
Vietnam veterans had a hard time readjusting to society because of both personal issues and being silenced by the government. The Vietnam War was a sensitive topic in America at the time, and a rare case where many of the citizens were not in support of the war. When soldiers started to speak out, the government acted swiftly and suppressed their voices. Also, many soldiers returning from the war suffered from PTSD or other mental issues caused by the war but could not seek the help they needed. Many turned to writing as it seemed to be an effective way to get their voices heard and to ease the pain the war left with them. After reading Alsina Risquez’s “Dissent as therapy: The Veterans of the American War in Vietnam” and Pauline Cooper’s “Using Writing as Therapy: finding identity”, it is clear that Tim O’Brien’s “The Things They Carried” was his way of freely protesting the war and as a form of therapy.

Alsina Risquez Cristina’s “Dissent as therapy: The Veterans of the American War in Vietnam” highlights that Tim O’Brien’s “The Things They Carried” was his way of protesting the war and reliving his mental burdens. Because of the difficulties soldiers had speaking out in public and voicing their opinions, writing became one of the best ways to protest the war. Within the first chapter of his book there is an overwhelmingly negative tone. This is not a war story that rallies national pride, but puts it into question. The characters and events represent the negatives of war, like with the death of Ted Lavender. Most of the chapter revolves around his death, the emotional and physical consequences. This was done to emphasize what the war was like for the common foot soldier, having to deal with constant fear of death and dealing with it when it happens. The government and media try to portray war as something greater than yourself, something honorable, something great, when in reality war is hell. One of the characters relates Ted’s body to cement. O’Brien hints that it’s the lifelessness of Ted’s body, even before he died that stirs this reference. But it also shows how soldiers were just tools, expendable in the eyes of the government. O’Brien points out how sometimes it feels as if they were deployed and forgot about, just as cement is laid and forgot about, just left to do its job. O’Brien uses Ted Lavender’s death as a way to challenge the public’s view on war at the time. At a time where media was pumping out action heroes like Rambo to rally the peoples support behind the violence, O’Brien was trying to pierce through the veil that blinded the people to the reality of what was happening. 

Another character O’Brien uses is Martha, as she represents the American people and their view of the war. In her letters to Cross she never once mentions the war, and seems to only be writing to him to be polite, not because she cares for him at all. This shows the general attitude people had for veterans, showing them some respect, but keeping them at a distance. Many veterans were marked as mentally unstable and unfit to rejoin society, so society left them out. By having Martha’s character interact with Cross during the war, it shows how the veterans are still at war, but this time a war to gain the credibility back. Cristina states that “denying them any kind of political agency, making their complaints and demands illegitimate and giving the Department of Veterans Affairs the legal subterfuge to avoid treating them.” (10). Veterans were effectively excluded from the government, as well as denied treatment for any of their mental issues. Because they had their credibility taken away, they could not seek help to deal with any problems the war caused for them. Here O’Brien uses Martha to show his dissent for how the government portrayed solders who did not agree with them, to show how inhumane their actions were. The character Cross was tortured and consumed by the thought of Martha, what she thought, her feelings toward him, what she was doing while he was gone. This is similar to how the public’s negative perception of returning soldiers made their readjustment back into society difficult.

Alsina Risquez Cristina’s “Dissent as therapy: The Veterans of the American War in Vietnam” talks about how veterans found therapeutic value in writing, and silenced if they opposed the war. Soldiers returning from war were often mentally scared, and receiving no help from the administration who sent them to war made things worse. Writing was one of the most helpful treatments for this, as it helped clear their minds and show their dissent for the war. The piece starts off with the medias depiction of a war veteran, unstable and violent. In order to keep the remaining support for the war, veterans had to be silenced and disempowered. Both the government and media portrayed veterans as unable to fully readjust, and in doing so, kept them out of sight. Christina states that “The success of this strategy depended on making illegitimate the potential political agency of the protesting veterans’ bodies.” (Cristina 9). The government was able to denounce veterans as unable to recover as a way to either stick them in mental asylums or prisons, as to not waste resources actually treating them. The administration who caused their ailments refused to help their recovery. Many found solace in writing, as they were able to express their emotions and tell their stories. Telling stories was its own form of medicine, and allowed some veterans to cope and move forwards in their lives. The author gives examples of these veterans like O’Brien and Kovic, and their work. Their writings helped express their dissent for the war. The government tried to silence them by denouncing their credibility and keeping them from being political figures, but their writings were able to let their voices be heard.

