Trauma of the Vietnam War: ADiscursive Analysis ofTheThingsTheyCarriedandMyers’Walking Point

Abstract

Thisthesis examines two works–Tim O’Briens’The Things They Carriedand Thomas Myers’Walking Point--to explorereality of the VietnamWar. Theresearcher attempts to present both of these narratives as the best example of literary representation of the trauma of violence of the Vietnam War. O’Brien problematizes the trauma of the violence through retelling the stories of the war and Myers attempts to deconstruct the myth of cultural history of the Vietnam War. Their major intention is to avoidthe misreading, misunderstandings and misremembering o fthe Vietnam War.These narratives not only represent the fact but also construct a meaningabout the violence of the Vietnam War. O’Brien’s focusing on the aesthetic of traumaand morality,captures the specificity of the violence of war. Its narrativization brings to the fore the human dimension.The authenticity and validity of the war, which find no room in the official documents and recorded history, is captured in these narratives.The usualab sence not only finds sufficient space in the texts of O’Brien and Myers but also the narrativization of the trauma of war is aesthetically of a superior order.