Soldier O’Brien Analysis Essay

Sometimes the story told can both reflect one’s actions and influence them. By telling and writing stories, O’Brien manages to elucidate three key aspects of war: courage, cowardice, and morality. He brings to light the hardships and strict unspoken morals of Vietnam and, through the soldier version of himself, shows his readers how certain levels and aspects of feelings can be truly shown and made in war. Soldier Tim O’Brien manages to understand and relay key aspects and ideology of war using multiple accounts. In The Things They Carried, Author O’Brien uses Soldier O’Brien to explain and decipher the ideas of war morals, ultimately revealing that in war, certain ideals and principles emerge from within and reveal true character and disposition.

Soldier O’Brien believed that the Vietnam war was being fought for no probable reason and that the government only drafted “back-to-the-stone-age hawks” (O’Brien 40). Soldier O’Brien repeatedly says he “was no soldier” (O’Brien 39), and at first was going to ignore his draft letter completely. But as the date of the draft crept closer, grief set in, and O’Brien was imbued with anger and hatred. He was enraged at the thought of fighting a phony war with uneducated men. Author O’Brien soon disproves the conjecture that only the uneducated and witless go to war. He introduces people like Jimmy Cross, a sophomore at the University of Mount Union, and Kiowa, a sensible Christian with Native American roots. Soldier O’Brien comes to know of these people and gains an understanding that the war can take captive just about anyone, not just the uneducated, illiterate, crazy-about-war men. Eventually, Soldier O’Brien understands the war and all its complexities, and that comes with the understanding of himself and others in war. Although going to war takes courage, O’Brien still felt like a coward, because he doubted himself and couldn’t make the decision on whether to flee or to stay and fight in a war he didn’t believe in.  

Author O’Brien remarks that, apart from a substantial number of supplies, one of the things every soldier carries is a kind of cowardice, and Soldier O’Brien perceives this through his time and hardships in war. He even calls himself a coward when he “went to the war” (O’Brien 58), instead of fleeing to Canada to escape it. All soldiers carry this kind of cowardice, and it is significantly present in all their daily habits and customs. When the soldiers drew numbers to crawl and inspect the enemies’ tunnel, Soldier O’Brien “found himself worrying about odd things.” (O’Brien 10), a signifying clue of the encroaching cowardice even the toughest of soldiers faced. Even the medic, Rat Kiley, who had seen nothing but death and gore in his time in Nam found himself so panic-stricken he shot himself so he could be sent away. The eeriness of the dark and the trauma from his time in war “was too much for him. He couldn’t make the adjustment” (O’Brien 208). Kiley was a crucial example of how having courage could have saved his sanity and made him strong in tough situations. Soldier O’Brien realizes that it takes courage to defeat this cowardice and reach your full potential in war, and in the “outside” world. 

Courage is something that Author O’Brien preached is superficially present in all soldiers, and this is thoroughly shown in Soldier O’Brien. He states that he feels little courage but receives it when necessary for the well-being of himself or others.  Author O’Brien ascertains that courage is complex and not easy to understand. He remarks that most soldiers even fantasize or physically perform actions about courageous and desirable acts in order to feel courageous and therefore safe. Henry Dobbins “slept with [his girlfriend’s] stockings up against his face” (O’Brien 111), and Lieutenant Cross fantasizes so much about a girl back home, one of his men is killed as a result of him being so distracted. Soldier O’Brien interprets these actions as desperate exclamations to feel safe, and at home, and how when the men feel courageous, they also feel a sense of belonging and familiarity. Through being in touch with an aspect of the home, these soldiers maintain motivation, courage, and affiliation. 

Through telling stories, Author O’Brien is able to use himself as a character to reflect and explain his aspects on things like morality, cowardice, and courage. He shares his significant views towards these subjects and then portrays Soldier O’Brien’s views, hardships, and rude awakenings. Although the author and the character are the same person, O’Brien manages to tell the story of himself as though Soldier O’Brien is alone and has no relation to the author. Author O’Brien shares how different aspects of morals and outlooks affect himself as a soldier and as an author, and how war has influenced both.