Tim O’Brien’s story, “The Things They Carry” published in 1990, centers on a group of soldiers in the Vietnam War. The soldiers are under the responsibility of Lieutenant Jimmy Cross. With Lieutenant Jimmy Cross, he carries his love for Martha and it distracts him from his duty. In the end, he tries to forget Martha because he thinks it is his fault the Ted Lavender dies. Each soldier carries something different from each other and the story revels to as to why. Respectively, each soldier carries assets that are material and mental. By using historical context, narration, and mental health, O’Brien transports the readers to the mind of soldiers.
O’Brien portrays the story from a monumental historical point, the Vietnam War, to show how mentally …show more content…
There are examples after examples in the story that can relate to mental health. In the story, the soldiers are frightened of the war and there are very few ways to escape it besides death, severe injury, or pretending to have gone insane. Most soldiers refused to use the excuse to leave the front lines so that the soldiers would not be seen as cowards. Another way soldiers hid what major impact the war left was to joke and tell stories of death to make it seem as if the soldiers are unaffected. In the study of “'I Want to Come Home': Vietnam-Era Veterans' Presenting for Mental Health Care, Roughly 40 Years After Vietnam,” it discusses the psychological trauma experienced by the soldiers. It first had the veterans retell the war from that perspective and the … veterans’ descriptions of war regularly featured its unexpected chaos, terror, and horror, which were the backdrop of the entire experience… Upon returning to the USA, veterans described being unwelcomed and unappreciated, aside from a select few people…(Psychiatric Quarterly p229-239). This article goes through the veterans experience, trauma, and develops on how the Vietnam War was a danger to the soldier's mental health. Then develops into the veterans personal life years after the war. The veterans from the war are today still struggling to keep a job, save a relationship, isolated themselves, and a mixture of emotions like anxiety, depression, and anger. Some veterans even attempt suicide. This correlates with the story by O’Brien because on page 1093 he describes what the soldiers are feeling and the mental toll the war. He describes the soldiers carrying their reputations and being afraid of being call cowards. The soldiers hoped to die in combat so that the hint of dishonor would label on
O’Brien portrays the story from a monumental historical point, the Vietnam War, to show how mentally …show more content…
There are examples after examples in the story that can relate to mental health. In the story, the soldiers are frightened of the war and there are very few ways to escape it besides death, severe injury, or pretending to have gone insane. Most soldiers refused to use the excuse to leave the front lines so that the soldiers would not be seen as cowards. Another way soldiers hid what major impact the war left was to joke and tell stories of death to make it seem as if the soldiers are unaffected. In the study of “'I Want to Come Home': Vietnam-Era Veterans' Presenting for Mental Health Care, Roughly 40 Years After Vietnam,” it discusses the psychological trauma experienced by the soldiers. It first had the veterans retell the war from that perspective and the … veterans’ descriptions of war regularly featured its unexpected chaos, terror, and horror, which were the backdrop of the entire experience… Upon returning to the USA, veterans described being unwelcomed and unappreciated, aside from a select few people…(Psychiatric Quarterly p229-239). This article goes through the veterans experience, trauma, and develops on how the Vietnam War was a danger to the soldier's mental health. Then develops into the veterans personal life years after the war. The veterans from the war are today still struggling to keep a job, save a relationship, isolated themselves, and a mixture of emotions like anxiety, depression, and anger. Some veterans even attempt suicide. This correlates with the story by O’Brien because on page 1093 he describes what the soldiers are feeling and the mental toll the war. He describes the soldiers carrying their reputations and being afraid of being call cowards. The soldiers hoped to die in combat so that the hint of dishonor would label on