Containment In The Things They Carried

The novel “The Things They Carried” travels back to the time of the Vietnam War, and provides real-life experience from the author Tim O’Brien, as he and his fellow soldiers battle in Vietnam. This novel also describes the things that each soldier carries with them both literally and figuratively. What O’Brien may have been carrying after war compelled him to share his stories, and provide a truth behind the bloodshed.
The Vietnam War is referred to as the “longest and most unpopular American War of the 20th century”(Overview), that lasted from 1955 to 1975. In the US, the war began as a result of the U.S. policy of Containment. This policy’s goal was to prevent the spread of communism throughout the world. The Viet Minh is a communist led
group that went into South Vietnam to spread Communism. Although this was not a violent act, the US realized what the Viet Minh was doing in South Vietnam, and joined the war to support the South. “U.S. military advisers…were introduced on a large scale beginning in 1961, and active combat units were introduced in 1965. By 1969 more than 500,000 U.S. military personnel were stationed in Vietnam.”(Spector).
Author and Vietnam veteran, Tim O’Brien exposed his truth to the Vietnam War in many novels. He claims “sometimes the fictional truth appeals to be more realistic than factual one”(Tim). One of his most famous novels was “The Things They Carried”. The main idea of this novel is that soldiers carry something that helps them through the war. It could be a reminder of their past, or a goal for the their future, but it gives them hope they will come out alive.
Of course in any war there is equipment that a soldier is required to have on them when in battle. This equipment includes, “steel helmets that weighed 5 pounds including the liner and camouflage cover”(O’Brien 615). However, most of the things they carried were considered a necessity when the battles were over, such as; “P-38 can openers, pocket knives, heat tabs…Military Payment Certificates, C-rations, and two or three canteens of water”(O’Brien 615). Aside from the necessities, O’Brien uses examples of how his fellow soldier’s past life connects to the things they carry. For example, ”Dave Jensen, who practiced field hygiene, carried a toothbrush, dental floss, and several hotel-sized bars of soap…”(O’Brien 615). Because he carries these objects around with him, it will give him hope that when he returns home, he can go back to his practice.
In “The Things They Carried”, O’Brien mentions another reason for their possessions. “What they carried was partly a function of rank, partly of field specialty”(O’Brien 616). In the military, there is an obvious hierarchy, and each rank should carry their specified weight. For example, “as a first lieutenant and platoon leader, Jimmy Cross carried a compass, maps, code books, binoculars, and a .45-caliber pistol that weighed 2.9 pounds fully loaded”(O’Brien 616). In this case, the job or rank you have correlated with what you carry.
Another thing they carried was “whatever presented itself, or whatever seemed appropriate as a means of killing or staying alive”(O’Brien 617). These objects included handguns, shotguns, explosives, and tools for hand combat such as “brass knuckles”(O’Brien 617). The people that carried these may have lost their lives by accident, or an enemy detonating their weapons.
The list goes on of what soldiers carry, but the heavy weight was the “emotional baggage”(O’Brien 623). Being told to go to war can be stressful and cause panic, but it will mostly affect those that have just graduated high school, and barely become adults. This emotional baggage is also known as “intangibles”, which include “grief, terror, love, and longing”(O’Brien 623). These intangibles have been held on before, during, as well as after the war. It is hard to let go of a near death experience, and at the same time, being away from those that you love the most.
Twenty years of a long, brutal war, and the US came out on the bottom. The US withdrew from Vietnam, resulting in a loss for the US and South Vietnam, but a victory for North Vietnam. ”In April 1975, South Vietnam surrendered to the North, and Vietnam was reunited”(Overview). As a result of the war, there were “60,000 American deaths, and 2 million Vietnamese”(Overview). This war will forever torment the minds that were involved.
According to cnn.com, there are at least four major impacts on America from the Vietnam War.
Number one is the end of the draft. President Nixon noticed how disappointed the public was after the war. This led him to remove the draft and begin a force that contained only volunteer soldiers. Number two is changing the age to vote. The idea that people at the age of 18 could go into the military, but not vote gave the White House a realization. “The Nixon White House, recognizing the electoral significance of this newly franchised population, courted the 18-year-old vote with mailings on the end of the draft”(DeLeon). This action allowed more men to go to college, instead of being told to go to
war.
Number three is the banding of military families. Families of those that have gone missing in action, or prisoner in the war have unified to make sure that these fellow soldiers are remembered. There are still about “1600 American men”(DeLeon) from the war missing today. These groups of families walk the halls of Congress and the Pentagon enforcing that there will be respect for those that are unaccounted for. Number four is escaping previous war conflict. “During the Reagan years, the Pentagon offered on military engagement, requiring clear policy objectives, public support before engagement and a predesigned exit strategy”(DeLeon). About 10 years after Vietnam, conflict rose again, which resulted in the US going to Iraq, and then being “locked into a ground war that lacked a clear political and diplomatic solution”(DeLeon). Having one Vietnam War was traumatizing enough, but almost having to relive it again it indescribable.
These four events may be outlined as having a great impact on America, but were not the only changes that America faced.
As these soldiers returned home from a long, bloody war, they are shunned and put down for withdrawing. Even though they were only following orders, many believe that they have brought shame to the country. According to English.illinois.edu:
“More Vietnam veterans committed suicide after the war than had died in it…nearly 700,000 draftees, many of them poor, badly educated, and nonwhite, who had received less than honorable discharges, depriving them of educational and medical benefits, found it especially difficult to get and keep jobs, to maintain family relationships, and to stay out of jail.”
It was also said in Tim O’Brien’s The Things They Carried that, “They died so as not to die of embarrassment”(O’Brien 623). Coming back from something as traumatizing as Vietnam, and having almost everything you knew change, was probably the limit for those that served. It was almost like saying, if you had no choice to enlist in the military when you were 18, sorry we forced you to go, but now you can decide if the military is for you. It’s almost like sarcastically apologizing to the 60,000 Americans that died in the
war.
Tim O’Brien had an interview with NPR (National Public Radio) on how the war affected him 40 years later; he stated “I carry the weight of responsibility, and a sense of abiding guilt”(20 Years On). This proves that not only did these returning soldiers feel responsible for the lives that were lost, but it also haunts them decades later. Tim O’Brien’s fictional truth may not be what is found in the history books, but is what caused a traumatized line of American men.