The Things They Carried is a book by Tim O’Brien and it consists of short stories taking place during the Vietnam War. These short stories are inspired by true events, so all the characters in the book are real people, however, with the possibility of being completely different from their real-world counterparts.
Throughout the book, O’Brien writes himself as a watchful observer. He tells stories of the war through other people’s stories. First with Jimmy Cross, then with other people in his war unit such as Rat Kiely. His writing tends to focus on external conflicts more than internal conflicts, therefore making the presence of his character appear overlooked. That is until his chapter The Man I Killed, where he goes through the events during which he killed a man. He tells this story multiple times, each time the story is written differently. Analyzing and re-analyzing a rather traumatic event, it gives insight into what is happening inside O'Brien's head, as well as his reactions to traumatic events.
"Along the Trail, there were small blue flowers shaped like bells. The young man's head was wrenched sideways. . ."
(Page 122).
O’Brien, from pages 121 to 124, goes overboard in descriptions of the scene. Kiowa tries talking to him but all he is doing is paying attention to every detail. This can be considered a method of grounding someone in the midst of extreme anxiety. A distraction, and can start a habit of dissociation.
However, throughout the book, Tim O’Brien changes. The chapter The Ghost Soldiers tells a story of how Tim O’Brien was shot twice. “I was shot twice” (Page 180). The first time he was shot, Rat Kiely healed him. The second time, he wasn’t so lucky. Rat Kiely got sent off to Japan, so there was a new medic on his team and the new medic didn’t have Kiely’s experience.
"After the rot cleared up, I devoted a lot of time to figuring ways to get back at him,"
(Page 181). This is one of the few stories that is about Tim O’Brien that goes deep into the internal conflict and this is when his character starts to shine through. After getting shot the second time, he holds some animosity toward the inexperienced medic and spends a lot of time planning ways to enact revenge. The reality of the story seems so much clearer after this, giving full form and depth to O'Brien's character.
*** Photo credits are linked with the photo.
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