Violence In The Things They Carried

War stories often graphically describe violent events to immerse the reader in the action of the actual fight. Despite this, there is always an underlying reason as to why the author uses that scene in particular. Those brutal incidents that make it to the pages of the book are significant to the message that the writer wishes to present to the reader. This violence is not always limited to battles. One particularly vicious scene in The Things They Carried is when Curt Lemon is killed and in retaliation, Rat Kiley, his best friend, viciously kills a baby water buffalo (75-76). Regardless of the fact that this novel is essentially a war story, these moments are pivotal and further develop the humanity of soldiers in Vietnam. Tim O’Brien uses …show more content…
Both Rat Kiley and Curt Lemon made the choice to goof off and to play a game with smoke grenades which ends up causing Lemon’s violent death (66). If they had not been drafted, they would be considered young adults with the rest of their future in front of them including college, marriage, and children. As a soldier, they are considered a small and insignificant but necessary part of the process to win the war. In this situation Rat, a nineteen-year old boy has to write a letter of condolence to Curt’s sister (66). On top of this extremely daunting task is the fact that he witnessed the death and had no control over the situation. Instead of being able to attend a funeral, he has to say his final goodbyes and then send his friend’s body home to his family. Rat Kiley has had to suffer through a painful loss without the time to process and compartmentalize what has happened. A lot of anger resides within him which causes him to feel the need to release it by killing the buffalo. Before he walks away, “he bent forward and whispered something, as if talking to a pet then he shot him in the throat” (75). Although it is not stated what he says to the buffalo, it can be inferred by the description that the words held endearment. One explanation for this could be that killing the buffalo is a way of mourning for Rat and that the words …show more content…
These themes are presented in this moment, and are further developed later in story. Instead of blatantly stating these points he includes the violent acts of both Curt Lemon’s death and the killing of the baby water buffalo to allow the reader to make their own connection between this incident and the rest of the story. This allows Tim O’Brien to share his personal feelings and stories in his point of view, while also allowing for the unique interpretation of each