Table of Contents
Introduction 11
Chronology 17
Chapter 1 Background on Tim O'Brien
1 The Life of Tim O'Brien: Vietnam War Reference Library 21
Tim O'Brien used his experiences during the Vietnam War to launch a successful writing career. He has become one of the leading figures in contemporary American fiction.
2 Civilians Do Not Understand War Tim O'Brien 29
Many people hold inaccurate and mistaken notions about warfare and are unaware that it is thoroughly horrifying and unreal.
3 O'Brien Is More than Just a Vietnam War Writer Don Lee 34
Although many of O'Brien's works center on biographical elements of his Vietnam War service, as a writer he is concerned with the broader world, particularly the thematic twins of love and evil.
4 Applying Vietnam's Lessons to the Iraq War Tim O'Brien Patrick Hicks 42
While the Vietnam War offered many lessons that could have been applied to the situation in Iraq, the US government did not heed them, and thus the mistakes of Vietnam are being repeated in Iraq.
Chapter 2 War in The Things They Carried
1 O'Brien Makes His Peace with War Robert R. Harris 50
In The Things They Carried, O'Brien exposes the obscenities and the ironies of war. The book represents O'Brien's effort to come to terms with his experience.
2 The Things They Carried Depicts the Moral Complexity of War Marilyn Wesley 56
The central issue of The Things They Carried is the necessity of analyzing the war and those who fought it in moral terms. To do so, O'Brien must rid his text of the simple certainties that characterize traditional war stories.
3 The Things They Carried Contains Fictitious Truths Steven Kaplan 69
The manner in which The Things They Carried is narrated suggests that the only certain thing about the Vietnam War was uncertainty.
4 O'Brien Blurs the Line Between Fact and Fiction Don Ringnalda 81
O'Brien's insistence upon not revealing what is fact and what is fiction in The Things They Carried mirrors the ambiguities that were so much a part of the Vietnam experience.
5 The Things They Carried Is a War Story About Writing War Stories Catherine Calloway 87
In his metafictional story, O'Brien self-consciously explores how to tell a story about war. Given the difficulty of arriving at fixed, universal truths about war, the best the writer can do is to continue to tell his tales.
6 O'Brien Uses Storytelling to Ease the Trauma of War Mark Heberle 99
O'Brien asserts that stories can save us. He uses the medium of storytelling to deal with the trauma that his characters cannot otherwise assuage.
7 O'Brien Writes His Way to Spiritual Redemption Alex Vernon 106
For O'Brien, the writer is a healer who can offer some solace to soldiers recovering from a brutal and horrific war.
8 Tim O'Brien Struggles with Guilt over the War Tobey C. Herzog 115
The notion of guilt takes many forms in The Things They Carried, and Tim O'Brien, as author and as narrator, seeks forgiveness and closure.
9 The Things They Carried Presents a Complicated View of Gender Susan Farrell 123
In the opening stories of the book, O'Brien is not suggesting that men must discard the feminine in order to be successful at combat, nor does he lend much credibility to the notion of the girlfriend back home as simply pure and innocent. His view on gender is more complex and sophisticated.
10 "Sweetheart of the Song Tra Bong" Redefines Women's Role in War Katherine Kinney 131
Women are traditionally cast in stereotypical roles in war fiction as pawns, playthings, or victims. "Sweetheart of the Song Tra Bong" undermines these stereotypes.
11 Homer's Iliad Provides Insights into O'Brien's The Things They Carried Christopher Michael McDonough 142
Both Homer, in The Iliad, and O'Brien, in The Things They Carried, depict the complex nature of heroism and cowardice and the difficult decisions that soldiers must make.
12 True War Stories Have No Easy Answers Milton J. Bates 154
O'Brien favors the mystery in storytelling that affects the guts rather than rationally laid-out and resolved plots that satisfy the brain.
13 O'Brien Offers No Resolution at the Conclusion of His Book Robin Blyn 164
Despite O'Brien's claim that stories can save us, the ending of The Things They Carried resists any sense of the closure or resolution found in traditional war stories.
Chapter 3 Contemporary Perspectives on War
1 We Must Not Repeat the Mistakes We Made in Vietnam Robert J. Bresler 170
We must pursue the Iraq conflict to its end. An outcome in Iraq similar to that of Vietnam could put the United States in jeopardy for many years to come.
2 The Vietnam and Iraq Wars Are Indefensible John Pilger 174
Just as many people have an inexact understanding of the Vietnam War, so too do many completely misunderstand the war in Iraq. Both wars are examples of immoral aggression by Western powers against Eastern countries.
3 The Vietnam War Is Still with Us Peter Edidin 180
Decades after its conclusion the Vietnam War continues to influence the way the United States operates both politically and socially.
4 Selective Conscientious Objection to War Should Be Legalized Gregory D. Foster 187
A Vietnam War veteran argues that the United States must allow conscientious objectors to opt out of a particular conflict rather than compelling them to demonstrate an opposition to all war.
5 Soldiers Can Fall in Love with War Daniel Stone 192
The adrenaline rush of combat keeps some soldiers coming back for more.
6 We Must Do More to Help Veterans with PTSD Michael M. Faenza 200
Post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) is a major concern among returning war veterans. As society recognizes this reality, more must be done to ensure that veterans make a safe and healthy return to civilian life.
For Further Discussion 206
For Further Reading 207
Bibliography 209
Index 215
