PTSD And How It Enriches Our Understanding Of Tim O’brien’s Essays Example

“The Things They Carried”

Introduction
It serves to portray a personal account of the Vietnam War; The Things They Carried was a brilliant description of the predicament that Vietnam War veterans have to go through during their assignment in Vietnam. Tim O’Brien, a war veteran himself, made a lasting memoir of his experiences and thoughts during the trying times of that war. While the story is one that is written out of fictional approach, the author has made every reader believed on the truthfulness and reality of the events and personalities in the story. In many ways, The Things They Carried is a narrative story of the life a war veteran has encountered in Vietnam, albeit most of the part of the book is invented. As a reader, one can sense the feeling of pain and loneliness as one goes through the story, and found out that it is not a work of fiction but a narration of the truth.
It was the longest war that has engaged the troops of the United States in a traumatic combat. Young Americans barely out of their teens were recruited and sent to the Vietnam War, all with the main goal to put a stop on the spread of communism (The Vietnam). The combat situation was described as one that is unconventional as the enemies were difficult to identify having blended well with the members of the public. The American troops, through their bombing campaigns, were able to hit most of their targets but were unable to neutralize the enemies. While the soldiers tried to hold their defence in anticipation for the promise by American political leaders that the war will soon be over, Americans at home mourned of the news of their young men’s lifeless body being flown home.
The events, the personalities and the Vietnam War set the arrangements of Tim O’Brien’s stories of the war. Book critics seemed to have loss words to describe the impact and accomplishments of O’Brien’s The Things They Carried. One respected novelist praised the brilliance of the story, “these stories shine in a strange and opposite direction, moving against the flow, illuminating life’s wonder, life’s tenuousness, life’s importance” (Tim O’Brien). The brilliance of the story comes with the narrative that speaks of the fictionalize events and characters, but that which is told based from the memories and experiences of the writer. The result is one that crushes the emotions owing to the clarity of the events, feelings and emotions, and the knowledge that some of the events in the story actually happened in real life.
As the title suggests, The Things They Carried have talked about what the soldiers brought with them in the war. The things that the soldiers carry are the necessities of the war, such as the weapons and explosives. The main character, First Lieutenant Jimmy Cross carried with him the letters and thoughts of a girl named Martha. For the reader, one would feel sad that the letters were not love letters and that Cross would only comfort himself on thoughts of romantic camping trips to the White Mountains of New Hampshire. One would wonder why the lady remains friendly but unromantic in her letters. Should not the soldier deserve to be requited with love for his valour? But love and relationships does not work that way, and the author has even more emphasized the predicament of the Lieutenant when one of his soldiers, Ted Lavender, died of a gunshot, which he attributed to him being a negligent platoon leader. His conscience bothered him that his thoughts are all on Martha when he should have been attentive to his men.
While O’Brien detailed on the character of the men presented in the story through the things they carried, and a bit of the way converse and their ultimate reaction to the war, he singled and pointed the story to that Lieutenant Cross. The platoon leader was described as one who is not particularly sure of his leadership. Only 24 years old, and was given the responsibility to take charge of a platoon is way too much for a young man who wanted something else in life.
While Cross blamed himself and took responsibility on the death of Lavender, he created the strain in the story as the main character mourned the death of one of his man, but more so he felt pain on the thought that his love for the woman of his dreams can never be requited. When Cross finally decide to burn the photographs from Martha, the reader is informed or can sense that he finally decided to let go of his fantasies for the lady, and accepted the fact that they can never be together as he wished to. The conflict is resolved as he made the determination to concentrate on the war instead of his fantasies. One can feel the weight of the war with just the personality of Cross presented. The author would alter reveal that Jimmy Cross had not forgiven himself for the death of Lavender. This is due to the fact that during the time when the bullet was aimed at Lavender, Cross was busy in his fantasies of Martha.
Another personality that catches the reader’s attention is Rat Kiley, the medics in the story who was a good story teller and also good at helping the wounded. He had helped Cross when he was wounded for the first time. As the medics of the groups and one who helped his fellow in their most difficult and near death situations, one can infer that he is one with strong character. O’Brien, however, through the personality of Kiley, presented that every human has his own limitations. While one soldier committed suicide, Kiley decided to just shoot himself in the foot in order to be lifted out of the war zones. This part of the story reveals that despite the will and strength of character, one can succumb to weakness when faced with too much adversaries. In addition to that, it showed how the war in Vietnam became unbearable to the many young men who were sent to fight the war.

The Case of PTSD in the Story

Post-traumatic stress disorder is an emotional condition that often occurs after a traumatic event (Post). The case of the characters in The Things They Carried revealed the common psychological illness that befalls war veterans. While O’Brien did not specify any event of PTSD in the story, a reader who is familiar of the disease can infer from the personalities, acts and languages of the characters. For example, Lavender who carries with him tranquilizer pills can be said to be suffering from PTSD, as well as the men who smoked his dope. The act of taking drugs, according to researchers can be attributed to the disease. While PTSD treatment was already set by the government in the 1980’s, with the aim to help alleviate the psychological trauma of the war veterans (Barglow), the reader is left to wonder if this war veterans were given the proper care and psychological treatment needed. According to studies, war veterans were faced with contempt instead of acclaim due to the unpopularity of the Vietnam War. The disapproval received by the veterans is another factor that contributed to the feeling of guilt and occurrence of PTSD in the process.

Conclusion

The Things They Carried can be viewed as a narrative reflection of O’Brien on the experiences he had during his assignment in Vietnam. While it can be said that the story is a work of fiction, it actually recounts the adversaries that a soldier faces during and after the warfare. The author is said to have dealt with problems on PTSD by putting his memoirs into writing. O’Brien used the things that the men brought with them to describe their personalities and their thoughts, as he brilliantly connected the things to the turn of the events. In the end, the story can be felt from the heart of one who encountered the traumatic event and told it in vividly capturing story. Indeed O’Brien did a good job in picking up from his memoirs and relating the story in an outstanding manner.

References

Barglow, P., We Can’t Treat Soldiers’ PTSD without a Better Diagnosis. Retrieved from www.csiop.org
O’Brien, T. The Things They Carried. Retrieved from https://corysnow.files.wordpress.com
Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder. Encyclopaedia Britannica. Retrieved from http://www.britannica.com
The Vietnam War. U.S. History Pre- Columbian to the New Millennium. Retrieved from http;//www.ushistory.org
Tim O’Brien-An Introduction to his Writings. Ken Lopez Bookseller. Retrieved from http://www.lopezbooks.com