Introduction
Posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) is a psychological disorder characterized by severe cases of anxiety. The disorder develops after an individual experiences a stressful event preceded by violence or threat of physical harm. The Things They Carried, written by Tim O’Brien, provides a detailed overview of how PTSD develops among members of the service.
The entirety of the story is a depiction of the soldiers’ experiences from the Vietnam War. More specifically, the story describes the negative effects of war on soldiers. O’Brien paints a clear picture of the psychological effects of the events of the war on the lives of soldiers, as evidenced by the emotional burdens carried by the survivors of war. Overall, the novel provides insight into how PTSD develops among members of the service and how it is being perceived and addressed in modern society.
Combat Trauma and the Emotional Toll of War
PTSD is one of the most severe mental illnesses affecting the lives of soldiers during and after the war. According to Schein et al., PTSD is a psychopathological consequence of exposure to a traumatic event that threatens one’s psychological and/or physical integrity” (1). The symptoms of PTSD can be categorized into four clusters – avoidance, intrusion, negative alterations in mood, and reactivity. For instance, intrusion comprises recurrent nightmares and involuntary memories. This is brought out well in the story where Kiowa, one of the soldiers in Lt. Cross’ platoon, continuously recounted the events that led to the death of Ted Lavender (Schilb and John 1160).
In the U.S., it is estimated that about 80 percent of the population will be exposed to a traumatic event at some point in their lives (Schein et al. 1). It is further estimated that 8 percent of those exposed to such events will develop PTSD (Schein et al. 1). Ideally, PTSD remains to be a significant issue of concern in the modern society despite the adoption of evidence-based measures to address it.
With that said, Tim O’Brien’s book, The Things They Carried, highlights how PTSD develops among soldiers, causing them to descend slowly into madness. After the men established where the sounds were coming from, they ended up bombing the surrounding jungle before returning to the base. One notable quote is that “right then, when Strunk made that high happy moaning sound, when he went Ahhooooo, right then Ted Lavender was shot in the head on his way back from peeing” (Schilb and John 1163). This quote represents the onset of PTSD among the soldiers – the stressful event of witnessing Ted Lavender being shot was much to bear.
In fact, Rat Kiley was among those adversely affected, as evidenced by his inability to contain their inner fears. These fears, which manifested through auditory hallucinations, are a culmination of numerous deployments. Clifford et al. characterized these manifestations of fear as auditory verbal hallucinations (AVHs), “the experience of hearing a voice in the absence of an appropriate external stimulus” (1). In doing so, O’Brien managed to show how soldiers become affected by PTSD.
PTSD also developed after the narrator and the rest of the soldiers came across the body of a boy aged fifteen or sixteen years. The body was found at the bottom of an irrigation ditch. The way the narrator described the condition of the body is a clear indication of how the events remained embedded in his mind.
The boy was “badly burned, flies in his mouth and eyes – the boy wore black shorts and sandals” (Schilb and John 1164). This quote allows the audience to understand how the mind of the narrator changed after the event – he is experiencing grief, which is a common factor of PTSD. According to Malta et al., PTSD develops when an individual experiences continuous and uncontrollable thoughts (270). These uncontrollable thoughts are brought out clearly in the text, where the narrator’s mind appears to be fixated on the boy.
The fact that Mitchell Sanders “put his hand on the dead boy’s wrist” and remained “quiet for a time as if counting a pulse” shows the intensity of the event (Schilb and John 1164). These details are a clear demonstration of how members in service experience PTSD after experiencing combat during the war.
The loss of a close person, especially during war, tends to change the rest of the soldiers’ way of thinking. In the book, the loss of Tend Lavender made Lieutenant Jimmy Cross feel terrible. While this was a wake-up call to the rest of the soldiers, Jimmy felt responsible for his death. The civilian items he had on him, including notes, cards, and Martha’s picture, had a crippling effect on him—they distracted him from the war.
