Death In Tim O Brien's The Things They Carried

“Boom-down, and you were dead, never partly dead” (23). In The Things They Carried, by Tim O’Brien, soldiers cope with death in multitudes of ways. While none of the coping mechanisms described in the book can truly be characterized as “healthy,” some can definitely be perceived as less destructive behaviours to the soldiers coping with their loss or losses, as well as to the other members of the platoon surrounding them, in both a physical and emotional manner. As implied by Tim O’Brien, one of the most utilized methods, internalization, in comparison to violence, is considered to be, for the soldiers, the most harmful way of handling death.

While there exist an infinite amount of coping mechanisms, telling stories, while technically displayed

as a form of internalization, as depicted by Tim O’Brien, is seen as being the healthiest way the soldiers manage loss. The stories they either tell themselves or share with others are, for them, a way to not only preserve the memories they shared with the people they lost, but also serve to essentially bring back these individuals. After losing his best friend Curt Lemon, for instance, Rat Kiley sits down and begins to draft a letter to Lemon’s sister. In it, he explains what an amazing and inspiring soldier Lemon was, and how he volunteered for missions no one else dared to go on. Tim also notes that “Rat almost bawls writing it. He gets all teary telling about the good times they had together, how her brother made the war seem almost fun” (64-65). Through explaining that Curt Lemon made the war, something people would generally consider to be detrimental and dangerous, seem “fun,” it is implied that Lemon essentially took on the role of helping Rat cope with the difficulties of the war. However, now that he is gone, Rat can only hold on to the memories he has of Curt to support him. Additionally, Tim explains that the letter gets “very sad and serious,” and that “Rat pours his heart out. He says he loved the guy. He says the guy was his best friend in the world. They were like soul mates, he says, like twins or something, they had a whole lot in common. [...] So what happens? Rat mails the letter. [...] The dumb cooze never writes back” (64-65). Although Rat seems to hold importance to the fact that the sister never wrote back, perhaps, through expressing all the feelings and memories he had of Curt Lemon, Rat was, more importantly, also able to distance himself from the memories, thereby allowing him to be “free” to move on, making him one step closer to coping. Similarly, Lieutenant Jimmy Cross also uses writing to deal with death. In “In the Field,” after losing a soldier named Kiowa, Jimmy Cross blames himself for not successfully preventing Kiowa’s death. Throughout the chapter, Jimmy drafts several letters to Kiowa’s father in his head. At first, Cross’s letter is an emotional one, as he explains “what a fine soldier Kiowa had been, what a fine human being, and how he was the kind of son that any father could be proud of forever” (157). As he continues drafting these, however, they begin to take on a more structured, distant note, as Jimmy begins substituting words such as “fine” and “proud,” for more vague and professional ones (157). This apparent transition in the type of vocabulary he chooses also mimics how he is able to cope with the loss. At first, Cross was deeply touched and distraught, preferring more poignant, emotional terms. Yet, as the days went by, and the loss became more distant, he was able to move on, focusing his attention on more necessary tasks such as leading the Alpha company. Finally, after he worked through the drafts, he was able to internalize the loss, concluding that maybe he would not send a physical letter to Kiowa’s father after all. This thereby outlines how, after writing -- even if it all occurred internally -- he was able to deal, in a relatively healthy manner, with his loss. While these certain turn to writing as a means of dealing with death, others prefer a more hands-on approach, and utilize violence instead.
When distraught and consumed by sadness, certain soldiers take out their anger on defenseless creatures and people alike.

