Shame As Motivation
In The Things They Carried, the feeling of shame seems to guide many of the character’s actions. It acts almost like a source of motivation for members of the Alpha Company. The most obvious example of this idea is seen in the narrator, Tim O’Brien, himself. In “On the Rainy River,” O’Brien has to decide whether or not to fight in the Vietnam War, which he knows little about at the time. Ultimately though, he decides to go to war. Not because he’s patriotic or because he believes in the war’s cause, but because he’s afraid of what others will think of him for dodging the draft. O’Brien thinks about how he’d lose his parents’ respect and imagines his neighbors gossiping about him at a cafe. This fear of being thought a coward is what ultimately pushes him to return home from Canada and fight in the war. O’Brien is so ashamed of this moment that, up until now, he has never told anyone this story.
A similar situation occurs with Jimmy Cross. He only signed up for the ROTC in college because his friends were. “Cross did not want the responsibility of leading these men. He had never wanted it” (O’Brien 160). Because of this, he’s a weak leader. He feels responsible for the deaths of Ted Lavender and Kiowa, and feels guilty for the role he believes he played in their deaths. In the case of Lavender, he ashamed that he was more concerned with Martha, than his men. In “In the Field,” Cross feels incompetent once again, beating himself up for stationing his men in the field. Although death is unavoidable, as they are in the middle of a war, each soldier feels responsible when a friend dies.
These feelings of shame also drive the actions of the men in the war. Even in the midst of a life-or-death situation, the soldiers are worried about what their fellow soldiers will think of them, causing them to do seemingly unreasonable things. In “The Dentist,” Curt Lemon is nervous and faints when the dentist calls him over. Afterwards, he has “a funny new look on his face, almost sheepish...He wouldn’t talk to anyone” (O’Brien 84). Lemon feels ashamed of his initial reaction and is afraid that the men in Alpha Company think less of him. So, to prove to them, as well as himself, that he is worthy of being a soldier, he insists that the dentist pull out one of his healthy teeth. He puts himself through unnecessary pain and discomfort in order to save his pride. After doing so, the next morning, Lemon “was all smiles” because he felt that he had successfully proved himself capable of fighting the war alongside his friends (O’Brien 84).
Even after returning home from the war, the feelings of shame follow these characters around. Norman Bowker constantly thinks about how he failed to win the Silver Star, even though he won seven other medals. He thinks that he would have won the medal if he had been able to save Kiowa. He goes over the story of Kiowa’s death in his head, feeling guilty that he chose to save himself over helping Kiowa. This feeling prevents him from being proud of any of the other medals he earned, because he feels like a coward. Bowker can’t even bring himself to tell his father, or anyone else, even though he wants to because he feels so ashamed of himself. Bowker is unable to leave these feelings from the war behind, and eventually hangs himself.
In some way, every story in this collection contains the feelings of shame. Every character experiences this emotion, either before, during, or after the war. O’Brien demonstrated that shame is an emotion that no soldier in the war could avoid.
A similar situation occurs with Jimmy Cross. He only signed up for the ROTC in college because his friends were. “Cross did not want the responsibility of leading these men. He had never wanted it” (O’Brien 160). Because of this, he’s a weak leader. He feels responsible for the deaths of Ted Lavender and Kiowa, and feels guilty for the role he believes he played in their deaths. In the case of Lavender, he ashamed that he was more concerned with Martha, than his men. In “In the Field,” Cross feels incompetent once again, beating himself up for stationing his men in the field. Although death is unavoidable, as they are in the middle of a war, each soldier feels responsible when a friend dies.
These feelings of shame also drive the actions of the men in the war. Even in the midst of a life-or-death situation, the soldiers are worried about what their fellow soldiers will think of them, causing them to do seemingly unreasonable things. In “The Dentist,” Curt Lemon is nervous and faints when the dentist calls him over. Afterwards, he has “a funny new look on his face, almost sheepish...He wouldn’t talk to anyone” (O’Brien 84). Lemon feels ashamed of his initial reaction and is afraid that the men in Alpha Company think less of him. So, to prove to them, as well as himself, that he is worthy of being a soldier, he insists that the dentist pull out one of his healthy teeth. He puts himself through unnecessary pain and discomfort in order to save his pride. After doing so, the next morning, Lemon “was all smiles” because he felt that he had successfully proved himself capable of fighting the war alongside his friends (O’Brien 84).
Even after returning home from the war, the feelings of shame follow these characters around. Norman Bowker constantly thinks about how he failed to win the Silver Star, even though he won seven other medals. He thinks that he would have won the medal if he had been able to save Kiowa. He goes over the story of Kiowa’s death in his head, feeling guilty that he chose to save himself over helping Kiowa. This feeling prevents him from being proud of any of the other medals he earned, because he feels like a coward. Bowker can’t even bring himself to tell his father, or anyone else, even though he wants to because he feels so ashamed of himself. Bowker is unable to leave these feelings from the war behind, and eventually hangs himself.
In some way, every story in this collection contains the feelings of shame. Every character experiences this emotion, either before, during, or after the war. O’Brien demonstrated that shame is an emotion that no soldier in the war could avoid.
I think that this is a good example of some of the emotions that Tim O'Brien can get across even if a lot of the stories are made up. Even if we realize that the stories aren't true we can still begin to understand the motivations of the soldiers to avoid guilt and keep their pride. I think this is especially powerful in "On the Rainy River" when Tim asks readers directly what they would do in his place and asks if they would be able to avoid the war but have to live with the shame.
ReplyDeleteI agree that shame was a prominent thread throughout "The Things They Carried," although I didn't really think through it until reading your post. I think that's part of the reason that a lot of us were uncomfortable with some aspects of the war-story narratives presented, because they were gross and weird and not something we were used to. This post made me think a lot, nice job!
ReplyDeleteAnother example of shame is how in "Ambush" and "The Man I Killed" Tim feels shame/ guilt about just watching the man die. I think this just strengthens your point that "shame is an emotion that no soldier in the war could avoid" because Tim didn't kill him but still is haunted by the memory and being associated. I think this shame could be why Tim's now 40 years old and still writing war stories – maybe to forgive himself.
ReplyDeleteI think your points are totally valid and help me to connect O'Brien's book better. The shame and writing are seen as O'Brien's coping mechanisms, one of the only things we can say almost without a doubt is not a lie. The shame hangs on the men's shoulders as a weight more enormous than their guns and packs. A weight that presses down on them even as they attempt to return to normal civilian life. The shame is a point that I don't can be underscored by the stories not being real. We identify O'Brien with Tim but much of the stories involving shame have to do with entirely different people. People who we can accept as fiction and not just lies.
ReplyDeleteI think this theme is definitely prevalent throughout his stories and an interesting take on his writing. A big thing I took away from his stories was his desire to portray the war in its truest form (not necessarily the brave and courageous military feats, but the grim humor, odd events, etc). One thing that we often associate with war is courage and bravery and the opposite for those who opt out, draft dodge, route, etc. In O'Brien's case however, there is a great deal of shame on his decision to join the war and it goes to show how his stories sort of encompass both aspects of the war: our traditional ideas of war and those he experienced first hand.
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