Essay On Rehumanization In The Things They Carried

We are always talking about a narrow standard that the society put on women, but forget that men also get pressure to fit the social expectation. Men are expected to be responsible for the family, be brave and fight for the country at any cost, and hide all the vulnerable emotion to be considered as a strong man. All of those intangible standards become a rock of thousand tons bending and twisting men for their whole life. Burdens that men have to carry every day have been discussed in many pieces of literature. That is the burden of all the soldiers in the story “The Things They Carried” by Tim O’Brien who have to hide their feelings about the cruel reality of the war and fight at any cost in the battle. That is the burden of financial responsibility

According to Savana Vest in the journal “Rehumanization within a War-Distraught Mind: Considering the Dehumanization of War and Alternate Coping Mechanisms in ‘The Things They Carried’”, it is “a place of not just physical but also emotional and mental survival that some soldiers attempt to achieve” (Vest 3). But the soldiers cannot express their fear. O’Brien states in his story that “They were afraid of dying but they were even more afraid to show it." (O’Brien 14). In other words, they try to hide their fear because according to the society standard, a man must be strong in any

He grows up in the family which is haunted by an evil whisper “There must be more money! There must be more money” (Laurence 1). There haunted house with a whisper asking for money symbolized the greed of the mother, who cares for nothing rather than money. She desires to have a luxury life and never expresses her love for the kids. Paul always wants to have his mother’s attention. He wants to be claimed as a lucky man, who can satisfy his mother. He takes the responsibility of a financial provider although it is too much for a little boy to handle it. The luck comes to him. Somehow, he can figure out the winner by riding his horse and earn money from the bet. Even when he brings a lot of money for his mother, he always feels anxiety and scares that this ability will be taken from him. The evil voice keeps whispering in every corner of the house "There must be more money! Oh-h-h; there must be more money. Oh, now, now-w! Now-w-w - there must be more money! - More than ever! More than ever! (Laurence 10) Paul is too young to handle all of these stresses. The materialistic life drives him crazy. It haunts him and forces him to work harder and harder. Daniel P. Watkins analyzes the life of Paul in his journal “Labor and Religion in D. H. Laurence’s The Rocking Horse Winner” that “He is never satisfied with what he produces because it is no way relieve the pressure that his world place on him, and thus his