Free Things They Carried Essays: The True Enemies

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The True Enemies in The Things They Carried

In Tim O'Brien's Story "Enemies," one sees several signs that explain the aspects of the Vietnam War, and the actions of two soldiers that snapped under the pressure built up by the war. These pressures caused little tiny things to create tension not only in the minds of soldiers, but also between two soldiers. For example, conflicts grew between Lee Strunk and Dave Jensen.

Two soldiers, whose actions were sparked by the craziness of the war, Lee Strunk and Dave Jensen's argument over a jackknife illustrates a perfect example of how tension built up during the war. Both men know all to well what was gong on in the war, they understood that many times they encountered men who they thought were South Vietnamese, but with the quick pull of a gun or knife a whole battle resulted because of the unknown association between the South Vietnamese and the Vietcong. On the message bard, Jeff Jacobie stated, "soldiers in Vietnam were never sure who they could trust; they were not sure if the peasants they were around were secretly loyal to the VC or not." This lack of defined enemy drove the soldiers in the war berserk. Throughout the war, an unclear enemy caused many problems for the Americans. They would ambush a town, and before they knew it, they were under scrutiny for killing people who may or may not of had any association with the Vietcong. Yet, it was a risk they had to take in the war, and this risk caused immense stress and tension for soldiers "humping" through the rice fields of Vietnam.

Not only from not knowing who the enemy was, tension also grew in the soldiers because of their loneliness and lack of understanding for why they were in Vietnam. Most of the time, soldiers humped around the lonely land of Vietnam with the same guys for months except for the occasional supply chopper that came in or the brief radio contacts with headquarters in order to receive backup and orders. Soldiers had very little contact with others, and this isolation would drive any man crazy. In order to get by, the soldiers had to rely on each other. If they could not trust each other with their lives, none of them would ever make it back to the States to enjoy the aspects of life away form war.

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