Trauma In The Things They Carried

"The Things They Carried" is a short story written about soldiers' experiences of war in Vietnam. The 'things' the author mentions in the title is both figurative and literal. With this comes burdens kept close both by the soldier and the family. When someone goes off to war, there is trauma everywhere. Obviously, the soldier is highly effected by the circumstances; however, through research, it is seen that perhaps even the family is even more traumatized. Even when we are not at war, military families often deal with stresses such as frequent moves or the absence of a parent (DOVA - Department of Veterans Affairs). Deployment to war only creates additional issues for a family to handle. Not only do families have to face the fear of their …show more content…
Shell shock is an emotional shock brought to the soldiers due to the many horrifying scenes that they were brought through the trenches (Impact on Soldiers and Their Families). The trauma resulted from the soldiers’ experience of the screams of others suffering in pain and the thought of their own death. Some men just fell to pieces other men did recover from shell shock but continued to have nightmares about their experiences. In addition, World War I had a very big impact on the …show more content…
They state not all veterans go through all of the steps, but many took a similar path. Step one of the transition is ‘veteran with entitlement’. Vargas says this is the one who is always looking for a handout or looking for the government to help them because it’s what’s owed to them for serving our country, Step two is ‘veteran with self-pity’. This is the time where the veteran feels guilty that he is still alive while others had fallen on the battlefield. Step three is ‘veteran with identity issues’. This is where the veteran holds on to their military years as if it is what defines them. Step four is ‘veteran who feels like being a veteran makes them better than the rest of society’. Best stated by Vargas himself, this is where veterans feel that because they served, it makes them better than the person who didn’t. They think they are better and deserve more. They don’t realize the civilian world also deals with PTSD, loss and depression, and that civilians also have transitions in life and fall on hard times (Vargas). Finally, step five, the veteran who gets through these stages to realize he is a civilian now, a civilian who has tools he learned in the military. And that these tools can make him