Pauline Cooper’s “Using Writing as Therapy: finding identity” exemplifies the benefits writing has on improving a person’s mental wellbeing. After the war, it was difficult for soldiers to express themselves. Being it because of being shunned and silenced for opposing the war, or issues such as PTSD making relating to everyday people a difficult task. In Pauline Cooper’s “Using Writing as Therapy: finding identity”, she studies a depressed mother, Linda, as she tries to overcome her depression through writing. During one of the first sessions Linda had, she disclosed that “The page became a creative place to gain control and set her thoughts in order.” (Cooper 2). With the way first chapter of “The Things They Carried” was written, it is not hard to believe O’Brien was going through some emotional issues that may have separated himself from the world. The whole chapter was revolved around Ted Lavender’s death, Cross letting go of his love Martha, and focusing on survival. “It wouldn’t help Lavender, he knew that, nut from this point on he would comport himself as an officer. He would dispose of his good-luck pebble.” (TCR 341). This quote encompasses the tone of the chapter, how Cross sacrifices what he loves to ensure the safety of his men. The death of Lavender brought him back to reality where and allows him to try and right the wrongs, and become a better leader. In writing this, O’Brien might have taken the same journey Cross did. The writing allowing him to move past an emotional obstacle and get his life more on track. Though the events in the book might not have ever taken place, the emotions behind them were true. Having all this in your head can make it seem as if you are losing control to your own emotions. O’Brien was able to fix this by through writing. Writing can be a very solo activity, just the writer and the paper, and because of this, O’Brien had a safe space to project his thoughts emotions freely. 

For Linda’s fifth session, she was told to write positive things about herself and others. After the writing “her grading rose to 5/10(happiness), accompanied by her saying ‘I’m not such a bad person really’.” (Cooper 3). After being given time to reflect and write more positive thoughts, her levels of happiness rose, and understand what her identity was. O’Brien’s writing was his way of coping with the horrors of the war, and what he did during it. Before the war, he was a kid, a student, never held a gun. After being deployed, he lost all of that, no longer a student, unable to remain a kid, and being forced to use a gun in order to survive. A transition like that is a rough one for a young man to deal with, and trying to come to terms with yourself after taking the life of another person or being around constant violence is also extremely difficult. We see this in the first chapter with Bowker taking the finger of a VC they found dead, “Norman Bowker, otherwise a very gentle person, carried a thumb… it had been cut from a VC corpse.” (TCR 334). Seemingly an act of mental determination caused by repetitive acts of violence. The soldiers had seen so many horrifying things that the thumb seemed as normal as a regular necklace would be. After all the killing he has done or witnessed, dead bodies seem to lose their meaning. Once O’Brien came back home, there were not many people he could or felt comfortable confiding in, so his emotions were bottled up. One way he was able to come to terms with what he did was writing. Through his writing he was able to admit to himself what happened and work towards getting over it. Any thoughts of him being a terrible person because of what he did during the war could be dealt with using a pen and paper.

The issues cause by the Vietnam war helped create many literary pieces such as O’Brien’s “The Things They Carried”. Both Being silenced and dealing with the mental scares the war created a need for an outlet for solders to express themselves and their opinions, and writing became this outlet. Both Cristina’s piece and Cooper’s piece helped to further reveal meaning behind characters and events whether it be a way to further protest the war, or a way for O’Brien to ease the pain the war left him with, as well as explain why soldiers choose writing as their way of therapy. “The Things They Carried” characters and events symbolize the faults in societies view of the war and O’Brien’s own internal struggles in dealing with what he did during the war.
