During The Things They Carried O'Brien illustrates that the Vietnam as traumatic and destructive as it was will never end for those who have survived it. Even though the Vietnam War ended over 25 years ago he shows that the trauma associated with the war has had mental and physical effects on some of the soldiers after the war had finished. As far as O'Brien is concerned he believes that these experiences of war continue to haunt their victims for years after they have taken place. These experiences are the things they carried.
<Tab/>Throughout the whole novel O'Brien is reca…
