War alters, corrupts, and destroys. Both Bao Ninh's novel, The Sorrow of War, and Tim O'Brien's novel, The Things They Carried, explore the affects of the infamous Vietnam War on the soldiers engaged in it. O'Brien writes from the point of view of an America Soldier while Ninh writes from the point of view of a North Vietnamese soldier. Given that both novels are about the same conflict, many similarities can be see between them; however, many contrasting points are made between the two novels as well. It is clear that O'Brien did not want to fight in the war, however Ninh seems to desire enlisting; nonetheless, both men are traumatized by the conflict and feel the compelling need to write about it.

O'Brien, unlike Ninh, did not want to serve in the war in Vietnam. O'Brien was morally against the conflict, stating, "the American war in Vietnam...