Are Americans Obligated In Tim O Brien's The Things They Carried

In The Things They Carried, war is seen by Americans as a way for men to show their country’s pride and to prove their worthiness. In this time period war was unavoidable for men between the ages of 18 to 25, the draft forces men to partake in war even if they didn’t want to. Some men fled to Canada, emitted themselves into mental hospitals, and did anything possible to prevent their having to go. Tim O’Brien is saying throughout this novel is that the whole culture of war is patriotism, strength, and fear. It is shown through the soldiers, the atmosphere, and the surroundings in Vietnam that the United States feels superior over North and South Vietnam and the American men fighting are greater soldiers. Although the Charlie are far more secretive and prone to shocking the Americans, with the way that United States civilians are raised they are more likely to have confidence in themselves. …show more content…
Men are obligated to proceed into battle, with the culture of war in America as patriotism, it was more often than not common that a man would be drafted to partake. O’Brien said that "for more than twenty years I've had to live with it, feeling the shame, trying to push it away, and so by this act of remembrance, by putting the facts down on paper, I'm hoping to relieve at least some of the pressure on my dreams" (O’Brien 39) and with that, he exclaims through his novel how there was no way out for men. In America during this time, the only way to avoid war was through having a disability that harmed their mental state and prohibited them to fight or killing