Understanding Trauma Narrative Tactics in Tim O’Brien’s The Things They Carried

Abstract

As one of the most popular literary works on Vietnam War, many scholars discuss Tim O’Brien’s The Things They Carried (1990) regarding its storytelling as a therapy, its use of metafiction, or US imperialism. As apparent as the novel is as a trauma narrative, there have been insufficient analyses or neglect on how the author uses effective narrative tactics to maximize and deliver to readers the extreme effects of trauma that victims experience. This paper will explore the techniques that Tim O Brien’s The Things They Carried employs to convey the ineffable extent of trauma. First, it studies how it uses the psychological phenomenon of ‘compulsion to repeat’ which is a common symptom diagnosed in traumatized victims. Next, it explores how the novel as a testimony strives to engage the readers as listeners or witnesses to wholeheartedly partake in the traumatic experiences with the narrator as well as other characters and empathize with them. By examining its format that represents traumatic symptoms, this paper hopes to analyze how O’Brien effectively narrates the devastating impacts of trauma in The Things They Carried.