While part of O'Brien's objective is to create an aesthetic that simulates the chaos and uncertainty that characterized soldiers' experiences, within the genre of
War literature, specifically Vietnam War-related Literature, O'Brien's novel does the opposite. The Things They Carried, with its stylistic ambiguity, is also a tool for understanding the Vietnam War. Literature has often been used as a path to understanding history, and O'Brien follows the tradition of literary precursors such as Wilfred Owen, Ernest Hemingway, and Graham Greene.
O'Brien's novel originates at an important post-war moment, one which differed greatly from the post-World War I era in which Hemingway wrote. The main differences and obstacles for Vietnam veterans were the divisiveness of the war and the tide of public opinion opposing the war. Vietnam veterans' return from the war — unlike the return of soldiers from World War I and World War II — was not celebrated or lauded. As the Nixon administration transitioned to the Ford administration, the general public wanted to forget about the longest foreign military involvement by the U.S. and the failure of this engagement to bring about its intended agenda. In short, the United States had not clearly won or lost, and the esteem of veterans suffered. Throughout the late 70s and early 80s, veterans struggled to receive recognition and to bring attention to the problems of post-traumatic stress disorder and survivor guilt from which many veterans suffered. Vietnam veterans such as Tim O'Brien, John Delvecchio, and Al Santoli helped to spark and maintain interest in a public discourse on the war.
The ambiguity of The Things They Carried reflects the lack of resolution of the war and illuminates the necessity to use fact, fiction, or fictionalized fact to tell the stories of Vietnam.
