Therapy of the Vietnam War In the book “The Things They Carried,” Tim O’Brien describes his and others experiences during and after the Vietnam War. (1) O’Brien tells this story to explain the different ways that troops were able to cope with the killing, death, and changes that went on during the war so that they could continue fighting. (2) O’Brien included many first hand accounts of the different ways the troops coped with the experiences they had during the war and when they returned to life back home in America after their time of duty. (3) Some people in the war were able to cope or were not able to cope depending on how you look at it. (4) A perfect example of this is during chapter nine, “Sweetheart of Song Tra Bong,” in which a
…show more content…
(11) O’Brien was taught by his fellow troops how most of them were able to keep a level head through all of the death they encountered every day. O’Brien tells a short anecdote in “The Lives of the Dead,” to explain how he was taught to keep death away from his emotions. (12) O’Brien states the way that he was able to cope when he says “Stories can save us.” (pg.213) (13) With this short sentence, O’Brien is able to show us how telling stories about a dead man’s life can bring them back to life in the heads of the troops. Stories help the men imagine that the dead were still alive. (14) O’Brien then uses an anecdote as an example of how stories can save people when he says “Go introduce yourself. Nothing to be afraid about, just a nice old man. Show a little respect for your elders.” (pg.214) (15) This old man had just previously died and a fellow troop, Dave Jensen, was pretending the old man was still alive. Jensen wanted O’Brien to play along but he couldn’t as it was only his third day in war and he had not yet found his coping mechanism for situations like this. The men all gave the old man high fives and shook his hand so that …show more content…
(18) After so much death, some troops want to talk about what had happened just to get it off their chest and others don’t want to talk about it at all. Norman Bowker was one of those men who wanted to talk about what had happened over in Vietnam, but had no one to talk to. (19) O’Brien tells how Bowker spent his days back home in America after the war when he says “...He took the chevy for another seven-mile turn around the lake.” (pg.133) (20) Bowker had nowhere to go and no one to talk to so he would just drive laps around the lake that he used to relax at when he was growing up. Bowker would just think about the past and all of the people he had known and how they could live a normal life now, while he couldn’t because he got drafted into the war. (21) Then, in the next chapter “Notes,” O’Brien reveals “Eight months later he hanged himself.” (pg.154) (22) When O’Brien reveals that Bowker had killed himself only a mere eight months after he had been driving around the lake, he shows that some people could not cope with the real world after the war. Bowker had no one to talk to and was depressed, he didn’t know how to live a normal life anymore after the war. He couldn’t find a way to deal with it so he chose the permanent solution, to take his own life. (23) For some people, coming home from war was not an option. The internal war was harder to beat than the external
(11) O’Brien was taught by his fellow troops how most of them were able to keep a level head through all of the death they encountered every day. O’Brien tells a short anecdote in “The Lives of the Dead,” to explain how he was taught to keep death away from his emotions. (12) O’Brien states the way that he was able to cope when he says “Stories can save us.” (pg.213) (13) With this short sentence, O’Brien is able to show us how telling stories about a dead man’s life can bring them back to life in the heads of the troops. Stories help the men imagine that the dead were still alive. (14) O’Brien then uses an anecdote as an example of how stories can save people when he says “Go introduce yourself. Nothing to be afraid about, just a nice old man. Show a little respect for your elders.” (pg.214) (15) This old man had just previously died and a fellow troop, Dave Jensen, was pretending the old man was still alive. Jensen wanted O’Brien to play along but he couldn’t as it was only his third day in war and he had not yet found his coping mechanism for situations like this. The men all gave the old man high fives and shook his hand so that …show more content…
(18) After so much death, some troops want to talk about what had happened just to get it off their chest and others don’t want to talk about it at all. Norman Bowker was one of those men who wanted to talk about what had happened over in Vietnam, but had no one to talk to. (19) O’Brien tells how Bowker spent his days back home in America after the war when he says “...He took the chevy for another seven-mile turn around the lake.” (pg.133) (20) Bowker had nowhere to go and no one to talk to so he would just drive laps around the lake that he used to relax at when he was growing up. Bowker would just think about the past and all of the people he had known and how they could live a normal life now, while he couldn’t because he got drafted into the war. (21) Then, in the next chapter “Notes,” O’Brien reveals “Eight months later he hanged himself.” (pg.154) (22) When O’Brien reveals that Bowker had killed himself only a mere eight months after he had been driving around the lake, he shows that some people could not cope with the real world after the war. Bowker had no one to talk to and was depressed, he didn’t know how to live a normal life anymore after the war. He couldn’t find a way to deal with it so he chose the permanent solution, to take his own life. (23) For some people, coming home from war was not an option. The internal war was harder to beat than the external