Deep into the Jungle: the Suppressed Consequences of War

“Vietnam was what we had instead of happy childhoods.” This quote from Michael Herr, a Vietnam War correspondent and co-author to screenplays such as Apocalypse Now and Full Metal Jacket, fully embodies the feelings of a nation and the young men who survived an eighteen year long conflict known as, the Vietnam War. The Things They Carried, written by Tim O’Brien, attempts to tell the stories of young, innocent men who fought in the Vietnam War. Only kids at the time, these people were expected to fight everyday and put their own lives on the line for others. O’Brien’s novel effectively portrays what life was like for Vietnam soldiers while they were fighting and when they returned home. Two important elements present in The Things They Carried are the setting and theme of the novel. O’Brien intertwines these two literary elements very well, connecting the setting of the novel and the theme effortlessly. The setting, among many other things, relates to the theme of “the loss of innocence” in The Things They Carried and helps to explain why the soldiers had such trouble reconnecting with society once the Vietnam War was over.

The setting plays a vital role in The Things They Carried. The majority of the novel takes place in the countryside of Vietnam. The terrain is harsh and the weather is brutal with, “…rugged mountains peaks, extensive forests, and rich soil” (Cima 88). For safety reasons, the soldiers mainly traveled at night and as a result, they were unable to see anything around them. The constant rain and monsoon weather certainly had an affect upon the soldier’s morale. Along with ruthless weather conditions, many soldiers felt distraught about the war because it went against their personal beliefs or morals. Difficult terrain and constant, undesirable weather conditions only increased their hatred towards the country of Vietnam, war in general, the people who put them there, and the fact that they were forced to be a part of the chaos.

The terrain in Vietnam was not the only horrific factor of the setting in The Things They Carried. Many things that the soldiers saw while in Vietnam were disturbing and atrocious. Soldiers were exposed to dead corpses and dismembered bodies on a regular basis. The soldiers would talk about seeing appalling things such as, “His jaw was in his throat, his upper lip and teeth were gone, his one eye was shut, his other eye was a star-shaped hole…” (O’Brien 124). Now, any normal person would be traumatized upon seeing endless amounts of dead bodies and body parts day after day, but the effects were even greater on these young men because of their innocence and naivety of the world around them.

One particular example of the effects the Vietnam setting had on people in The Things They Carried is made clear in the story, “The Sweetheart of Song Tra Bong,” when a young woman comes to stay with the soldiers stationed in Vietnam. Her name was Mary Anne and she was the gorgeous girlfriend of Mark Fossie, one of the soldiers in the platoon of Lieutenant Jimmy Cross. Her presence immediately lifted the spirits of all the soldiers and gave them something to look forward to once the war was over. They were reminded of home and all the things which they were fighting for when looking into Mary Anne’s eyes. Her fresh-face and beautiful body was exactly what they wished to see. Along with being beautiful, she was also an extremely curious woman. Constantly asking questions and exploring the local villages, she began to become infatuated with Vietnam. It appeared that she was not afraid of anything and Mary Anne would often be found helping treat wounded soldiers. Soon Mary Anne began to change her appearance, “She stopped wearing jewelry, cut her hair short, and wrapped it in a dark green bandana” (O’Brien 98). Although Fossie was happy to see her fitting in at Vietnam, he was also concerned Mary Anne may be getting too comfortable with her surroundings. She was acting strange, often saying or doing things extremely out of character.

Shortly thereafter, the men found Mary Anne with members of the Green Berets and she would frequently stay out all night with them, ambushing the land of Vietnam. Fossie did not like this side of Mary Anne and was soon convinced that Vietnam was detrimental towards her well being. After Fossie told Mary Anne that she must leave and return home, she began to become depressed. The men noticed that, “the wilderness seemed to draw her in” and she was very distraught at the thought of leaving the place with which she had become so familiar (O’Brien 105). Late one night, the men went looking for Mary Anne because she had been missing. They found her with a necklace of tongues around her neck and, “…no emotion in her stare, no sense of person behind it” (O’Brien 110). In the corner of the room was the head of a leopard and bones were stacked against the walls. It became