The Things They Carried by Tim O’Brien
AoE: Time & Space
IB English HL 1
The purpose of this assignment is to increase your schema in order to help you
understand the nuances of the historical and cultural allusions and context within the
novel. Your goal is to explore each topic through online articles and videos as a form of
investigative research.
The Politics Shrouding the Vietnam War
First, watch these two video clips that show REAL footage from
soldiers in the war and political and social experiences in
America:
● History’s Vietnam in HD Trailer
● Vietnam Introduction
1. What seemed to be the director’s purpose in juxtaposing
scenes of war with a few scenes of American life in the
first video?
- The purpose was to show how normal men were being
drafted to war. It shows what the men would be
experiencing if they were not forced to go into war. It
shows how the men should be getting married and
experiencing life instead of losing it at war. It shows what
they sacrificed to fight. It showed that many families
were scared or in pain that their sons would die in the war
or soon be dead.
2. Pay close attention to J.F.K.’s opening speech in the
second video. Summarize why the U.S. entered the war,
according to the president.
- They entered the war because of the peaceful borders of
Burma, Cambodia, and India being repeatedly violated.
He also states that the peaceful people of Lous were in
danger of losing their independence. He states that
nobody can call them wars of liberation because they are
free countries living under their own government. He
says that the aggressions are not any less real because
men are knifed instead of a shot in their homes. Basically,
he is arguing that we must help them to keep the
freedom they so rightfully own and that although it may
not seem bad it actually is
3. What images, details, or themes affected you the most
while watching the videos?
- The images of the explosions
- The children running with barely any clothes on
- The destruction of isolated homes
- Dragging dead bodies
- How young the soldiers look
- The images of happy Vietnamese children
Next, visit the BBC website and read their unbiased analysis of
the U.S. and Vietnam conflict. Then answer the following
questions in bullet points:
1. After reviewing the article (primarily Reasons 3-5),
summarize the three main reasons the U.S. entered the
war (Reason #3 is particularly important!):
- The domino theory- This was known as the belief that if
one country succumbed to communism, then the
neighboring countries would follow. This was compared
to dominos falling over. Eventually, they would all fall,
just as it was believed the countries would. The U. S did
not want communism to spread to south Vietnam in fear
that it would continue to spread throughout the world.
- The Weak South Vietnamese gov- The South
Vietnamese population wanted to rebel against their
government because Diem was a corrupt leader. The
peasants wanted to implement communism in order to
overthrow him. Instead, the US helped them to
overthrow the government and they became a strong
capitalist government in control o the south.
- The Gulf of Tonkin Incident- The North Vietnamese
attacked the US Navy and this gave the US an excuse to
join the war. The US involvement slowly began to
increase until half a million American troops were
stationed in Vietnam.
2. After reviewing Page 3 of the BBC article, summarize four
or five reasons that America “lost” the war--and made
the rest of the world hate us:
- Unpopular military tactics- The US tried to win the war
from the sky. The sky tactics were extremely brutal. By
being extremely brutal and lacking sensitivity, all of the
Vietnamese people turned against them
- Strategic hamlets 1962- In order to prevent Vietcong
from hiding in Villages, the US transferred the South
Vietnamese peasants from their villages and put them
into ‘strategic hamlets’ which were surrounded by barbed
wire and controlled by the US. The peasants, as opposed
to this, were angered because they were too far from the
ancestral burial grounds and farms which had been
around and tended for generations.
- Operation Rolling Thunder 1965-1968- This was when
the Americans bombed targets strategically in North
Vietnam in order to halt the supply of weapons and
troops to the south. This was ineffective because there
were not many industrial targets. Bombs often would hit
schools and hospitals instead of their targets.
- Search and Destroy missions- The Americans also tried
to take out Vietcong by luring them out. The US would
drop a helicopter and kill anyone who they thought was a
Vietcong. The US ended up killing many civilians. In 1968,
a mission to My Lai, a village, lead to a massacre of many
innocent women and children.