Rat Kiley, for instance, lashes out after losing Curt Lemon. Tim explains that Rat’s actions were not meant to kill, but rather to hurt (75). He describes Rat’s gruesome actions, explaining how he “put the rifle muzzle up against the mouth [of the baby water buffalo] and shot the mouth away” (75). Yet, throughout this, “[t]he whole platoon stood there watching, [as they knew] [...] Curt Lemon was dead. Rat Kiley had lost his best friend in the world” (75). Unable to comprehend the death, Rat turns to violence, perhaps taking out all of his anger and sorrow onto an animal he knows will not fight back, as a way to retaliate. Unlike storytelling, violence implies that someone -- or in this instance something -- will be harmed. Although Rat’s “an eye for an eye” logic is understandable, as he was clearly distraught, from the way Tim O’Brien explains both the situation and the events that transpired, it is clear that the violent behaviour was not entirely justified. Yet, Rat is not the only soldier that lashes out. Lieutenant Jimmy Cross, along with the remaining soldiers in the company, find violence to be a necessary step in their coping. After Ted Lavender died and the helicopter carried his body away, the Alpha company traveled to the village of Than Khe. Upon their arrival the men “burned everything. They shot chickens and dogs, they trashed the village

well, they called in artillery and watched the wreckage, then they marched for several hours through the hot afternoon, and then at dusk, while Kiowa explained how Lavender died, Lieutenant Cross found himself trembling” (15-16). While seemingly cathartic, the immediate feeling that results from causing harm quickly dissolves, and, as can be seen in the case of Lieutenant Cross, the soldiers tend to find themselves feeling the same, if not worse, than before. While this method could be interpreted as being the most negatively impactful, Tim O’Brien implies that internalizing feelings can be extremely destructive to the person attempting to manage their emotions.
As a result of loss, some individuals process the situation by silently coming to terms with the brutal reality.

Mary Anne Bell, a civilian and one of the soldier’s girlfriend, for example, struggles with coping after witnessing, first hand, the horrors of the war. For her, Vietnam had the effect of a “powerful drug,” and, as a result, she “wanted more, she wanted to penetrate deeper into the mystery of herself, and after a time the wanting became needing, which turned into craving” (). As a civilian, Mary Anne Bell was not used to seeing cadavers, blood, or even as much violence. Consequently, when placed in a war zone, isolated from family and friends, she had to adapt. Although she transformed into a soldier-like figure, and was therefore better suited for these distressing situations, it appears as though everything simply became too overwhelming, resulting in her delving into the “mystery of herself” (). Seeking comfort, she internalized the situation and isolated herself, unable to come to terms with the deaths surrounding her. Although Mary Anne could be considered an inaccurate representation of a soldier coping with loss as she was brought to Vietnam to visit her boyfriend, Tim O’Brien, in “The Man I Killed,” clearly reflects how deeply soldiers are affected by loss, essentially demonstrating what internalization can be like. After killing a young Vietnamese man walking on a trail, Tim shuts down, unable to deal with the flood of emotions taking over him. Later,

accompanied by Kiowa, a fellow soldier, Tim walks over to the man. Throughout the chapter, Tim remains silent, unceasingly replaying the events that just transpired. Through it all, he explains how Kiowa tried to make him talk, saying phrases such as “‘[h]ey, you’re looking better,”’ “‘[w]hy not talk about it,”’ and “‘[c]ome on, man, talk’” (124). Yet, stuck in his own world, Tim fails to process Kiowa’s pleads, narrating: “[the man killed] was a slim, dead, almost dainty young man of about twenty. He lay with one leg bent beneath him, his jaw in his throat, his face neither expressive nor inexpressive. One eye was shut. The other was a star-shaped hole” (124). Tim’s insistence to remain silent, as well as his obsessive retelling indicate that he was attempting to process the news by internalizing the gruesome reality. However, unlike the other methods, by the end of the chapter, Tim fails to rejoin reality, thereby implying that internalization, while a seemingly natural and healthy fallback, is, in fact, unhelpful in certain cases, such as when one is faced with death.
Thus, although behaviours such as violence could be perceived as being unhealthy and destructive, they in fact are considered on the healthier side -- in comparison to silently processing the situation. Furthermore, in the case of Norman Bowker, a soldier who hung himself in a YMCA after being discharged, as he felt he could not talk to anyone and was invisible, internalization can, at its worse result in death, or at least, in Tim’s case, can result in obsessive behaviours. Thus, if ranking the three methods, internalization would be considered “healthy,” violence “healthier,” and storytelling “healthiest.”