The Thing They Carried
...instantly erased by another, setting order back within the group. O'Brien here shows a hint of sensitivity among the men to set up a startling contrast between the past and the present for these men. The effect produced on the reader by this contrast is one of horror; therefore fulfilling O'Brien's purpose, to convince the reader of war's severely negative effects. In the buffalo story, "We came across a baby water buffalo. . .After supper Rat Kiley went over and stroked its nose. . .He stepped back and shot it through the right front knee. . .He shot it twice in the flanks. It wasn't to kill, it was to hurt"(85). Rat displays a severe emotional problem here; however, it is still the norm. The startling degree of detached emotion brought on by the war is inherent in O'Brien's detailed accounts of the soldiers' actions concerning the lives of other beings. O'Brien's use of specific and connotative diction enhances the same theme, the loss of sensitivity and increase in violent behavior among the soldiers. The VC from which Bowker took the thumb was just "a boy"(13), giving the image of a young, innocent person who should not have been subjected to the horrors of war. The connotation associated with boy enhances the fact that killing has no emotional effect on the Americans, that they kill for sport and do not care who or what their game may be. Just as perverse as killing boys, though, is the killing of "a baby"(85), the connotation being associated with human infants even though it is used to describe a young water buffalo they torture. The idea of a baby is abstract, and the killing of one is frowned upon in modern society, regardless of species. O'Brien creates an attitude of disgust in the reader with the word, further fulfilling his purpose in condemning violence. Even more drastic in connotation to be killed is the "orphaned puppy"(39). Adding to the present idea of killing babies is the idea of killing orphaned babies, which brings out rage within the reader. The whole concept is metaphoric, based on the connotations of key words; nevertheless, it is extremely effective in conveying O'Brien's theme. O'Brien makes a valid, effective antiwar statement in The Things They Carried. The details he includes give the reader insight into his opinions concerning the Vietnam War and the draft that was used to accumulate soldiers for the war. While thinking of escaping to Canada, he says: "I was drafted to fight a war I hated. . .The American war seemed to me wrong"(44). O'Brien feels that U.S. involvement in Vietnamese affairs was unnecessary and wasteful. He includes an account of his plan to leave the country because he did not want to risk losing his life for a cause he did not believe in. Here O'Brien shows the level of contempt felt towards the war; draft dodging is dangerous. He was not a radical antiwar enthusiast, however, for he takes "only a modest stand against the war"(44). While not condoning the fighting, he does not protest the war except for minimally, peacefully, and privately doing so. His dissatisfaction with the drafting process is included in his statement, "I was a liberal, for Christ's sake: if they needed fresh bodies, why not draft some back-to-the-stone-age-hawk?"(44). O'Brien's point of drafting only those who approve involvement in the war is clearly made while his political standpoint is simultaneously revealed. The liberal attitude O'Brien owns is very much a part of his antiwar theme; it is the axis around which his values concerning the war revolve. The antiwar statement is enhanced by O'Brien's use of connotative and informal diction to describe the war, its belligerent advocates, and its participants. The connotation in the adjective American in describing the war seems as though O'Brien believes the Americans are making the war revolve around themselves, instead of the Vietnamese. While also criticizing Americans, he manages to once again question the necessity of United States involvement in the war. Also connotatively enhancing the antiwar theme is the word bodies to describe draftees; while an accurate evaluation scientifically, it gives the reader the impression...