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Tim O'Brien's The Things They Carried Eating Them Away
For young people, the Vietnam War is a thing of the past and they can
only learn about it from second hand sources. In Tim O'brien's The Things
They Carried, it becomes very apparent that the Vietnam conflict has
proved to be one that many of the participants have not been able move
away from, while getting on with their lives. O²brien shows that the
conflict takes on a parasitic form that eats away on its victims for the
rest of their lives.
A parasite is defined as an organism that grows, feeds, and is sheltered
on or in a different organism while harming its host. The war in this case
takes the place of the organism, and the host becomes the soldiers. There
are several examples of the parasitic nature of war through out the book.
In one particular section, Tim O'Brien returns to Vietnam with his
daughter. Twenty years had gone by, but it seems as though all of his
thoughts are geared back to the time he had spent in the jungle so long
before. The two of them travel all over the country, but before their
departure, he returns to the field where he feels he lost everything. On
this list he includes his honor, his best friend, and all faith in himself.
For O'Brien, evidence of the parasite is not solely in his return Vietnam,
but rather a constant personal preoccupation that seems to flow through
the collection of stories. O'Brien shows how the memories of the war take
on a parasitic form, and uses himself as an example.
In the chapter ³Speaking of Courage², O'Brien introduces a character by
the name of Norman Bowker. In the story Norman finds him self home after
serving his time in Vietnam. Even though he is back in his home town,
things do not seem the same to him. The was seems to have put a new spin
on his life. Most of the story he spends driving in circles while thinking
about the war and his lack of place in his old society. The war becomes
his whole life, and he feels as though he is to far distant from the town
people for them to understand. The reader then finds out that Bowker
commits suicide because the parasitic affect of his memories became to
much for him to handle.
There is another section in the book where a man named Jimmy Cross comes
to visit O'Brien after the war. They talk of experiences and hardships,
then it becomes apparent Cross has also been unable to totally move on
with his life. There are still secrets, and they still weigh heavy on his
mind even during his his every day civilian life. O'Brien never complains
about these problems, but it is clear the they bother him a great deal.
There are countless themes in this book, but one of the major ones is the
after effects the war had and still has on the men that were there. It is
clear from O'Brien's writing on Cross, Bowker, and himself is more than
just story telling. In using these people he attempts to show what the war
has done to the population of soldiers that participated in the conflict.
Word Count: 551
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