Tim O’Brien The Things They Carried

Overview Tim O’Brien writes stories primarily about his experience in the Vietnam War “The war and its enduring personal legacy has provided enough material to fill six books.” Perhaps the most popular of these six is The Things They Carried

O’Brien’s Personal Background Raised in a conservative area of America- Worthington, Minnesota. Both his parents served in the United States Navy during World War II. His conservative family greatly influenced his decision to go to Vietnam despite his serious doubts about the war.

O’Brien’s College Years Graduated with honors from Macalester College in 1968 Class president Participated in anti-Vietnam War rallies Received a full scholarship to Harvard Grad. School Drafted before he could enroll in Harvard

O’Brien’s Reaction to the Draft O’Brien was stunned. He felt he was too “good,” too “intelligent” to fight in this war He did not feel he could fight in a war he did not support. He seriously thought of going to Canada He realized, however that his family and community would never understand why he would not accept his draft status.

O’Brien’s Reaction to the Draft Continued “I went to war purely to be loved, not to be rejected by my hometown and family, not to be thought of as a coward and a sissy.” “I was a coward. I went to Vietnam”

Vietnam War Deeply divided the country into “Hawks and Doves” Hawks supported the war. Typically conservative people like O’Brien’s parents Doves protested against the war. Liberals, for the most part, who were typically young and eligible to be drafted or had friends and family who might be drafted.

Vietnam Continued War created a social division in the country as well Poor and undereducated were drafted in overwhelming numbers. Edison High School (1965) lost more members of its class than any other school in U.S. The rich and educated found ways to get deferments: College/ Medical Passes/ National Guard etc.

Vietnam Continued O’Brien definitely felt entitled not to go to war Music which highlights the division between Hawks and Doves Hawks:” Ballad of the Green Berets”Ballad of the Green Berets” Doves: “Fortunate Son”“Fortunate Son”

O’Brien’s Vietnam Experience Arrived in Vietnam in Feb as a private in Alpha Company, infantry division Older and more educated than most in the company O’Brien does not remember specifically killing anyone: “In a war without aim, you tend not to aim.” Witness the wounding and death of many friends.

O’Brien’s Vietnam Experience Continued He carries the guilt and horrors of war with him each day of his life. He creates fictional stories to convey the emotions of soldiers, such as himself, who must deal with these emotions and feelings (PTSD issues) In March of 1970, O’Brien was discharged from Vietnam as a sergeant. He received a Purple Heart for a Shrapnel wound he received.

Post-Vietnam Experience O’Brien enrolled in Harvard as a graduate student in the fall of While at Harvard, O’Brien started to write stories and essays about the war “There came a time when I had to decide where I was going to devote my time, and I decided I wanted to be a writer and not a scholar.”

Post-Vietnam Experience Continued O’Brien eventually dropped out of Harvard in 1976 to write full time. By this time, he had already published two books.

The Things They Carried Introduction A fictional memoir filled with interconnected stories about the war and the soldiers who fought in the war. Title refers to not only the physical things soldiers carry but also the emotional baggage they carry: guilt, fear, anger, regret, etc.

Introduction Continued The narrator of the stories is a fictional character by the name of Tim O’Brien. “O’Brien gives the reader a…sense of what it felt like to tramp through a booby-trapped jungle” (Times Literary Supplement) “You can tell a war story by its absolute and uncompromising allegiance to obscenity and evil.” (O’Brien “How to Tell a True War Story.”)