Naturalness In Tim O Brien's The Things They Carried

When bad things happen, why do we cry? Is it to cope with grief? Is it to try and seem sad? Of course these aren’t the reasons why. It is common knowledge that crying is an automatic, natural human instinct. However, is dancing and smiling to oneself natural in response to trauma? If a behavior is strange, is it not human? A girl is dancing ”barefoot”, peacefully in the dirt and clouds of smoke. Her family is dead and her house is burned down. She doesn’t think about dancing- she just does. A soldier is singing “Lemon Tree” as he peels the limbs of his dead friend out of a tree. War is around him. He is under attack and may die himself, but sings a light-hearted tune. Is one of these two less human? The question of certain behaviors’ naturalness hovers above the entirety of The Things They Carried by Tim O’Brien. In the Chapter and story, “Style”, the reader is introduced to a young girl dancing among the burnt wreckage of her village. The girl, in all her innocence and loneliness, is exactly like an American soldier. Her reaction to …show more content…
While the normal reaction to death, for whatever reason, is defined as crying, mourning, and showing respect, the idea of love has always remained a mystery. People in love do all sorts of things. Dancing without music, singing, refusing to speak, becoming angry, redefining one’s identity, superstition, or an abundance—even lack—of valor, can be deemed “normal” side effects of love, and these are just a few things the characters in the book did in face of death. This comparison isn’t to say that soldiers were enamoured with death, because it is impossible to know this. However, this collision/cohesion of situations provides an intriguing answer to the earlier question, ‘Is dancing and smiling to oneself natural in response to