“Some people think that the truth can be hidden with a little cover-up and decoration. But as time goes by, what is true is revealed, and what is fake fades away”; says political leader Ismail Haniyeh. Author of a New York Times Bestseller The Things They Carried, Tim O’Brien retells his and other soldier’s stories of fighting in the Vietnam War. O’Brien struggles with the feelings of responsibility, guilt, and anger along the way. Tim O’Brien wants readers to understand the truths of war by illustrating the effects through personal and interpersonal experiences of soldiers and war veterans . O’Brien discusses the paradoxes of war in How To Tell a True War Story. “The truths are contradictory. It can be argued, for instance, that war is grotesque.
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But his PTSD wasn’t how people would normally picture it with panic attacks and nightmares, instead Bowker suffered with large amounts of guilt for what he what he had done to Kiowa. “Turning on his headlights, driving slowly, Norman Bowker remembered how he had taken a hold on Kiowa’s boot and pulled hard, but how the smell was simply too much, and how he’d back off and in that way had lost the Silver Star” (O’Brien 147). The Silver Star is a medal that is given to soldiers who have been courageous in combat. Bowker, however, does not believe he was courageous. Bowker blames himself for Kiowa’s death in the sewage pit. He blames himself for being weak for not being able to tolerate the intense smell of the sewage; letting himself get distracted and not focusing on his priorities to save his comrade. Later in Speaking of Courage, Norman Bowker commits suicide because of the guilt over …show more content…
Bowker wanted to talk to someone about his feeling and experiences but he can’t, and doesn’t even when the opportunity arises at an A&W fast food restaurant. His mother writes to O’Brien saying “Norman was a quiet boy and I don’t suppose he wanted to bother anybody” (O’Brien 154). Norman’s mother mistakened his depression for shyness. Bowker was depressed, he knew no one would want to hear about Vietnam anymore so it drove him to internalize his pain. This is an example of “Support our Troops” as mentioned in George Masters’ article Missing in America, and would be another paradox of war. People will talk about how great the Vietnamese War is and how everyone should be fighting for this country because it is a brave thing to do-- yet when soldiers come back from combat no one wants to try to listen or understand the
But his PTSD wasn’t how people would normally picture it with panic attacks and nightmares, instead Bowker suffered with large amounts of guilt for what he what he had done to Kiowa. “Turning on his headlights, driving slowly, Norman Bowker remembered how he had taken a hold on Kiowa’s boot and pulled hard, but how the smell was simply too much, and how he’d back off and in that way had lost the Silver Star” (O’Brien 147). The Silver Star is a medal that is given to soldiers who have been courageous in combat. Bowker, however, does not believe he was courageous. Bowker blames himself for Kiowa’s death in the sewage pit. He blames himself for being weak for not being able to tolerate the intense smell of the sewage; letting himself get distracted and not focusing on his priorities to save his comrade. Later in Speaking of Courage, Norman Bowker commits suicide because of the guilt over …show more content…
Bowker wanted to talk to someone about his feeling and experiences but he can’t, and doesn’t even when the opportunity arises at an A&W fast food restaurant. His mother writes to O’Brien saying “Norman was a quiet boy and I don’t suppose he wanted to bother anybody” (O’Brien 154). Norman’s mother mistakened his depression for shyness. Bowker was depressed, he knew no one would want to hear about Vietnam anymore so it drove him to internalize his pain. This is an example of “Support our Troops” as mentioned in George Masters’ article Missing in America, and would be another paradox of war. People will talk about how great the Vietnamese War is and how everyone should be fighting for this country because it is a brave thing to do-- yet when soldiers come back from combat no one wants to try to listen or understand the