3. Move on to Page 4 and summarize another three reasons
why the Vietcong “won” the war, despite being
extremely outgunned:
- Support from Peasants- They had the ‘hearts and minds’
of the South Vietnamese peasants. The peasants helped
them with their daily work and promised to give them
land, more wealth, and freedom from Ho Chi Minh and
the communists. The Americans did not know who was
part of the Vietcong
- Tunnel Systems and traps-The Vietcong laid hidden
tunnel systems that stretched over 200 miles long.
There were armories, hospitals, sleeping quarters, wells,
and kitchens located underground. The tunnels hid most
of the Vietcong which helped them to fight the war. The
US ‘tunnel rats had to search the tunnels but they were
usually booby-trapped which led to the many US deaths
- Foreign Support- The Soviet Union supported the
Vietcong and North Vietnam. China also supplied them
with money and weapons
4. Then, after reading P
age 5, bullet point at least five
reasons that the US faced opposition from its own
citizens:
- Media coverage
- Opposition to support for the South Vietnamese
Government
- Opposition to the ‘Draft’
- Opposition from the Civil Rights Movement
- Opposition from Youth
- Pacifists
- Political Opposition
- The end of the War in Vietnam
5. Last, skim the introductory section of this H
istory article.
Describe TWO things that shock you:
- It shocks me that the US and Vietnam started on the
same side but then ended up going to war on each other.
Why did the US try to tell the Vietnamese what was
good for them? The US was only brought in to try to help
the Vietnamese not take control.
- It also shocked me that the Vietnamese were making the
effort to be allied with the US, but the US could not
come to a compromise and led them into war and
created more enemies
“Live and Let Die” & “Give Peace a Chance”
The Vietnam War officially took place between the years of
1955 and 1975, which encompassed the 1960’s era of
Counterculture and the Civil Rights Movement. It is historically
known as one of the most tumultuous and divisive decades in
U.S. history!
- Counterculture- a way of life and set of attitudes
opposed to or at variance with the prevailing social norm
Watch this short Carnegie Hall video and, after doing so,
address the meaning of the commentators final quote: “If you
don’t look at the history of today through the lens of the
1960’s, then you can’t really understand it.”
- There were many movements that happened in the
1960s which consisted of the voting right, women’s
movement, gay rights movement freedom summer.
They started protesting for what they believed in. There
is 1960 in front of many problems that we are still
fighting for today. If you don’t know the history of the
1960s then you are missing some of the most important
times and can not know how we came to have all of the
movements and changes today. The arts were also being
developed. Many of the advancements that we have
today were developed in 1960.
We definitely can’t discuss the 1960’s without delving a little
into the hippie culture, so please watch the quick Hippies
Change a Generation video and summarize THREE new
attitudes that this generation brought to American culture.
- Relaxed Sexuality- they had a music festival where free
love and chemically altered consciousness started to
surface with acid casualties and rampant STD’s
- Recreational drug use- embraced marijuana. It was a
basic background for the shared drug experience. Roach
pipes were always in demand. Use marijuana as a symbol
of discontent with the basic values of the established
- They went against traditional views- they had long hair,
stoners speech patterns, the peace symbols, and flower
power were viewed to be threats.
- Relaxed Dress- they had long hair,
Next, listen to the Creedence Clearwater Revival’s 1969’s song,
“Fortunate Son”, and explain the main theme of their lyrics in
the context of America’s involvement in the Vietnam War:
- The main theme of the lyrics is that those who were rich
did not have to fight in the Vietnam war because they
were fortunate. He states multiple times that he ‘he ain’t
no fortunate one’ like the senator’s son. This means that
the poor were probably drafted into the war while the
wealthy were drafted into the war. Clearwater reveals
that it looks like a town rummage sale when people show
up at the house. This is a metaphor for the government
officials showing up at the doors of the houses and taking
the son’s to draft them to war.
If you have good taste in music and are craving some more
60’s protest songs, here are a few to enjoy:
● Bob Dylan’s “Blowin’ in the Wind”
● John Lennon’s “Give Peace a Chance”
● Jimi Hendrix’s “All Along the Watchtower”
● The Animal’s “House of the Rising Sun”
● Phil Ochs’ “What are you fighting for?”
