“the Things They Carried”

“the Things They Carried”

The Things They Carried One of the most compelling and intriguing conflicts introduced in “The Things They Carried” is the battle within Tim O’Brien’s conscience. This impossible struggle inside Tim’s mind has poisonedhim to experience tremendous guilt and anger which ultimately creates a deeper meaning to just a simple book. In this conflict, O’Brien’s struggle of his true feelings can be viewed as a superior quarrel among the stressful environment of Vietnam. The complexity of Tim’s war-tainted conscience has created a refusal to cope with reality, bury his guilt and hatred of critical mistakes, and finally carry a heavy burden of grief and resentment. All of these painful experiences are confronted but this internal conflict is larger than him and the views of society. In the beginning, Tim was confronted with a terrible decision of whether or not to obey his conscienceor resentfully go to war. Ideas drifted inside Tim such as, “I would not be brave. That old image of myself as a hero, as a man of conscience and courage, all that was just a threadbare pipe dream.”(p. 57). As you can see, this struggle has introduced a deep impact on such a young man. Another quote to explain the difficult pondering of Tim is on page 59, “Even in my imagination… I couldn’t be brave. It had nothing to do with morality. Embarrassment, that’s all it was.” Tim gave in to society, joined the war, something that was completely against his beliefs and therefore becoming a coward as said by Tim himself,” Iwas a coward. I went to the war.”(p.61). In the light of these examples it is clear to see that Tim’s betrayal of his morals has left him dejected and that going to Vietnam will only contribute to an already powerless sense of confidence. As soon as Tim experienced the brutality and indifference of Vietnam, his perception of the nature of life quickly transformed. Tim promptly realized that war can alter the minds of even the strongest of people. For instance on page 113, Rat Kiley...

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