Q and A "The Things They Carried"
Q: does “The Things They Carried” offer a sympathetic view of GI’s in Vietnam or a critical one? Vietnam was a very controversial war, it began with strong support from the american public because it was perceived as a quick “police action” that would help protect the democratic southern Vietnamese people from an oppressive communist government in the north. Once the war began picking up and the draft was introduced, opinions quickly flipped and most of america was against the war, either out of self preservation for american lives, or the belief that Vietnam should be the ones to deal with their own conflicts and foreign powers need to stay out of smaller nations affairs. “The Things They Carried” provides us with a view from the american soldiers perspective of the dense jungle and the physical and mental burden of staying alive in a warzone. I think this story is sympathetic to the soldiers in Vietnam because while it is very admitting that the soldiers did horrible things l