Tim O’Brien’s The Things They Carried draws a fine line between cowardice and courage, despite how small the difference is. In the book, courage is a way to overcome fear. It is also a skill that can be acquired. The book shows that fear is accompanied by bravery in the same amount of situations, and people are motivated more by shame than fearlessness. The book identifies weakness as the absence or valiance. O’Brien writes in his book that “Men died, and they did so because they felt embarrassed to not do it.” (O’Brien, 20). This quote shows that the men who fought in Vietnam were not brave, but they went to battle because they didn’t want to be called weaklings or humiliated by their friends.
It is implied that a lot of fighters would quit if they were influenced to think that everyone was a quitter. When we look at O’Brien as a character, both courage and vulnerability are evident. O’Brien, at first, is shown to be a brave man. But if he tells his draft that he’d rather not go to war that’s not correct. “.. I was just too good for war. Too good, too intelligent, too kind, too all of it. It couldn’t happen. I was above that” (O’Brien 38). O’Brien showed self-valor by taking off to Canada. He was against war and tried to keep a distance, even though everyone else did the opposite. I made it through but there was no happy ending. I was a fool, I went in the war”(O’Brien 58). The main reason he didn’t run away was that he feared that people back in his hometown might think he quit the war. Curt lemon’s character demonstrates that soldiers do not fight in war for their bravery. They are more likely to go because they don’t want their friends to see them humiliated. This is illustrated when he has the dental specialist pull out an excellent tooth to prove he’s not afraid.
O’Brien argued that Lemon was more a victim of disgrace and not bravery. Lemon, due to childhood fears of dentists, was afraid and blacked himself out before the doctor could examine him. Lemon couldn’t stand the shame in his group, so he feigned a severe toothache to have it pulled. Norman Bowker, a brave officer with experience who fought ‘fearlessly against his enemies’ is shown in the film. His father praised him for his fearlessness and awarded him several awards. The author feels he could not have saved Kiowa, who suffocated to death in a sewage. Norman’s struggle to manage Kiowa’s end is shown in the book. Norman continues to convince himself that Kiowa couldn’t be saved because of his smell. The contrast between strength versus weakness in this scenario is similar. Bowker can’t bear the guilt of not being able save his friend and is terrified by the evil forces within himself. Strength is the capability to face fear. However, bowman shows weakness by not being able confront what happened when Kiowa dropped dead in the field.