Step into the Shoes of a U.S. Soldier:
The Draft & A Soldier’s Life in Vietnam
Visit the E
ncyclopedia site and skim through the titled sections
to answer the following questions:
1. In the first section, titled “The American Soldier in
Vietnam,” describes at least four common reactions that
soldiers experienced due to extreme fear and frustration:
- The decline in motivation and performance- they
thought how can you defeat an enemy who knows that
land and gave up trying.
- Lashed out violently- they lashed out because they were
angry that they were risking their lives for a cause they
thought they were bound to lose.
- Used drugs and alcohol- They used drugs and alcohol to
forget and to escape from their reality
- Took their anger out on US military leaders-they took
their anger out on the leaders because they believed that
they were being treated unfairly.
2. In the second and third sections that describe the draft,
how many men were ultimately selected to serve in the
war? And what type of men were primarily targeted?
- A government agency would call the Selective services
to collect the names of every American man between
the age of eighteen and twenty-six. If a man’s name was
called then he would be required to report to his local
draft board for eval. He would either be deferred or he
would be inducted into the armed forces. Many young
men had to serve in Vietnam if they wanted to or not. If
young men had physical problems, worked in the
industry, or were enrolled in college then they could be
granted deferments. 40% served in the military and 2.5
million went to Vietnam. The ideal man was a 19-year old
man from a poor or working-class family who had not
attended college.
3. Scan the next two sections, titled “Combat Soldier’s
Experience” and “Boredom and Terror,” and bullet point
four reasons YOU definitely wouldn’t have wanted to be
drafted:
- I do not want to march for days and weeks at a time
- I do not want to rarely bathe or rarely have a hot meal
- I would not want to slog through the water with sucking
leeched
- I would hate having mosquitos around me all the time
- I could not carry an 80lbs bag
- I could not spend days searching and not finding
anything
4. Skim through the remainder of the article and describe
TWO other pieces of information that you find
important:
- I think that it was important to know that they had to
trudge through the forest for days at a time. This was
probably very hard, to spend days at a time in the Forest.
- It is also important to know that many of them were
depressed from searching and away from their families.
They were just young boys and they were missing
valuable portions of their lives.
Tim O’Brien’s Biography
Meet Tim O’Brien (yes, another w hite dude from Minnesota),
the U.S. soldier whose experiences in Vietnam form the basis
of the novel. Review the following excerpts from the Chicago
Public Library and briefly explain TWO pieces of his bio that
might be important to know before cracking the book:
- It is important to know that he was an infantryman with
the US Army in Vietnam. This could influence how he
portrays the characters in the novel. He also graduated
from Harvard University. This shows that after the war
the men can still go back to their old lives.
- It is also important to know that he believes the story’s
help people to remember those who were lost. This
could mean that some of the men he was with during the
war may be represented in the novel through the story’s
he remembers about them.
Award-winning author Tim O’Brien is best known for his fictional
portrayals of the Vietnam conflict. He was born in 1946 in Austin,
Minn., and spent most of his youth in the small town of Worthington,
Minn. He graduated summa cum laude from Macalester College in
1968.
From February 1969 to March 1970 he served as an infantryman with
the U.S. Army in Vietnam, after which he pursued graduate studies in
government at Harvard University. He worked as a national affairs
reporter for T he Washington Post from 1973 to 1974.
“My life is storytelling,” O’Brien said in an interview in 1990. “I believe
in stories, in their incredible power to keep people alive, to keep the
living alive, and the dead. And if I have started now to play with the
stories, inside the stories themselves, well, that’s what people do all
the time. Storytelling is the essential human activity. The harder the
situation, the more essential it is. In Vietnam men were constantly
telling one another stories about the war. Our unit lost a lot of guys
around My Lai, but the stories they told stay around after them. I
would be mad not to tell the stories I know.”
OPTIONAL: Here are a few critically-acclaimed films that
explore the Vietnam War in more detail, if you’re interested.
However, some scenes are R-Rated, so viewer discretion is
advised:
● Apocalypse Now
● Good Morning, Vietnam
● Forrest Gump
