The Expectations of War

In The Things They Carried, O’Brien’s war experiences demonstrate the integration of American ideologies about men into war. This collection of stories is important to discuss because war and the threat of conflict exists around us every day, as well as the large numbers of soldiers and veterans in society. By reading these experiences, we can understand what it is truly like to be a soldier of war in a foreign land.

O’Brien’s stories have a message that recurs in several chapters of the book. This message is that soldiers of war are always expected to act like men, which implies never showing weakness or fear of death. For example, in the first chapter of his book O’Brien recounts a time where the men had to draw straws to go headfirst into a dark and dangerous tunnel. A soldier by the name of Lee Strunk was picked, and there was no complaining or hesitancy. He simply laughed and entered the tunnel, showing no signs of fear or regret. 

In the same chapter, O’Brien notes the soldier’s hatred of showing cowardice. O’Brien specifically states that all men “carried the common secret of cowardice barely restrained, the instinct to run or freeze or hide, and in many respects this was the heaviest burden of all, for it could never be put down…” (20). No man is made of stone, and all men carry the fear of death with them in the warzone. Because the soldiers are all men, though, and because men are supposed to be brave and strong, none of them can truly express how they really feel without being labeled as an outcast or wimp. 

O’Brien also tells of men who shot off their own fingers or toes to get a valid excuse to leave the camp. These men were often regarded as “pussies” or “candy-asses” by the other soldiers (21). However, O’Brien remarks noticing a, “trace of envy or awe” in the eyes of the mocking soldiers (21). These men of war are not here fighting because they want to prove they are courageous, strong, and resilient in times of danger. Rather, they are proving themselves to be courageous and strong because they are here fighting in this war, a fight they don’t want to be involved in at all. 

Another example of not showing weakness is in O’Brien’s retelling of Rat Kiley’s story, where a soldier named Mark Fossie pays for his girlfriend Mary Anne to come visit him in Vietnam. After leaving for an entire night in the jungle without telling Fossie where she was, he became very worried and upset. Upon her return, she brushed him aside, telling him that she didn’t feel like talking about it now. Keeping in mind that this exchange was in front of other soldiers, Fossie suddenly got angry and demanded, “Not later… Now!” (98). After their argument, Fossie explained to Rat that he had laid down the law. This story shows how men are expected to not shy down from confrontation. As a man, Fossie felt obligated to assert his dominance over his girlfriend, especially when she emasculated him in front of other male soldiers. 

These true war experiences do not condone acting “like a man”; rather, they expose the reality that acting potently masculine is how soldiers expect themselves and others in the warzone to be. Fighting in war is not an enjoyable act, but men try tirelessly to trudge through the horrors and drudgeries of war in order to maintain their image of masculinity.