The Conflict Toward Conformity and Inward Questioning of Tim O’Brien in the Novel, the Things they Carried

In our lives, we as humans encounter situations that force us to do things we are not enthusiastic, or even comfortable, about. One might opine that these situations are what define us as people; the way we choose to act in such situations can establish the type of person we are. Will we stand strong in the face of pressure from our peers, or will we give in? This is a decision that all must face in time. Yet, it is possible to outwardly conform while inwardly questioning our choices, as exemplified in O’Brien’s novel, “The Things They Carried,” where the characters frequently find themselves in this position.

Particularly, Tim O’Brien, who must frequently do things he regrets, but perpetrates them anyway because they are expected of him, embodies the idea of outward conformity with inward questioning.

Tim O’Brien’s story was common among young men during the Vietnam War era. He was extremely reluctant to go to war but did so anyway due to societal and familial pressures. O’Brien didn’t believe in the war or the reasons behind it. He was a pacifist and believed ardently that the war was unjust. Yet, he went to war. The entire novel is spent attempting to reconcile his feelings with the reality of his situation. Tim O’Brien is an archetype for this concept of outward conformity and inward questioning. This internal conflict, which Tim goes through, is the most prevalent element in the novel. The novel itself is written as a catharsis for Tim, who continues to be haunted by his wartime experiences long after the war had ended. He uses storytelling to explore the feelings he suppressed in order to outwardly conform to what was expected of him. Storytelling is his way of finally releasing his inner turmoil and breaking the mold of conformity he was compelled to don during the war.

Despite the frequent surfacing of Tim’s internal conflict during the war, that was not its origin. The conflict existed long before the war. He knew that there was a good chance he would find himself in Vietnam at one point. It was not quite an inevitability; however, it was nearly so. Young men were being drafted, and though Tim initially received a deferment for education, he did not receive one for graduate school. Upon receiving his draft notice, he had a personal crisis of sorts. He knew he had options to avoid the draft, though they were highly illegal. His crisis pivoted on the choice he had to make: conformity or the alternative. The alternative option was far from ideal. It involved fleeing to Canada and never returning, and being viewed by his community as a coward and a traitor. After examining the life he would be leading after fleeing and the way his family and community would perceive him, he chose to conform and go to war, albeit not without regret. As he himself states in the novel, “I was a coward, I went to the war.”

There are very few choices that a person can make that will lead to no regrets. In life, a person must make these choices, despite the potential that could have been realized. The choice of conformity is one of these, and the inward questions are never louder. Tim O’Brien is an everyman. We may like to think that we would act differently, but the honest truth is that we probably wouldn’t. Outward conformity is a fundamental aspect of human society. Questioning it is simply a natural and normal phenomenon which allows one to explore life more thoroughly.

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