Throughout the story, Jimmy is more concerned with going back home to see Martha – the one person he loves most. Jimmy was obsessed with Martha, and all he could see was her face – when he gazed at the tunnel, he only saw himself “buried with Martha under the white sand at the Jersey shore” (Schilb and John 1163). This distracted him from what was happening, and when Ted was shot, he promised to protect the rest of his soldiers. However, the fact he felt liable for Ted’s death is a clear indication of how PTSD develops and the guilt that follows thereafter.
Furthermore, many soldiers developed mental illnesses after they were involved in the Vietnam War. As evidenced in the book, the experiences accumulated during the war would later cause burdens on them for the rest of their lives (O’Brien). For instance, “Ted Lavender, who was scared, carried tranquilizers until he was shot in the head outside the village of Than Khe in mid-April” (Schilb and John 1158). The statement elucidates one of the effects war had on soldiers. The cultural aspects, such as the pressure to perform well, further affected their state of mind. In the end, most of them resorted to using drugs.
Guilt, Stigma, and the Ongoing Battle with PTSD
However, some scholars argued that O’Brien’s representation of PTSD was limited to the painful and traumatic experiences of soldiers. It is often argued that most war stories are biased because soldiers might be unwilling to give a detailed account of the mistakes they make during the war, as their main purpose is to stay alive and defeat the enemy. According to Aqeeli, O’Brien “infused sentiments in his stories to emphasize his opposition to the war and his concern for the dignity of the Vietnamese people” (20). This explains why the narrator opted to conceal some parts of Jimmy Cross’s story.
While it is true that some war stories are biased, O’Brien managed to show the experiences of soldiers during the war and civilians’ interpretations of the soldiers’ actions after the war. For instance, the author utilized current events to explicate the civilians’ misinterpretation of the Water Buffalo story. This, to some extent, gives an insight into the sigma these soldiers experience associated with how the general population interprets events.
It, therefore, follows that one of the solutions to PTSD is reducing the stigmas associated with the mental health of members in the service. As a matter of fact, most veterans fail to seek treatment for the symptoms of PTSD due to the fear of being labeled as having a mental illness. This explains why a smaller percentage of people seek care; they do not want to be described as weak.
Conclusion
To sum up, The Things They Carried offers a thorough account of how PTSD manifests in service people. As demonstrated above, PTSD is recognized as one of the severe mental disorders that impact troops’ lives both during and after combat. Kiowa effectively evoked intrusion, one of the symptoms of PTSD, by repeatedly narrating the events leading up to Ted Lavender’s death.
There are several instances in the story that explain how the disorder develops. An example of such an instance was when the narrator was directly involved in the killing of a young boy. While alone, at a later stage, he contemplates the life of the boy prior to his death. Similarly, soldiers involved in war must contend with the expectations of family members and the citizens of their countries. Although some scholars claim that O’Brien’s representation of PTSD failed to incorporate the guilt linked to the mistakes that occur during war, the author managed to show the stigma associated with their actions.
Works Cited
Aqeeli, Ammar. “Tim O’Brien’s Representation of the Subjugated Other’s Voice Against War in the Things They Carried.” ArsAeterna, vol. 12, no. 2, De Gruyter, 2020, pp. 20–33. Web.
Clifford, Georgina, et al. “Prevalence of Auditory Pseudohallucinations in Adult Survivors of Physical and Sexual Trauma With Chronic Post-traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD).” Behaviour Research and Therapy, vol. 111, Elsevier BV, 2018, pp. 113–18. Web.
Malta, Loretta S., et al. “Predictors of Involuntary and Voluntary Emotional Episodic Memories of Virtual Reality Scenarios in Veterans With and Without PTSD.” Memory, vol. 28, no. 6, Taylor and Francis, 2020, pp. 724–40. Web.
O’Brien, Tim. The Things They Carried. Houghton Muffin, 1990.
Schilb, John, and John Clifford. Making Literature Matter: An Anthology for Readers and Writers. Bedford Books, 2017.
Schein, Jeffrey, et al. “Prevalence of Post-traumatic Stress Disorder in the United States: A Systematic Literature Review.” Current Medical Research and Opinion, vol. 37, no. 12, Informa, 2021, pp. 2151–61. Web.