In the spring of a graduating college students last semester, many look forward to summer relaxation or starting a new career, for Tim O’Brien, he received a draft notice. O’Brien, like the majority of college students in the country opposed the war in Vietnam, but against his own personal beliefs, laced up his boots for his country and touched down in Vietnam in the winter of 1969. As a young man who was dropped dead center in a war he did not even support, the twenty-two year struggled in every sense of the word. Luckily for generations to come, O’Brien keep journals of the horrific daily situations soldiers had to endure. The short story collection of The Things They Carried written by Tim O’Brien is regarded as one of the most important …show more content…
Although O’Brien wrote The Things They Carried twenty years after leaving the ground of Vietnam, he portrays his experiences in ways that connect close to the heart of many. Fiction or nonfiction, people can relate to emotions. Referring to the title itself, The Things They Carried not only refers to the physical things the soldiers were carrying but perhaps the even heavier emotional weight of the war. The non-physical aspects of the war regarding things such as emotions, memories, love and guilt is what O’Brien is making a point to get across. The story of Jimmy Cross may best represent the power emotions can play on a young man. Perhaps the strongest of emotions, love, controls Jimmy in many ways in the early part of the book. Before the death of one of his men Ted Lavender, Jimmy found himself distracted by thoughts of Martha. He felt immensely at fault for Ted’s death and his guilt took over him emotionally. The vulnerability of Jimmy is an example of O’Brien’s work that can translate to anyone. The vast amount of young men that struggled with emotions was a real problem in Vietnam. The emotional battle that Jimmy endured is one that he eventually turned around. The daydreaming, love sick young man that once was, emerged into the leader that his men needed. Many men had to overcome emotional battles in Vietnam and the story of Jimmy is one that brought back lonesome and heartfelt memories for