The Things they Carried Essay by Andrew Wright

There are many reasons as to a soldier would join the army and go to war. One of them is fear of not being seen as an equal or an outsider because he or she simply didn’t join the army and fight in the war. This is the main reason as to why Tim O’Brien calls himself a coward for going to war because he was afraid of not being seen as an equal, but as an outsider. When some people hear about war, and the people that go to war, think that they are just going to war just to defend their country and the people that they love when in fact that is only one of the reasons why a person would join the army during a war. As O’Brien pointed out, some people might go to war because of fear of being a called a pussy or not being seen as a true American in the eyes of the American people. I can see someone joining the army as an act of cowardice because of fear of not being seen as an equal or an outsider because he or she simply didn’t join the army and fight in the war.


As far as O’Brien’s meaning of “courage”, I think it might be willing to stand up for one’s own beliefs, even against the fear of adversity among his or her peers. Another possible definition he might’ve thought of the meaning of the word “courage” is to take on any and all challenges, no matter how hard they might seem. These are just a few possible definitions of what the word “courage” means to Tim O’Brien. But as far as my definition goes, the first definition actually matches mine because that’s what I believe is courage from a certain stand if not all stand points. I believe this because if you are willing to stand up for what your believes against anyone and anytime you feel that those beliefs are being violated, then you truly have some sort of courage.

To some people one of their beliefs is that if you don’t go to war and fight for your country, then you are not a true American. I disagree with that because no one can make you go to war, and if you don’t then that choice alone doesn’t make you an un-American. Plus I believe that going to war is more of a choice rather than a something you have to do. I can see someone joining a war as an act of cowardice because of simple fear as not being seen as an equal and not being treated as an equal as well. One of the facts that could support this is when O’Brien made his choice to join the war, he decided to join the war because he was scared of not being seen as a man but rather as a coward. This is a huge factor because it’s not just fear of being seen as a coward in the eyes of one person, it could be seen in the eyes of all of the people in the U.S. I see that as a deciding factor because people would being treated as a piece of trash for not serving the country if that person didn’t go to war.

Another reason why a soldier would join the war, though not as an act of cowardice, is to protect the people that they love and care about. That is a driving factor to some soldiers because for some, they are trying to protect their family and their friends. I belive this to be true because if you didn't want to lose someone because of a war, then that person would fight to protect the people he or she loves. As far as Tim O'Brien is concerned, him wanting to protect his family might've have also pushed him into going to the army because at one point he is trying to prove himself to his dad and show him that there is more to an army rather than just a bunch of guys fighting. But, instead of telling us all of his motives to going to the war, he only tells us the main reason as to why he made the decision to go.

There are many factors as to why a person would join the army and go to war and leave the people and the places they know. But one of the main factors is that a person will go because of fear of being seen as a coward for not fighting for your own country. And fear of not being seen as an american because he or she didn't go to war. People that see others going to war think "Man, he's got some courage." In reality though, this is just one form of the word courage and believe me, there are quite a few meanings of the word. But O'Brien's meaning of the word courage is being able to stand up for ones own beliefs and ethics. And if someone stands up to another person that's going against those beliefs, he or she isn't a coward. But I do agree that if someone joins the army out of fear, it is an act of cowardice because that person isn't making the choice based on their own free will, but on a possible opinion that other people have about that person.