Hidden Guilt In The Things They Carried By Tim O Brien

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Onson Tieu Ms. MacIntosh Americal Lit 121 24 May 2024 Hidden Guilt Renowned commentator and author David Brooks once declared: “Soldiers who’ve endured the depraved world of combat experience their own symptoms. Trauma is an expulsive cataclysm of the soul” (Brooks). Not only do his words allude to the general destructiveness of war, but they also depict the highly personal nature of war and its ability to impact the innermost core of a person's being. The Things They Carried by Tim O’Brien supports this idea through the numerous, fictional, stories that surround the young soldiers within the novel. Each character suffers loss, and the unifying theme between their struggles is the guilt each of them faces. However, their responses to this emotion …show more content…

After the traumatic event, O’Brien depicts the effects of the death on Rat Kiley. As the company sets up for the night, they encounter an innocent baby buffalo. Unable to cope with his inner emotions, Kiley succumbs to the anguish and despair he feels, and he begins to reflect these emotions physically upon the baby buffalo. In fact: “He shot twice on the flanks. It wasn’t to kill; it was to hurt” (O’Brien, 75). Death is inevitable in war, and Rat Kiley is not ultimately to blame for Lemon’s death. However, the atmosphere he is surrounded in has amplified his feelings of guilt and anger, leading to intense emotional reactions. This environment, marked by constant danger, loss, and psychological stress, creates a backdrop where soldiers are continuously pushed to their emotional and mental limits. In such a volatile setting, the traumatic events they witness and experience can provoke extreme responses, as seen in Rat Kiley's violent outburst after Curt Lemon's death. O'Brien's storytelling captures the raw and visceral emotions of soldiers, illustrating how the chaos and brutality of war can deeply affect their mental states and actions, allowing for guilt to be expressed in different …show more content…

Despite being a work of fiction, O’Brien skillfully uses this story to successfully portray the raw emotions of war. The truth does not lie within the events and actions, rather, it lies within the emotional experiences and psychological realities that the characters endure. O’Brien’s narrative blurs the line between fiction and reality, effectively capturing the essence of guilt within soldiers' internal struggles. Ultimately, within the novel The Things They Carried, author Tim O’Brien employs analytical and reflective writing tactics to highlight the emotions resulting from the underlying guilt that accompanies war environments. This guilt manifests in various forms, from the depiction of Rat Kiley’, outward violence upon an innocent animal, to Norman Bowker’s inward despair, eventually causing his suicide, and ultimately in O’Brien’s own haunting memories of the man he killed in battle. Each character’s struggle underscores the pervasive and lingering impact of war, illustrating that the true battle often occurs within the minds of those who

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