The Vietnam War was fought during the Cold War. But, in reality fighting in Vietnam had been going on before American troops landed. Northern Vietnam led by Ho Chi Minh wanted to unify Vietnam and become an independent country. During this time Vietnam was a colony of France. In 1954 after years of fighting and an embarrassing defeat the French decided to leave Vietnam. After their departure Vietnam tried a democracy but was unsuccessful in South Vietnam and the government was eventually over thrown by a coup. As a result of this coup came the group called Viet Cong. The Viet Cong were communist and raising war with the southern Vietnamese. Since it was during the Cold War and America was practicing the platform of Containment they started to intervene by sending military aid to help the south. Containment was the idea to stop the spread of communism. Unlike most wars that America had been a part of before the Vietnam War, it was very unpopular.
The unpopularity that this war caused was due to the attempt by the government to covertly fight the war and then to try and hide how they were fighting the war and finally to expunge the war completely out of history by covering it up with false images (Franklin). Let’s also not forget the installment of the draft. No one was thrilled about that. One of the biggest events that changed the support for the war was the My Lai Massacre. “Eyewitnesses described bayonetings, clubbings, and close-range shootings, all without a single shot being fired at the Americans. Many of the dead were women, children, and the elderly. Some were killed while kneeling in prayer” (Carter). With such horrific actions one can only imagine the protest that came from this tragedy. Furthermore, the covering up of the war also caused the protest against the war not to mention the novels, short stories and articles about it. Many of the best articles and stories written about the war came from Tim O’Brien. The goal for O’Brien was to pull back those fake images of the war page by page in his novels. He did this by writing about his own experience in the war as well as the experience of other veterans. He truly showed how America was fighting this war and how damaging it was. He brought up the use of Agent Orange and Napalm bombs that were used in the jungle. These two weapons were very devastating to the jungle as well as soldiers. Once the American population found out about the use of these two weapons is when the protest against the war was at its highest.
Just like many Americans, O’Brien opposed the war and actively demonstrated against it while he was in college. Bruce Franklin mentioned that O’Brien even went door to door passing out flyers and expressing the “evil” of the war. One thing that seems clear when reading about O’Brien is that he regrets being a part of this war. In all honesty what could he do, flee to the Canadian border? Or could he of changed religions like Muhammad Ali to escape the draft. The answer is yes he could of but he did not. In his books, articles and interviews O’Brien makes it simple on why he couldn’t. In one interview with the New York Times O’Brien was quoted on saying “I was a coward” on the reason for him not deserting the draft. It’s not just in interviews with O’Brien it is also in his writing sometimes right to the point and other times hidden. For instance in “The Things They Carried” it is hidden, no one truly comes out and says they are cowards but they all think it. None of them wanted to let down their families or their fellow brother in arms.
History is the main thing that O’Brien writes about. He writes about the Vietnam War still to this day. It has had an everlasting effect on him and has also made him very successful. In his writings about the war the main theme is denial. Denial of self as well as our countries denial. Self denial is incorporated in “The Things They Carried. The soldiers deny the reality of the war through their fantasies as well as the thought of lovers. The reason for O’Brien to write about the denials is because he to this day has to personally deal with the hardships of the war. In the words of O’Brien himself what is truly true about his writing?
Works Cited
Carter, Stephen L. "My Lai Revisited." Newsweek 14th ser. 159.13 (2012). Print.
Charters, Ann. The Story and Its Writer: An Introduction to Short Fiction. Boston, MA: Bedford/St. Martins, 2006. Print.
Franklin, Bruce H. "Tim O'Brien, My Lai, and America." Tim O'Brien, My Lai, and America. Web. 08 May 2012.
Westwell, Guy. "Accidental Napalm Attack and Hegemonic Visions of America's War in Vietnam." Critical Studies in Media Communication (2011). Print.
I think Tim O'Brien uses his experience in the Vietnam War in a unique way. His reflections on his involvement in the war are very different because he comes out and says that most everyone was a coward, but very few people had the courage to let their country or families down. The existence of denial in "The Things They Carried" is interesting because it illustrates how the hostile environment allowed the young soliders minds to wander, and question every aspect of life.
ReplyDeleteTim O'Brien definitely uses his experiences in the Vietnam War and it puts a very personal descriptions in his writings. I find this very interesting and I like the perspective it puts on his writings. History is very important to O'Brien as he wants his readers to know about it.
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