Social Issues in the “Things They Carried”

In the narrative “The Things They Carried,”

In the narrative “The Things They Carried,” General Colin Powell, who served as secretary of state in 2003, is presenting evidence to the United Nations safekeeping board that Saddam Hussein had retained lethal weapons of mass destruction.

Elizabeth Samet - A Literature Instructor and Author

Elizabeth Samet, a first-year literature instructor at West Point, wrote the tale. Bartleby the Scrivener, a tale that Elizabeth also wrote, features a protagonist who consistently defies orders. In The Things They Carried story, Lizabeth does not make simple conclusions to the students in the Soldiers hearts. (which story? Who are the soldiers?) She comes out very clearly in her book about her experiences as a civilian teacher. She worked at the Military Academy for ten years as a civilian teacher of literature where she learned a lot on the crucial social and radical power of honor. This piece of work will perform an assessment on honor as a significant social issue in the society today.

The Significance of Honor

Elizabeth pointed out clearly that honor is a reality and that history shows that many individuals have lived with it and died for it. This suggests the reason why the United States has constantly continued to send troops to Iraq to fight terrorists groups (Gale 17). Samet states that a combination of loyalty and honor re-enforces the soldiers who go to war in bad times and in good times. In the same way as love and art, honor originates from imagination and force that determines the fate of people and countries. Honor also attract lies and exploitations that in turn stimulates doubts among people in the society. Honor can be defined as uprightness, justice, or integrity in a person’s principles and actions. This is a social issue, because honor is required for the interaction of human beings within our society to remain smooth. Without honor, people cannot live peacefully with each other. Lack of honor will result in increased rivalry, war, and betrayal. Nevertheless, this story shows that honor can bring lies and exploitations, which results in doubts among people. This is an example of a problem of social responsibility. Too much honor results in betrayal in the society, because people tends to believe in each other so much to the extent of learning one another strengths and weaknesses. Some individuals in the society use such an opportunity to exploit others eventually resulting to doubts among people.

Celebrating Soldiers as a Social Issue

Elizabeth applies a principle whose main idea is that people should celebrate the physical bravery of soldiers in their country because soldiers are always ready to fight for their country at the expense of their lives (Gale 17). This is a social issue; people should inherit the culture of celebrating their soldiers because they are the reason why their country is peaceful.

The True War Story

This story teaches that a true war story is immoral and it neither inspires virtue, nor displays an appropriate human behavior. The Things They Carried Story neither restrains men from doing what they are supposed to do in the society. In today’s society, war stories are not worth listening to or watching, because they are always scary and involve images of injury and manslaughter. Such stories do not benefit the society, but rather they make people to be afraid of each other. These stories bring out bad human characteristics which are not the traits which people possess in the real life. A social issue evident in this story is hypocrisy. Some people pretend to be very good to others, but in case of war, they are they are the first people to turn against their neighbors and friends. The story also reveals that men characteristics does not change but they remain the same. Men will always remain to be men in the society (Gale 18). They will continue to take the large share of leadership in the society and also when war comes; they are the people who fight for the society. However, women have also shown their interest to stand for the community and fight for it. We have seen women vying for elective posts, and some have joined the military to defend their country.

Conclusion

Conclusively, the story “The Things They Carried” describes a story of Elizabeth Samet who once worked at a military academy as a civilian teacher of literature. The teacher inspired her students with stories about military forces where she brings out several social issues. Teacher Samet states that honor is an important trait because it enables soldiers to remain honest to their country by protecting and dying for it. Many soldiers have lived for honor, and some have died for it. This is an important social issue currently in the society because for people to live in peace with one another, they have to be honest with each other.

Work Cited

Gale, Cengage Learning. A Study Guide for Tim O’Brien’s Things They Carried. Farmington Hills: Gale, Cengage Learning, 2016.