Jazmin Morinigo “No event in American history is more misunderstood than the Vietnam War. It was misreported then, and it is misremembered now,” Richard Nixon explained, “Never have the consequences of their misunderstanding been so tragic.” The Vietnam War swallowed the lives of Americans and left a generation full of lost, broken youth. In The Things They Carried by Tim O’Brien, O’Brien conveys how the lack of an audience enhances the isolation the soldiers feel and the despair they fall into. They are unable to forgive themselves for Kiowa’s death and fall into destructive patterns. O’Brien proves that forgiveness can only be achieved by revisiting your burdens and expressing the emotions you carry. O’Brien recalls events from …show more content…
In the beginning of the novel, Cross escapes the reality he is in by reading letters from Martha. That is his only reminder of home and what life used to be like for him. Religiously reading the papers distracts him from preventing Ted Lavender’s death. He now realizes that he cannot be living in a different world in his head and decides to burn the letters he is receiving. Following the death of Kiowa, Cross writes a letter to Kiowa’s father that is never sent in order to come to terms with the immense guilt he is facing. The letters serve a purpose of explaining the death of Kiowa and taking responsibility for what occurred. The numerous drafts he wrote do no provide justice for the preventable death of Kiowa. The letters were the only audience Cross had since he must be brave and courageous in front of his men. Cross believes “there had to be blame” in the death of his friend, so he places it on himself (169). The loathing towards himself is an unhealthy coping strategy because he carries unhappiness for the remainder of “In the Field.” He grows into a person that takes too much responsibility for events that are not necessarily his fault. Cross went from running away from his duties to confronting himself about Kiowa’s death and taking …show more content…
Many soldiers return home with these thoughts and are unable to escape the atrocities they faced because they do not know where to begin. The veterans in The Things They Carry prove the difficulties soldiers have adjusting to life after the war. They feel they can only blame themselves because their job was to protect their comrades and country. This novel serves as a voice to those who have been in the Vietnam War that are incapable of sharing their story. It is a harsh reality that veterans cannot adjust to life in the United States. Fortunately now, veterans receive immense support from organizations. Many are given service dogs that help them cope with posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD). A majority of Vietnam veterans were not diagnosed with PTSD since it was unheard of following the war. The war stories they tell are the only bridge that connects them and their audience. Eckhart Tolle once said, “If the structures of the human mind remain unchanged, we will always end up re-creating the same world, the same evils, the same dysfunction.” Soldiers that do not change their mentality end up living in the hell they created in their