Theme Of War In Tim O Brien's The Things They Carried

The theme that war changes a person is evident throughout almost every short story in the book The Things They Carried. Some are changed for the better, and some, not so much. Tim O’Brien used the characters he has built up to show the effects of war on different people. Out of the many themes included in this book, this is a very important one. Any situation will change you if you keep at it long enough, and that is just what happens to each and every person involved in a war. In the very first story The Things They Carried, everyone is changed by they death of Ted Lavender, especially Lieutenant Cross. Lavender was a very nervous and careful soldier. While most of the soldiers carried sentimental items or items specifically for war, Ted carried tranquilizers to keep him sane throughout the war. Because he was so nervous and careful, it was surprising that he was the one to die first in the story. Directly after his death, as Lieutenant Cross was leading his men to Than Khe, he found himself quivering at the thought of his
This is a reoccurring theme throughout the book. The Vietnam war was a war that almost everyone involved had a very hard time moving on from it if they even did at all. O’Brien does a great job showing the war as something that eats away at its participants for years, even lifetimes, after. He even tells of how he goes back to Vietnam with his daughter and still thinks all of the same thoughts he thought of twenty years ago when he was there last. Most of the soldiers agree that their lives were forever changed from the war. Nothing seemed the same when they returned home. War completely took over their lives while they were there so it makes sense that their thoughts and feelings would transfer over to their post-war lives. This war changed all of the characters in this book. Not all for the better, but everyone is