Free Things They Carried Essays: The True Enemies :: Things They Carried Essays

The True Enemies in The Things They Carried In Tim OBriens Story Enemies, one sees several(prenominal) signs that explain the aspects of the Vietnam War, and the actions of two soldiers that snapped under the pressure built up by the war. These pressures caused little tiny things to create tension non only in the minds of soldiers, exclusively also between two soldiers. For example, conflicts grew between Lee Strunk and Dave Jensen. cardinal soldiers, whose actions were sparked by the craziness of the war, Lee Strunk and Dave Jensens argument over a clasp knife illustrates a perfect example of how tension built up during the war. some(prenominal) men know all to well what was gong on in the war, they understood that mevery times they encountered men who they thought were South Vietnamese, but with the quick pull of a gun or knife a whole battle resulted because of the unknown necktie between the South Vietnamese and the Vietcong. On the message bard, Jeff Jacobie stated, soldie rs in Vietnam were never sure who they could trust they were not sure if the peasants they were around were secretly loyal to the VC or not. This omit of define foe drove the soldiers in the war berserk. Throughout the war, an unclear enemy caused many problems for the Americans. They would ambush a town, and before they knew it, they were under scrutiny for putting to death people who may or may not of had any association with the Vietcong. Yet, it was a risk they had to take in the war, and this risk caused immense strive and tension for soldiers humping through the rice fields of Vietnam. Not only from not knowing who the enemy was, tension also grew in the soldiers because of their loneliness and lack of understanding for why they were in Vietnam. Most of the time, soldiers humped around the nongregarious land of Vietnam with the same guys for months except for the occasional supply chopper that came in or the brief radio contacts with headquarters in order to imbibe backu p and orders. Soldiers had very little contact with others, and this isolation would drive any man crazy. In order to get by, the soldiers had to rely on each(prenominal) other. If they could not trust each other with their lives, none of them would ever fabricate it back to the States to enjoy the aspects of life away form war.