The Things They Carried by Tim O'Brien

 

The Things They Carried

The Things They Carried is a collection of connected short stories. The book is about a group of American ground soldiers fighting in the Vietnam War. The book is based on Tim O’Brien’s own experience in the twenty-third Infantry Division. The Things They Carried takes place in Vietnam during the Vietnam war. Americans were involved in the war from 1955 to 1975 but the book mainly takes place from 1969 to 1971. Most of the short stories in the book are true but some are fictional. 

The book is different from what you might think as it does not explain why we had the Vietnam war or how it started. It focuses more on the American soldier’s experiences. O’Brien uses this to show how most of the soldiers were young men who did not know why there was a war and did not want to be there. Just focusing on the point of view of the soldiers helps the reader feel maybe like they would, not knowing much about what and why stuff is happening between the governments. In one of the first short stories the main character, also the author, is drafted like many other people at the time. He cannot believe that he has been drafted and goes across the Canadian border but eventually comes back and goes to Vietnam. In Vietnam O’Brien meets his platoon which are all young men who do not want to fight in the war.

Along with showing how lost the soldiers were in the war, O’Brien also shows how many of the soldiers were young and not quite ready for war. One of the short stories “The Man I Killed”, as the name suggests, is about a man O’Brien killed in the war. In the chapter, he throws a grenade while hiding in a bush at a passing Vietnamese soldier. The chapter shows how O’Brien is mortified that he has just killed a man. In the chapter, O’Brien stares at the corpse of the man he just killed and describes in detail the man’s face that was partly deformed from the grenade. O’Brien struggles to get over the fact that he killed a man. O’Brien feels like he could have just let the man pass by and thinks that is what he should have done. Additionally, the men hate being there as although they usually act like they are fine many of them cry themselves to sleep some nights as seen in one of the chapters. In the same chapter, one of the men shoots his toe off so he can go home, this was a common thing soldiers would do.

At the end of the book, O’Brien tells the story of a friend in the platoon after the war. After the war ends his friend goes back to his hometown and does not know what to do with his life. He spends half the day in bed and does not have a job. After a few years, the friend commits suicide. O’Brien uses this chapter to show how the war had lasting effects on the people who did not even want to support the war, let alone fight in it.

I would recommend this book to anyone, even if you are not interested in the topic of the Vietnam war. Before reading this book I did not know much about the war but the book gave insight into what it was like. Although the book does not educate the reader on the politics of the war it shows what it was like to be a soldier, something I think is interesting. The way O’Brien writes the book makes it interesting but also focuses on what it was like to be fighting in the war makes the book a great read. This is quite a unique book and like I said earlier I would recommend it. 

-Ross