Fear and Courage in Tim O'Brien's If I Die in a Combat Zone, Going after Cacciato, and the Things They Carried

by James Parks Hughes Jr.

After serving a tour as an infantryman in Vietnam (1969-1970), Tim O'Brien returned to the United States and began a career as a writer. He has since published six books and numerous short stories and has distinguished himself as an accomplished author in the process. Three of his books, If I Die in a Combat Zone (1973), Going After Cacciato (1978), and The Things They Carried (1990), deal specifically with the Vietnam war. In these works O'Brien clearly establishes fear as both a dominant aspect of the experience and an essential component necessary for the display of courage, one of his most significant considerations. He portrays bravery as an individual's ability to perform acts and make decisions despite apprehension, and he reveals the difficulty of demonstrating fortitude in the morally ambiguous environment of Vietnam where the horror of death was often secondary to that of cowardice. Ultimately, however, although the arena of armed combat provides a unique setting in which to display human conduct and consciousness, the link between courage and fear that O'Brien illustrates is not a war issue but rather a universal one. The strength of his writing lies in his ability to depict this intricate relationship in a manner that is relevant to humanity as a whole. furthermore, his vivid presentation of the Vietnam conflict, without anti-war protest or political agenda, makes its own case for the prevention of a similar sacrifice of human lives and innocence in the future.

Spiral-bound

First published January 1, 1998

Reviews

[Eddy Flores · Rating 4 out of 5]

This book was very similar to "The Things they carried"; they both just give story about nam and how the war really was. It tells stories about what he saw and did there. It's actually really interesting how people change when they go into the war; he give his thought about how war is wrong and the actions he did in the war were only to survive. He tells other peoples stories to and It opens your eye to see what other people were like and what kind of people were recruited to fight against the viet kong. I really like this book because he doesn't try to sensor the war and tells it how it is and explains everything; which i enjoy because sometimes people try to romanticize war and make it seem like its something that good when its really not. i would suggest to anyone that like to learn more about the vietnam war to check this book out

[Marilyn Shapiro · Rating 5 out of 5]

The Things They Carried is a classic Vietnam short story. If I Die in a Combat Zone is a non-fiction account of Tim O'Brien's own time in Vietnam. A must read for all Baby Boomers who waiting anxiously for the numbers in the draft lottery to see if they or their friends and/or family had to fight this unnecessary war.

[Ed · Rating 4 out of 5]

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