Unlike "Blowing in the Wind", The Things They Carried is not an anti-war novel because it does not directly stress the fact that war is detrimental. Instead, the author, Tim O'Brien implicates that the cruelties of war are educational.

In the beginning, O'Brien runs away from war because he opposes the principles of the Vietnam War. However, shame overtakes him and compels him to be drafted. At war, he is introduced to the brutalities of war. He is always hungry, sleepy, and in danger. Throughout the novel however, he never says that these aspects of war are unacceptable, instead, he introduces them as a test for soldiers. As in the story of the troop that is sent to the mountains on a listening post operation, the soldiers are challenged to remain quiet without losing control. The soldiers...