The Physical and Psychological Burden of Servicemembers in The Things They Carried

Joe Salas

National University

Introduction to Literature

Professor Adam Knowels

October 13, 2024

 The Physical and Psychological Burden of Service Members in The Things They Carried
War is a burden to all, but those who suffer most from it are the sServicemembers and

their family members. In “The Things They Carried,” Tim O’Brien delves into the psychological

burdens soldiers bear, like fear, trauma, survivor guilt, and the what ifs, which can weigh heavier

than any load that any soldier carries. The speeches that characters give are somewhat pieced

together stories of what happened, which is common during traumatizing events during the war,

but there are moments that are crucial when soldiers experience a loss that O’Brien emphasizes.

The emotional weight of war lingers after the fight, reshapes our warfighter's the soldier’s

personalities, and haunts them for the rest of their lives and families.

There are heavy burdens, the intangible ones that soldiers always carry more than

required physically and emotionally. Letters, pictures, any memento of home, or something that

can ease your mood or bring a smile to your face. These mementos are usually not easily

noticeable to a young leader and may be invisible to some around them except those close.

Lieutenant Jimmy Cross, for example, carries the guilt of believing his distraction with thoughts

of Martha led to Ted Lavender’s death (O’Brien 6-7). This kind of guilt shows how service

members blame themselves for things out of their control, which is a theme that keeps

reoccurring throughout the story. Something that is rarely spoken or brought up is fear. Fear

alone is a killer, and soldiers rarely will bring it up no matter what the upcoming mission is. A

common trend among service members is dark humor, which can be seen as a coping

mechanism. As they joke about death, such as when Lavender is killed and they say he was

“zapped while zipping,” their humor functions as a psychological defense mechanism (O’Brien

19). Jokes amongst soldiers/service members are thought of as normal while serving, but outside

looking in, there is a totally different view. The constant thought of death is oppressive but helps
to deal with the loss, but there is still a façade of strength but also an inability to confront fear

and the consequences of war.

Soldiers' dialogue varies as to how they process their own personal experiences, and,

most importantly, it's how they bond. If its through profanity, sarcasm, dark humor, reflecting on

that just helps and probably disguises the horrors and exaggerations of war. For example, when

Curt Lemon dies after stepping on a landmine, O’Brien describes how the soldiers tell

exaggerated or fabricated stories about him, turning him into a legend rather than confronting the

reality of his death (O’Brien 82). Really this way of speaking is common amongst service

members sadly, it’s a coping mechanism a way we deal with chaotic events. But its not always

factual and O’Brien emphasizes that the truth in war stories is subjective, and the line between

fact and fiction becomes blurred. As O’Brien reflects, “A true war story is never moral… It does

not instruct, nor encourage virtue, nor suggest proper models of human behavior” (O’Brien 65).

This ambiguity in storytelling mirrors the psychological confusion the soldiers experience,

showing how trauma distorts memory and makes it difficult to distinguish reality from

imagination. Coping with trauma is different with everyone, but the telling of the story is

something always controlled.

O’Brien’s mixed storytelling mirrors the disjointed nature of memory and trauma.

Common with Post Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD) fold fragmented traumatic memories that

can resurface unpredictably. For example, the narrative shifts back and forth between events in

Vietnam and the soldiers’ lives after the war, suggesting that the psychological effects of war are

not bound by time (O’Brien 36). Retelling events from different perspectives was

inreliableunreliable and showed the emotional pain of how they felt. The ambiguity of the

soldiessoldiers’ struggle starts to seem obvious and skylines the struggles of war.
O’BriensO’Brien’s story suggests something more important like the mental health of our service

members. Which leads to the main things that happened and really the people in the story and

their experiences.

Reading the story there was a lot of stories about the soldiers, but the struggle of death

was throughout. It rings true about handling the violence of war. There may be jokes, there is and

emotional distance. Lavender’s death leaves a lasting impact on Lieutenant Cross, who blames

himself and vows to never again let personal feelings interfere with his duties (O’Brien 24). It

expresses guilt, and responsibility that outweigh personal values. The death of Kiowa, who

drowns in a field of sewage, serves as another powerful example of the emotional burden of war

(O’Brien 143). These kinds of deaths hurt sometimes more than combat deaths. Because its

something that is preventable, the absurdity of his death highlights the senselessness of violence,

leaving the soldiers struggling to find meaning in his loss. Norman Bowker, in particular, is

haunted by guilt, believing he could have saved Kiowa but failed to act (O’Brien 147). Bowker’s

inability to share his feelings with others upon returning home illustrates the psychological

isolation many veterans experience. His eventual suicide shows that the burdens soldiers carry do

not end with the war; instead, they continue to weigh on them, often with devastating

consequences.

In “The Things They Carried,” Tim O’Brien provides a powerful exploration of the

psychological burdens soldiers face during and after war. It gives in insightful look into what we

carry, not just the physical but the mental loadout. O’Brien reveals how fear, guilt, and trauma

shape their identities and haunt them long after the fighting ends. The emotional weight of war

lingers after the fight, reshapes our warfighter's personalities, and haunts them for the rest of

their lives and families. O’Brien’s fragmented narrative structure and the blending of fact and
fiction reflect the disorienting effects of trauma, emphasizing that the true cost of war lies in the

unseen burdens soldiers carry within their minds.

References

O’Brien, Tim. The Things They Carried. Mariner Books, 2009.

Joe,
Good work. You do a lot of things well here, including nice quotations and interesting ideas.
It’s clear that you’ve read the story carefully and perceptively.
See my comments above for some more specific feedback and please let me know if you have
any questions.
Here are some things to work on for the second paper:
 Develop the introduction further and be sure to have a clear, analytical (rather than
descriptive) thesis that makes a specific claim about how the author creates meaning
in the text.
 Make sure your paper is well organized. Paragraphs should have clear topic sentences
be focused, unified and coherent. Also, be sure the sequence of paragraphs will seem
logical to the reader and use the transitions between them. Consider planning the
essay in detail before you start writing and making outline.

Paper Grade: 230/250