“The Things They Carried”, written by Tim O’Brien, a Vietnam War veteran, reflects the experiences of a group of soldiers during the Vietnam War. By assessing the things that each soldier carried, both literally and emotionally, many things are revealed about the Vietnam War and the soldiers which fought in it. These objects they carried revealed the destruction which occurred due to the weapons they had, and show the pain and emotional baggage they carried mentally. The Vietnam War was the longest war the United States has been involved in, lasting from 1954 to 1975. This war was the second most expensive war to the United States, costing about 60,000 American lives and 170 billion dollars. O’Brien states, “...It was another world, a place where men died because of carelessness and gross stupidity.”  This quote describes how being in the war felt, it was another reality in which men constantly died for what appears to be a meaningless cause as O’Brien uses the word “stupidity” . The effects of the war on American soldiers can be seen in O’Brien’s novel and reveal his message about the war. O’Brien’s novel conveys the message that the Vietnam War had detrimental effects, physically and mentally, on American soldiers and caused more damage than anything. 

The story speaks of a Lieutenant Cross who carried letters from a girl named Martha. Cross could not stop thinking of Martha because he loved her. The narrator states, “He was just a kid at war, in love. He was twenty-four years old. He couldn’t help it.” (O’Brien 334) This quote reveals information that is better understood by looking at history. While some soldiers did volunteer, about two thirds of the combat troops fighting in the Vietnam War were forced into it through the draft. The draft consisted of a televised lottery for males aged nineteen to twenty-five. The majority of soldiers in the war were poor, working-class youth. These youth were focused on their lives, and ended up having to enter into this fight. This leads into O’Brien’s point that most of the soldiers in the war were young and were not fully focused on the war itself. Lieutenant Cross is seen to be thinking of Martha almost the whole time, until the death of a soldier, when he is forced to face reality and takes blame for the death. The soldiers who were forced did not want to be there and the rest who volunteered may have been too young to realize what they were getting into. O’Brien also states, “Men killed, and died, because they were embarrassed not to…they were too frightened to be cowards.” This quote regards why some soldiers may have volunteered, as to simply seem courageous. Men were supposed to appear strong and ready to fight and serve for their country. Men at the time were embarrassed to not participate somehow due to this idea. There is also an image regarding how a soldier should be in culture, during any time, and especially during a war. This image is that soldiers are strong and fearless. Once a soldier, the men had to fight and kill in order to keep a good reputation for themselves in the war and at home. Becoming a soldier was hard, it forced them to kill and bury their emotions to appear strong in front of other soldiers and in front of their families. 

Even though the soldiers maintained their posture and fought, O’Brien shows that they did not feel as though they had a purpose in what they were doing. He states, “They had no sense of strategy or mission. They searched the villages without knowing what to look for, not caring…” (O’Brien 335) This quote shows that the soldiers felt as though they fought without a purpose and even suggests that they did not know what they were doing and simply followed orders. They died, were wounded, suffered from infections and diseases, such as malaria and dysentery, for this war which they did not see a purpose to. During the 1960’s, the time of the war, the black power movement and antiwar movement were in motion and Americans seemed to be in the spirit of rebellion towards the government and politics, by being involved in these movements. While, O’Brien does not mention these movements, by showing that the soldiers thought this way about the war it reveals this rebellious spirit within the military. The war was controversial to many Americans, with polls showing that two out of three Americans thought it was a mistake. Soldiers faced harsh conditions and guerrilla warfare in which they could not distinguish between soldiers and civilians. All of these issues lead to the start of the antiwar movement in 1968, which was largely led by soldiers and veterans. Some soldiers rebelled by appearing to follow fighting orders when they were not, in order to avoid punishment. While the soldiers O’Brien mentions do not participate in these activities, they do engage in similar thought as soldiers in the antiwar movement and reveal the lack of motivation to fight. The antiwar movement during this time period allows for the thoughts and contexts of the novel to be better understood.

The wars negative effects went further than wounds and diseases. With the death and destruction that was seen during the Vietnam War, many soldiers suffered mentally. O’Brien states, “They imagined the muzzle against flesh. So easy: squeeze the trigger and blow a toe away. They imagined it.” This quote is describing the things soldiers thought of doing in order to be evacuated from the war site. The conditions and deaths they saw were terrible, that they imagined harming themselves just to be away from them. He shows that all of the soldiers thought about doing it, but the ones that actually did were seen as cowards by other soldiers, even though they were envied by them. This dilemma lead many soldiers to indulge in marijuana, heroin, and smoking. Drug use was a big issue during the war, with illegal drugs being readily available to soldiers in Vietnam. Some even speculated that these drugs were a method of sabotage from communist’s countries, to inhibit American soldier’s abilities. It’s estimated that drug use of Americans in Vietnam was much higher than drug use in America. O’Brien makes use of these facts in showing a soldier, Ted Lavender, carrying and constantly using “tranquilizers” and drugs to calm himself, until he is killed. Lavender is consistently described as being fearful and uses a tranquilizer drug right before he died, shot right in front of the other soldiers. The rest of the soldiers in the novel are also constantly seen smoking. The mental states they were in led them to use drugs, to be able to keep fighting, and to maintain their image as a man and a soldier. The issue of drug use during the war brings explanation to these elements of the novel. After the war, many soldiers had addiction issues and upon returning to the states, did not have drugs as widely available to them as in Vietnam. They also had many anxiety disorders and PTSD. These issues lead many soldiers and veterans to depression, violence, and suicide. O’Brien’s novel does not discuss what happened to the soldiers when they returned home, however the death and destruction they saw during the war is mentioned. O’Brien states “Imagination was a killer.” This quote exhibits how the harsh things they saw affected them to where it was worse inside their heads to imagine what could happen. Through these facts about soldiers mental states after the war, an understanding of the horrors and drug use mentioned in the novel effected the soldiers can be gained.  

By following a group of soldiers during the Vietnam War, “The Things They Carried” displays the negative effects of the war on soldiers and does not show any positive aspects to have come out of the war. The soldiers each carried things from their past and from the war, conveying how the Vietnam War changed each soldier throughout the novel. The impacts of the war on the soldiers is largely negative, with soldiers being forced into fighting without seeing a purpose, addiction, and mental disorders emerging. O’Brien states that the soldiers dreamed of freedom birds, referring to the planes which carried soldiers home or just to safety. In 1973, they received their wish, the United States withdrew from the war, but the damage was already done. Not all the soldiers returned and the ones who did return, came back with many problems, mentally and physically. The impact of this war is still seen up to today as they are still showing through the war veterans. The war still lives in their heads and haunts them. A war such as this can easily occur again today, impacting more youth. This brings up the question of whether a wars benefits are worth the trouble they cause. As seen in the Vietnam War through the novel and history, the war greatly impacted the whole nation. The negatives of the war, greatly outweighing the positives, if any positives exist. 
