Courage In Tim O 'Brien's The Things They Carried'

The Things They Carried Essay
By Moriel Peng In The Things They Carried, courage is found in everyone. Tim O’Brien explains how courage is not always an active act or heroism, how courage was sometimes just continuing on. There isn’t just one way to define courage. Courage manifests itself differently in all people. The definition of courage constantly changes throughout the book. Tim’s experience showed how the war brought out the courage in himself and those around him. Courage is a character that expresses itself through endurance and perseverance, guilt and death, and truth. Courage is perseverance. Tim’s stories tell about long, uncomfortable nights and the ever present waiting. In those moments, courage is about perseverance. Tim says, “Sometimes the bravest thing on earth was to sit through the night and feel the cold in your bones. Courage was not always a matter of yes or no” (141). When the circumstance demanded patience, this would be bravery and courage. In that moment, the bravest thing possible was to wait. Being able to continue without complaint was courage. It takes a strong person to see things through to the end, to push through the fatigue. Tim felt that courage was endurance. The men were able
to feel the burden of the war just in that night of waiting. Courage is the acceptance of guilt and death.
Death is an ever present thing in a war. People are killed in wars. Tim once killed a man and he still dwells upon his death and the blame and guilt. He comes to terms with his death by saying, “Here is the story-truth…I killed him. What stories can do, I guess, is make things present. I can look at things I never looked at. I can attach faces to grief and love and pity and God. I can be brave. I can make myself feel again.”(172). Tim has finally accepted his role in the man’s death. It was courageous of him to reconcile with himself. Courage is facing opposition and overcoming it. It takes courage to accept the hard truth that someone you know has died or that you were the cause of someone else’s
death Courage is being truthful. People often hide behind their lies. Pride and hiding true feelings is a common thing. It takes a strong person to be truthful about everything. Tim talks about his writing, “It's time to be blunt… I want you to feel what I felt. I want you to know why story-truth is truer sometimes than happening-truth.” (171). O’Brien tells how most of the story has been invented but he wants us to know the truth behind the stories. It takes a lot of courage to be truthful in a situation that may make you look bad. Sometimes telling the truth is the hardest thing to do. Tim comes to terms with himself and is able to accept his stories as the truth. Courage is being able to face the truth about oneself.
O’ Brien clearly makes the point that courage has many different definitions. Every situation presents a new way to be courageous. He defines courage as perseverance, acceptance, truth, understanding and many other things. As the novel progressed, he began to explore the courage in facing the truth about himself and his experiences. It is the hardest to have courage when facing yourself.