“The day was cloudy. I passed through towns with familiar names, through pine forest and down to the prairie, and then to Vietnam, where I was a soldier, and then home again. I survived, but it’s not a happy ending. I was a coward. I went to the war” (O’Brien pg. 58).
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I felt that this quote was one of the strongest piece/passages from all the stories in Tim O’Brien’s book The things They Carried. The reason being, is the manner in which the author describes the main character as being a coward for going to war, when in my personal opinion believe that it takes a lot of bravery to go to war as he did. Perhaps the author describes the main character as a coward because he was afraid of being himself and not sticking up for what he believed in. He was a coward because he did something he did not want to do; he did something that others told him to do so. Fell under the pressure of society. He also states that he survived the war, but it was not a happy ending. That part of the passage can cause a lot of controversy because one would assume that the character should have been thrilled to make it back home alive. But it was just the opposite. The experiences and incidents he lived through were perhaps ones with plenty of emotional effect behind them. In addition, the character most likely did not appreciate some of the tasks he was commanded to do, but completed them regardless of his coward-ness because that was what others expected of him. When it came to getting things done, he would tuck away his fears because he did not want to let anybody down, but when it came back to being himself, he was afraid to tell/show others his true emotions. It is for those reasons why I assume that he states it was not a happy ending. Also, the author tells plenty of stories that demonstrate the sadness of the main character and events that had him shocked. The young soldier was not mentally prepared for a gory experience, and his reactions told throughout the story are proof of it. Then again how can someone mentally prepare for something of that nature?
O'Brien, Tim. The Things They Carried. First Mariner Books edition 2009. New York, New York: Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company, 1990. 58. Print.
Here is a link to some history about the Vietnam War.
That quote was a great choice for this assignment; I also had it marked as a possibility in my own notes. I think you definitely understood what he meant when he said "I was a coward". It is a hard thing to say no, when everyone is telling you to say yes. I don't think it was going to war that he felt made him a coward, but more that he was not courageous enough to die there as so many before him had. Survivors guilt plagues many returning veterans who have lost someone to the conflict.
ReplyDeleteJaime
ReplyDeleteI enjoyed your blog post. You pointed out some very important points on the passage you chose.
You brought up the facts of how O'Brien felt that he was a coward for letting himself being pressured in to a war he did not believe in. That he felt that by doing what he felt was the right thing and going to war, instead of speaking up and protesting against the war made him a coward.
How he had to learn to numb his emotions to function. How the whole Vietnam experience, forever affected him and how he related to his family and friends. Which is why I felt he made the statement that is was not a happy ending.
You definitely can sense the ambivalence in O'Brien's stories. To be honest, it was one of the things that made me dislike many of them, especially this particular story. It seems like O'Brien both hates and loves himself for doing what he did. In "On The Rainy River" it's interesting to notice he never talks about any of his pragmatic fears, like where he would go in a foreign country with no prospects, family, or money. This must have played heavily on his mind, but instead he writes about politics and belief systems, and ultimately he says that he did not do what he knew to be the right thing. But I disagree, I think he did exactly what he intended to do; He did what he believed in. He stayed and fought a war, he killed people for a cause he didn't believe in because it was easier than starting out a stranger in a strange land. He just wanted it to be on record that he was sad about it. I had a hard time empathizing with his decision, and prefer the stories where he focuses on other characters.
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