One of the stories from Tim O’Brien’s The Things They Carried, which I personally think that it reflects what the war was about is “The Things They Carried”. This story talks about what the soldiers literally carried in the war, from guns, to games, and photographs. But not only what they carried physically, but mentally and emotionally too. “But Ted Lavender, who was scared, carried 34 rounds when he went down…more than 20 pounds of ammunition, plus the flak jacket…plus the unweighted fear” (6). Then O’Brien goes on describing other things they carried such as ghosts (10), good luck objects (13), “the wounded or weak” (14), and “They carried their own lives” (15). Soldiers have to carry all of this around in war, while taking orders and fighting so that Vietnamese could be free of Communism.
In the PBS website, there is a letter from Kennedy to South Vietnam’s president Ngo Dinh Diem telling him “we are confident that the Vietnamese people will preserve their independence and gain the peace and prosperity for which they have sought so hard and so long”. I really do not think that these suffering soldiers, killing, and trying to survive each day, are capable of preserving Vietnam’s peace and prosperity. After all of this war going on in their land, it is going to take even more time to do so.
After reading more on the War in http://www.vietnamwar.com/, I am able to imagine more what the war was about and what the soldiers where doing there. But I really don’t see how war, killing, death, villages being destroyed, can make a country a better place.
In the PBS website, there is a letter from Kennedy to South Vietnam’s president Ngo Dinh Diem telling him “we are confident that the Vietnamese people will preserve their independence and gain the peace and prosperity for which they have sought so hard and so long”. I really do not think that these suffering soldiers, killing, and trying to survive each day, are capable of preserving Vietnam’s peace and prosperity. After all of this war going on in their land, it is going to take even more time to do so.
After reading more on the War in http://www.vietnamwar.com/, I am able to imagine more what the war was about and what the soldiers where doing there. But I really don’t see how war, killing, death, villages being destroyed, can make a country a better place.
2 comments:
I really liked how you linked the story in the book to the PBS website. It made a lot of sense. These men were carrying all of this "baggage" to help rid Vietnam of Communism and to help gain their independence. I never really thought about it like that. Another thing I liked was how you talked about how war can't really make a country better. I agree with that. These people lost their friends, family, loved ones, their possessions, houses, they have no food or water. These people have lost everything; they might have been better off before the war. That's just my opinion, though.
You made an excellent point about the suffering soldiers not being capable of restoring peace to Vietnam, even if a victory was attainable. War seems to end in destruction no matter which side is victorious. We have seen images of burned villages, bombed forests, and multitudes of lives lost that can never be replaced. It seems impossible to believe that even if South Vietnam had won the war the entire country would have embraced democracy with open arms. Communism and democracy are at such odds with each other, the concept of fighting for peace is very out of place in this war. I also think it’s interesting that you linked this cultural concept to the initial story of the novel. I’m sure that of everything they were carrying, the weight of fear constituted the heaviest burden of all. They were in a situation of constant terror, fighting a war that seemed contradictory, and just trying to get out alive.
Post a Comment