Trauma of a Soldier

Paper Summary:

The paper focuses on the short story, "The Things They Carried" by Tim O'Brien, and how the reader gains an insight into the complex psyche of an American soldier fighting in the Vietnam War. The paper explains how O'Brien uses the list of physical objects that the members of the Alpha Company carry in Vietnam as a window to the emotional burdens that these soldiers bear. The paper includes an annotated bibliography.

From the Paper:

"Before America became involved in defending the sovereignty of South Vietnam, it had to "invent" the country and the political issues at stake. The Vietnam War was written in many ways as a work of fiction by a storyteller. For the American military author, the invented Vietnam became a fact. However, for the soldiers America sent to Vietnam, the facade the government had created about who the enemy was, and how the war was to be won was quickly overshadowed by a world of uncertainty (Kaplan, p 169). In "Fighting and Writing the Vietnam War" Ringnalda describes how Vietnam soldiers discovered two set of shadows. The first one was the myth of the righteous warrior making the world safe for democracy which turned out to be a tautological reflection of a national lie. The second one was the assumption that America could make sense of and impose its will on Vietnam with a western positivist strategy that turned out to be based merely upon cultural arrogance (Ringnalda, p 94)."

Sample of Sources Used:

• 1John E. Talbott "Soldiers, Psychiatrists, and Combat Trauma"Journal of Interdisciplinary History Vol. 27, No.3 1997 pg 437-454This journal reenacts a soldier's story and analyzes his experience in combat through a psychological perspective. It also includes a psychiatrist's story and combat trauma.
• Berning and Stalker "The Association between Illusions of Invulnerability and Exposure to Trauma"Journal of Traumatic Stress Vol.10, No.2 1997 pg. 319-326This study investigates a high risk adolescent sample, the relationship between illusions of invulnerability and exposure to age specific traumatic events.
• Noble "Forgotten Warriors"Greenwood Publishing Group 1992 pg. 389-390This book talks about artwork with a companying text by Noble on topics such as Life in the Rear, Endurance, Effects of Combat, and the machine of War.
• What "Post-Vietnam Syndrome"?Science News Vol.16, No.13 1979 pg.213This news article addresses the long-term emotional depression among Vietnam-era veterans.
• Ikin, McKenzie, Creamer, McFarlane, Kelsall Forbes, Glass, Harsley, Harrex, Sim. "War Zone Stress without Direct Combat: The Australian Naval Experience of the Gulf War.Journal of Traumatic Stress Vol.18, No.3 2005 pg. 193-204This study examines psychological stressors reported by Australian Navy Gulf War Veterans in relation to the 1991 Gulf War and other military service.

More papers on Trauma of a Soldier:

• Term Paper # 115576 : "The Trauma of the Vietnam War"
• Analytical Essay # 63076 : "Stories of the Vietnam War"
• Analytical Essay # 142351 : "Denial of Reality in "An Occurrence at Owl Creek Bridge"

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