Nobody is Safe from War
In The Things They Carried, the Vietnam War affected all Americans: those at home and away. Despite the opinions about the effectiveness of the war, it was inevitable for people to feel its effects. In the beginning of the war, men could only wait for a draft note to arrive in the mail. Obviously, most men were reluctant and even scared to go to war as demonstrated by Tim O'Brien in the chapter called On the Rainy River. As a college graduate, O'Brien represented Americans who thought of themselves as above the war, meaning that they were too good for the war. He thought that those who were not as educated or politically opposed of the war should be drafted instead of people like him. This is an example of how no one can avoid the war. It touched everyone. O'Brien experienced many emotional and internal conflict. He wanted to run. Scared of being killed, he was even more scared of being a coward and disappointing his family's reputation.
War broke men as we saw in the first chapter. They all barred emotional and physical scars. They carried the sorrow for this friend who were killed, the violent effects of their actions, and other baggage from the war. It didn't matter how strong or how smart you were, the effects touched everyone. War made them senseless and lacking desire. It almost made them zombie-like. When one of their men died, they all felt responsible. Shame was a common feeling throughout platoons. Similar to O'Brien's desire to avoid bringing shame to himself and his family, the men were afraid of cowardice. No one wanted to bring dishonor to themselves or those they care about. War affected everyone and no one could hide.
Caroline,
ReplyDeleteYou touched on the opposing emotions of courage and fear that O’Brien (the character) experienced shortly after he received his draft notice. I think it is interesting how the writer comments on the pervasiveness of the war even before the fighting begins. He finds himself caught between the desire to act upon his own principles—the path of courage, he believes—and the fear of embarrassing his family and tainting his reputation. This logic seems backwards to us: normally we would not expect the decision to go to war to be associated with cowardice. But for O’Brien, his being drafted places the direction of his life outside of his own control. Going to war is a manifestation of his vulnerability and powerlessness. He notes that he would serve in any other war that he agrees is worth fighting, but the problem is that the draft board doesn’t offer this choice.
Initially O’Brien believes that, if presented with this choice, he would be able to reaffirm the strength of his principles, behaving just like the heroes of his youth did when faced with a moral confrontation. But when he stands alone mere feet from the Canadian shore—that imaginary line dividing two different worlds—he realizes the emptiness of his “secret reservoir” that has been stashed away for all these years.
And I think that this insight, this moral freeze when it matters most, convinced O’Brien that he is not actually in control. He is consumed by a tightness on his conscience, an indication of his failure to act as the hero he always imagined himself to be. His shame from submitting to the war is based on his failure to make a decision when given the chance.
Ben