How The Lives Of A Soldier In Tim O Brien's The Things They Carried

After the Vietnam War many former-soldiers came back from combat with stories that would bewilder the psyche of any common citizen. These stories highlight the extreme difference between the lives of a soldier both at home, and in the horrific situations of a field of combat. In Tim O’ Brien’s novel, The Things They Carried accurately conveys the removal that former soldiers felt by being ripped away from home by explaining with exquisite word choice and diction, the fear and horror that young men felt when the draft notice arrived in their homes, telling them that their lives were over. To begin, the first instance of O’Brien explaining this terrifying situation is the story of when he himself received his draft letter, causing him to …show more content…
In a previous encounter Norman seeks out Tim O’Brien and requests that he put a story from their times together on the battlefield. This is later inserted, as a ‘true’ story, or so he would like us to believe. Norman is trapped in an endless cycle of living, as he describes as “followed the tar road on its seven mile loop around the lake, then started all over again” (131). This experience is most likely felt by all of the other soldiers when they arrive home for the first while. But particularly for Norman, this is due to the fact that he didn’t win the medals that his father wanted him to. Furthermore, when soldiers return from war, they become lost and confused about what to do next, which is the reason that many of the veterans of war are homeless after several years of being ‘home’ again. Moreover, in a later chapter, it is explained how Norman abruptly ended his own life. According to Tim O’Brien, he hanged himself in a YMCA in his hometown, which proves that once he came back home, he never really knew what to do with himself, and after ‘driving’ in that same circle for so many years, he finally decided that enough was enough. Knowing that Norman couldn’t decipher where to go with his life after coming back from the war, one could draw the conclusion that the war made him forget who he was and what his ambitions really are. Although a soldier may think in the beginning that they can’t be affected by the horrors they encounter, almost everyone that goes will not come back the same person, and this can be seen in many instances throughout The Things They Carried. The war changed Norman for the rest of his life, making him forget who he really was and what he wanted to do with the rest of his life. After these experiences, young men such as Vietnam