A Pro-Masculine Society

The novel, The Things They Carried, by Tim O’Brien appears to be a story about masculinity and social perception.  O’Brien writes in the first person and reveals his motives and emotions when he was drafted to fight in the Vietnam War.  O’Brien refuses to fight in a war he morally does not believe in and attempts to run away to Canada.  While on the run O’Brien stops at a lodge that is closing down for the winter.  This lodge is located along the shore of the Rainy River where Canada resides just across the river on the other shore.  The owner of the lodge, Elroy, understands O’Brien’s issues without actually asking and clarifying what his issues are.  Elroy brings O’Brien “fishing” on his boat and drives his watercraft within swimming distance of Canada as if he already knew O’Brien wanted to flee the country.  While stationed approximately twenty feet from the Canadian border O’Brien experiences moral strife and cannot decide whether to abandon his past and flee to Canada or to return home and take part in the war.  After much deliberation O’Brien ultimately decides to return home and go to war.  What was striking to me was that the only reason that he decided to do this was out of fear of being ridiculed and embarrassed.  He mentions numerous times of how he preferred that the regulars of the Gobbler Cafe not remember him for “how the damned sissy had taken off for Canada” (O’Brien 43).  O’Brien only returned to his American life because of his fear for being judged, or simply embarrassment.  The consistent attention to how society perceives O’Brien exhibits an overarching theme of masculinity.  O’Brien wants to be remembered as a manly man of honor and patriotism more than he wants to live his life his own way.  This ultimately boils down to his fear of being embarrassed for being perceived as a “pussy” by the society he lives in.