
In Tim O’Brien’s “The Things They Carried”, the author’s memories of the Vietnam war allow the reader to enter the mind of the soldiers through their personal experiences in a grueling war. The historical context in which this story takes place helps to reveal the way post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) and the anti-war movement affect a veteran’s life during and after the war.

When considering historical fiction such as O’Brien’s “The Things They Carried”, it is important to understand what Vietnam soldiers would experience during before, after, and during the war. Edgar Jones’ journal “Flashbacks and post-traumatic stress disorder: the genesis of a 20th century diagnosis”, helps reveal some of the truth behind PTSD and the influence it has on veterans of war. In the story, O’Brien blurs the timeline of war as he narrates the story. This is done purposefully to reveal the inconsistency of the nature of war and is especially prevalent when the author brings Ted Lavender into the mixture. Lavender’s death is brought up throughout the narrative in seemingly random places to show the emotional toll his death had on the men. The narrator is unable to forget Lavender and the memory of his death will always be one of the things he carries. Vivid flashbacks are one of the many symptoms of PTSD and are especially prevalent for those who survived the Vietnam war due to the increase in media prevalence. Jones states in his medical journal that “the term flashback implies the cinematic possibility of literally reproducing or cutting back to a scene from the past and hence expresses the idea that the trauma victim's experiences are exact ‘reruns’ or ‘replays’ of the traumatic incident” (162). This definition is consistent with the way the narrator recalls dramatic and often symbolic descriptions of Ted Lavender’s death. These constant war flashbacks seen in the text clearly indicate that the narrator is suffering from some form of PTSD. For those who survive the war, they can carry guilt, grief, and many inconsistently placed stories about the other soldiers. This is one of the main functions of O’Brien’s story, that the men “shared the weight of memory. They took up what others could no longer bear. Often, they carried each other” (335). O’Brien wanted the war to be remembered for what it truly was and wanted the reader to understand that war has complex side effects. It is also important to understand that O’Brien’s perspective on the war may be slightly skewed due to the difficulty for PTSD veterans to fully recollect the memories of war. O’Brien’s war memories in “The Things They Carried” accounts for the diverse struggles soldiers encountered in the Vietnam war and allows the reader to truly enter the mind of a veteran suffering from PTSD. 

As the story continues, O’Brien subtly incorporates many elements which allow the reader to have a deeper understanding of the way the characters viewed the Vietnam war and how war protests effected their lives. E.M. Schrciber’s “Opposition to the Vietnam War Among American University Students” shows the way the war was viewed from the home front and how war changed the politics of being a young person. It is important to understand the state of the nation at the beginning of the Vietnam war – as the war progressed, so did protests across the nation. This is especially true for college students and young people, as many of their friends and family members were being drafted unwillingly into the war. Schrciber points this out in his journal, stating that “the early stirrings of this opposition to the Vietnam war in America usually are traced to universities where students were among the first groups to organize and voice opposition to the war in a way that very soon became highly visible to the news media and to journalistic commentators” (288). Due to the new ease of accessible media at the time, young people could view the brutal war that was killing soldiers and millions of civilians overseas. The primary way that O’Brien incorporates this element is through Martha; the only character throughout the story that isn’t fighting in the war, a girl from New Jersey that Lieutenant Cross is fixated on. Martha is a distraction to Lieutenant Cross and makes it difficult for him to focus on the war that he is in.  Martha’s role in the story is to serve as a reminder for what is happening in America. She is at a university and is surrounded by the media and war opposition that Schrciber points out. Her influence on Lieutenant Cross enables him to ignore the war because “he could not bring himself to worry about matters of security. He was beyond that. He was just a kid at war, in love. He was twenty-four years old. He couldn’t help it” (O’Brien 334). Although the author never explicitly states anything about war protest, the reader can assume Martha’s distrust in war due the typically strong opposition from young college students in the historical context. Likely, Lieutenant Cross would live with PTSD for the rest of his life after watching the death of his soldiers, and Martha would continue her degree in America, unscathed by the true meaning of war. Although O’Brien does not ever directly state anything about war opposition, the historical context provides insight on why the soldiers show a lack of involvement and an overall defeated tone towards the idea of fighting for their cause.

When discussing historical fiction such as “The Things They Carried”, it is important to understand the intersections of multiple elements that can influence understanding of the text. Due to the opposition of the Vietnam war on the home front, a great number of soldiers did not feel the support of war and thus suffered greater during and after the war. Jones states in his article that “Our findings imply that the psychopathology of trauma is not static and that culture has an impact on the expression of distressing memories” (163). The time period before, during, and after the Vietnam war was revolutionary for cinema and journalism. Keeping this in mind, the veterans of war were able to more easily view footage of the war that they fought in. The ability to easily view the gruesome outcomes of war lead to an increase in PTSD suffering veterans. The prevalence of media also was a factor that increased the amount of passion towards the anti-war movement. The American people were generally opposed to the deadly overseas war and for a soldier returning from war, this was not a very conducive environment for a stable mental health. Jones gives an example of the impact on veterans in his article; “given that PTSD was at one time called ‘post-Vietnam syndrome’, it is possible that the significant increase in the incidence of flashbacks took place during the 1960s. Films about the war, such as The Deer Hunter, sometimes cut scenes of warfare into civilian episodes in a dramatic and abrupt manner. Whether these reflected the veteran's flashback experience or, alternatively, served as a cultural influence shaping the form of PTSD is impossible to say” (162).  The popularity of media in the 1960s increased the opposition that the American people felt towards the war and overall caused a higher rate of suffering for Vietnam veterans. 

Throughout the “The Things They Carried”, the soldiers’ personal experiences through the Vietnam war allow the reader to gain multiple perspectives on the grueling war. The actual time period in which the story takes place reveals a lot about the tensions of war and the way that PTSD and protests changed the lives of veterans during and after combat. O’Brien’s central message is about the physical, emotional, and psychological burden that war brings to veterans and the addition of historical context brings even greater understanding to this idea.