Shame And Guilt In Tim Obrien's The Things They Carried

Tim OBriens story, The Things They Carried, is more than just a war story. It beautifully depicts the shame and guilt that soldiers had to live for throughout the war, and unfortunately, the rest of their lives. Through the stories and experiences of soldiers in Tim OBriens vicinity, the Alpha Company, we get to know them not as mindless soldiers fighting for their country, but as people. Shame and guilt is a recurring theme in the book all soldiers in the story have experienced it one way or another. At times it hinders their duties as a soldier, other times it helps them mature as soldiers or as people. Tim OBrien shows us the emotional impact that guilt and shame can have on soldiers in the line of duty, both positive and negative that can last well past …show more content…
This shows the stark transformation from the once daydreaming and lax Lieutenant Cross.Throughout and before the war, the author Tim OBrien has made many decisions under the influence of shame and guilt. The moral dilemma that Tim OBrien faced before going out to war is also caused by shame and guilt. Tim OBrien, reluctant to go to war, feels guilty about participating in a war he was against - one that he advocated against in college. The fact that he was highly against the war was apparent in his decision to initially (almost) run away from home and cross the Canadian border in hopes to evade being drafted to war. On the verge of dodging the draft notice, Tim OBrien realizes that in doing so, he would be shaming his country and his family, and he would be seen as a coward by his community, which was something that he did not want. All those eyes on me-the town, the whole universe-and I couldnt risk the embarrassment (57). Tim OBriens decision to go to war was not because of love for the country like some soldiers might have, but because of