reader gets to see this rare moment when the change from innocent to jaded occurs. The Lt. Cross post Lavender is much harder than previously. He becomes more uniform to his men, moving past Lavenders death after giving time to grieve, and vowing to never let himself feel this way again. Though Narco Wars is centered around drug wars in Mexico, the phycological aspect is still clearly visible and applicable in The Things they Carried. 

Mental Health is an issue that many still don’t understand, and is heavily stigmatized in the modern world. While not quite as hot a topic as say PTSD and Depression are right now in relation to Veteran Mental Health, this type of desensitization can make it really hard for service members to make the transition back into the working world. This effect that extreme violence has on the brain can be harmful, as over time that extreme violence can normalize, making it hard for people to make connections with others who haven’t had those same experiences. Healthy and Unhealthy Wars: The effects of Ingroup-Committed Violence on Physical and Mental Health, and Narco Emotions both helped to further the readers understanding of The Things they Carried, and helps us understand the effects of vioelnce on the brain and the different ways that people cope with that. 
