Change is difficult for a lot of people, and often people shy away from it. Other times change is needed and finding a way to make that change is the difficult part. In The Things They Carried, and “Ten Days in a Madhouse” both are fighting for change but it very different ways. These arguments differ in one main way, that being one realized change was needed and put herself into a situation to change it, and the other was someone being put into a situation and then realized change was needed. 

These pieces of writing had a lot of similarities that were only different because of the setting and time period. Both works give us real stories that they experienced and truthful information about two events that people understood were happening, but were not getting the whole story on these events. The Things They Carried was a re-telling of stories that Tim O’Brien, the author, had experienced in his time during Vietnam. These aren’t the typical war stories of glory and triumph that our parents and grandparents like to share with us. These stories give us an inside view into what it actually was like to live in the trenches and fear for your life constantly. It showed us the terror and chaos that war produces. O’Brien told stories of his troop, who ultimately became his friends. He experienced tremendous loss during his time in Vietnam, and he witnessed it first hand, making the images and emotion that much more vivid. He gave us insight into what the people fighting for us really sacrifice. It didn’t end there as well; O’Brien explained that when he came back from overseas, the things he saw didn’t automatically go back to normal as many people assume. He has dealt with it for his entire life since returning. This is similar to Ten Days in a Madhouse, where horror and chaos are also present but delivered in different ways. Nellie Bly wanted to do real reporting and so she chose to fake being mentally ill in order to gain access to the inside of a “Madhouse,” or mental institution in order to see the treatment of the mentally ill. What Bly found was nothing short of sick. There was inhumane treatment of people who really had no choice to do what they wanted with their own bodies. Bly exploits the wrongdoing’s of the employees, especially the nurses and doctors who at times gave little attention to the patients and forced them to be in a situation that was not right or helpful to them. The biggest difference between the two pieces is that Bly voluntarily involved herself in the issue for a short period of time in order to understand the truth. Tim O’Brien didn’t have the same luxury, as he was forced into a situation and had no idea of when he was going to be able to leave. Although they are different in their methods of getting the information, they both share it, in order to give other people and understanding of the things that go on, but are often not seen by the public, and for good reason.  

I chose these texts because the words evoke something meaningful for us to question and answer. A lot of the time, things aren’t always, as they seem. In “Ten Days in a Madhouse” most would assume that people go to a mental health facility to get better and find ways to improve living with their altered mental state. Unfortunately the opposite is true in the case of this story and we see people losing their human value. This seems to be the case in The Things They Carried, as well. War devalues human life and makes people pawns in a game that ultimately ends up hurting both sides, with one side gaining some sort of redemption for all the deaths their civilians endured. There is often a story behind the text that people may not see immediately. 

In actuality the idea of information is a scary though. Questions often arise when receiving information. Who is the source? Are they a valid source? Is there bias? Is the information telling the whole story? In “Ten Days in a Madhouse,” Nellie Bly wanted to have a real article so she picked a real topic that she knew she could find more information about than what was given to the public. She may have at first accepted the information that was given to her, but she must have had a reason to do research. She found out that the source was of course invalid and that the whole story wasn’t being revealed in the articles that she had been reading; because of this she chose to stand for a change. She wanted everyone else to know what the treatment was like so that they could make a judgment for themselves if it was safe for the mentally ill to be in an institution such as they were. This is similar to that in The Things They Carried, because Tim O’brien also only knew of war as what he has seen from the media. People see some of the horror and can sympathize with soldiers, but it isn’t until you are told the full story of a first hand experience that people really start to get a image that is something of the truth. Tim O’Brien didn’t have to share his stories, and I believe it may have been hard for him to reminisce on something that was so painful and confusing for him. He also understood that sharing the stories would bring to light the issues that we face in war and how they stand for far much more than just people dying. The emotion he brought to his writing made everything more vivid and actually incited change. 

Today, we can still see the value in the truth. There is still a lot of injustice in the world and a lot of issues that people are either unaware of, or are hidden in order for it to continue. By understanding these texts both individually and as a comprehensive reading, it brings to light the issues, and gives us a platform for combating these issues.  It puts the reader in a situation where they are almost in control to change. The last part is if we are willing. 