O Brien's The Things They Carried

War can make the happiest person we know turn into someone completely different. It can affect them in different ways, causing them to go insane and to change. As noticed in The Things They Carried, readers were able to witness such changes in someone’s mental and physical state. O’Brien took his readers through a journey of different stories from his fellow war mates. Whether or not they were true, completely false, or only showed a little bit of the truth, the stories still go to show us how such an event can alter a person’s state of mind. O’Brien’s stories were a few good examples of what a veteran of the Vietnam War went through, and readers were able to read about them from a man who witnessed everything firsthand. During any war the soldiers have no choice but to witness a lot of death. There are different reactions from the guys. Some show remorse while others aren’t affected at all. The men become so used to seeing all of the blood and guts that they begin to lose their sense of morality. This can then cause the men to lose their sanity and develop an issue that no one else, unless they have once been in their shoes, can relate to. Even in today’s time our soldiers have trouble dealing with their lives after the war and can lead to a state of …show more content…
There are people who come back from war, realize they aren’t the same, and want to get to feeling better as soon as they can. Though they carry “things” around with them for the rest of their lives, they know there’s a way out of depression and that they can help themselves and possibly their family with any trouble that may have been brought upon them. As said by Heberle, “Things is a work of recovery as well as trauma” (Heberle 312). It is going to be a long road and a lot more work to get to feeling normal again, but when really desired by someone it is possible. There is hope for many who want it and work for