Tim O'Brien's book “The Things They Carried” embodies the degradation of morality produced by war. This interpretation is personified in the characters who gradually blur the lines between right and wrong as the reasons for the war itself become unclear. The morality of the soldiers and the purpose of the war are also tied to the truth that the soldiers must tell themselves in order to participate in the gruesome and random killings falsely justified by the US government. The lack of purpose in the Vietnam War permanently altered soldiers' perspective on how to react to situations, and in most cases they resorted to violence to express their frustration. The men's mission was clearly described by O'Brien, stating: "If you weren't hunchbacked, you were waiting... It was boredom with a twist, the kind of boredom that causes stomach upsets. (O'Brien, 34). With no real destination, these soldiers were constantly in the position of waiting and dying; brutal guerrilla tactics were used where these men had no chance of surviving unless they killed any opposing soldier who got in their way. road In this sense, their morality is completely shifted to the service of the war itself; they become dehumanized and serve as vessels to kill or get lost in the jungle of Vietnam, when faced with a traumatic event crying, men resorted to violence to express their pain. For example, when Curt Lemon, Rat Kiley's best friend, stepped on a mine and was killed, Rat took out his agony and suffering on a water buffalo, slowly destroying it. painfully the life of the animal. Rat's reaction shows that the war itself had begun to consume him and finally did so when he found himself halfway through Vietnam; war and land, forget the people of the past. Tim O'Brien transformed from an erudite and polite student into a cold bully and Norman Bowker couldn't even imagine going back to his old life and had to end his altogether. The absence of morality in war can lead a man to imitate war itself, and in the current wars in which America is involved, the same disillusionment is occurring. Both the people at home and those involved in the war are losing their sense of patriotism because they cannot support a war they don't truly understand. When reading O'Brien's "The Things They Carried," readers should understand that aimless war does nothing but ruin the credibility of the country as well as the mental stability of all those involved. Work Cited O'Brien, Tim . The Things They Carried: A Work of Fiction. New York: Broadway, 1998.Print.